In the UK: Thursdays, 10pm, Sky Atlantic
Times are a-changing, my friends. Time was it was perfectly legitimate to have a go at BSkyB for not putting anything decent on our TV screens. Sky1 and the like was full of nothing but US imports (some good, some not), rubbish like Prickly Heat, and almost no original drama or comedy whatsoever. After a few faltering steps on Sky1 with Terry Pratchett adaptations, Mad Dogs and Strike Back, Sky is now embracing quality, mainly with its new channel Sky Atlantic, which despite the name is originating plenty of quality comedy. Now it’s turning its hand towards drama.
After Sky Atlantic’s first attempt, the not-half-bad but dirt cheap Hit and Miss, we now have the first of the big guns: Falcón, which is best described as “sexy Wallander” or “Wallander in Spain”. Based on Robert Wilson’s series of crime novels and starring New Zealand actor Marton Csokas as well as a fine cast of Brits that includes Hayley Atwell (Captain America), Emilia Fox, Bernard Hill, Bill Patterson, Robert Lindsay and Charlie Creed-Miles, Falcón relocates Ken Branagh’s misery, artist-father issues, grizzly horror and Brits pretending to be foreigners to Seville, where the eponymous detective has to solve a horrible murder that is connected to his father in some way. Along the way, there’s an attractive widow (Atwell), his ex-wife (Fox) and, thanks to Dredd 3D‘s Pete Travis, a lot of beautifully composed scenes of local colour for him to deal with.
And if you loved Ken’s Wallander, there’s a good chance you’ll love this, too, assuming you don’t mind a cop that takes coke. Here’s a trailer, a “characters 101” and the first three minutes of the first episode.