Well, here we are again, on a border, two dead women’s bodies cut in half and stuck together, two different police forces from two different countries having to investigate the crimes, and resolve their personal and cultural differences.
The Swedish-Danish co-production Bron/Broen – known in the UK as The Bridge – was a big success in both countries, one of BBC4’s biggest successes of 2012 and has taken the rest of the world by storm, too. Given the story involved co-operation between two countries’ police forces, it was always a natural for remakes, too.
We’ve already seen one example of such a remake in the US: The Bridge, which sees a US and a Mexican investigator pairing come together to solve a crime on the exact border of the US and Mexico. In some ways an almost exact duplicate, in others an improvement, but overall a blander dilution of the original, it’s been renewed for a second season.
Chances are, we probably won’t see it in the UK for a while, though, because the rights have already been acquired by the makers of a new Sky Atlantic/Canal+ co-production, The Tunnel. Yes, this time there’s been a murder but because there’s no bridge to France, it’s all happening underground in the Channel Tunnel.
Starring Stephen Dillane (Game of Thrones, Hunted, The One Game) and Clemence Poésy (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire), The Tunnel is once against an almost exact replica of that original show, but surprisingly enough, there are still a few things the format can offer that we haven’t seen before. Here are some trailers.
In the UK (in Welsh): S4C. Starts 29 October. In the UK (English/Welsh): BBC Wales in early 2014. Then BBC4
TV is getting more and more international. Not only are different countries remaking other countries’ shows, more and more are willing to show the originals, even if they were shot in a different language.
Here in the UK, we have BBC4 and its foreign TV slot of Wallander, Spiral, The Killing, The Bridge, Inspector Montalbano et al; meanwhile, Sky Arts has given us Prisoners of War, Isabel, In Treatment, Grand Hotel, Maison Close, Hard and their like, while Channel 4 has made its first foray into French in years with Canal+’s The Returned.
But it’s easy to forget (well, if you live in England it is) that English isn’t the only native language still spoken in the UK. Although the likes of Manx and Cornish are confined to relatively few speakers, both Scots Gaelic and Welsh not only have thousands of speakers who regard them as their first languages, there are entire TV channels dedicated to programming in these languages: BBC Alba and S4C respectively.
While BBC Alba is a relatively new phenomenon, the output of which is largely confined to dubbed English-language programming, sport and factual programmes, S4C is over 30 years old and has produced everything from soap operas (Pobol Y Cwm) to comedy (Dim Byd) and drama (Caerdydd).
And yet, despite this new keenness for multi-lingual, global programming, you’d be hard-pressed to find any of this home-grown, Welsh language programming on the BBC or Sky Arts, not even in the foreign language slots.
Until now.
Because for the first time since A Mind To Kill 20 years ago, S4C has made a cop show. Not only that, it’s made it simultaneously in both English and Welsh. Airing first on S4C this month and then in the rest of Britain next year on BBC Wales and BBC4, Hinterland/Y Gwyll* follows the investigations of DCI Tom Mathias (Richard Harrington from Lark Rise to Candleford), who’s newly arrived in Aberystwyth from London. Partnered with DI Mared Rhys (Mali Harris from Caerdydd), Mathias has to investigate four dark and disturbing, 120m cases against the backdrop of the Welsh landscape in a way that should appeal to the rest of the world. In fact, Denmark’s already bought it.
Here’s the trailer. A preview with minor spoilers of the first episode after the jump, together with some more information from a Q&A that I attended at BAFTA last week.
Over the past few years, a new trend has started to emerge in television drama: the overseas cop show. Now, in a sense this is nothing new: The Persuaders! and other shows all filmed in exotic locales in the 70s and even earlier shows such as The Man From Interpol had been set overseas, even if they’d never actually gone there for filming.
But the new trend, seen in the likes of Wallander, Zen and Falcón, has English-speaking actors playing other nationalities in overseas locations. Wallander had Ken Branagh, Tom Hiddleston and sundry other Brits being quintessentially British while pretending to be Swedish, while Rufus Sewell got to drink lots of espressos in Italy in Zen, and Marton Csokas and Hayley Hatwell were as English-sounding as can be while solving crimes and romancing each other in Barcelona in Falcón.
France’s TF1, meanwhile, is looking to be a bit of an international player at the moment and, taking this trend on board, has gone one step further: rather than wait for some foreign broadcaster to start shooting a French cop show with English-speaking actors, it’s decided to do it itself and get a whole bunch of international actors over to Paris, get them all to fake American accents (except for the Americans, obviously) in a ‘quintessentially French’ cop show, and then sell the results to the rest of the world through the Fox International channel. It also managed to recruit famous French film star Jean Reno (The Professional/Leon) in his first lead TV role as the eponymous Jo of the series’ title – a cop in the famous Brigade Criminelle (what Spiral calls ‘the crime squad’) with more than a few issues. On top of that, they got in as show runner René Balcer, the creator of TF1’s late 90s cop show Mission Protection Rapprochée and Paris enquêtes criminelles, the French version of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Unfortunately, they also got French production company Atlantique Productions to make it. To be fair, Atlantique has been around for 30 years, making English-language productions such as Deadly Nightmares (aka The Hitchhiker), Death in Paradise and Counterstrike, not to mention Borgia for Canal+ and Transporter: The TV Series. What TF1 failed to notice was that largely, these programmes are all rubbish.
Here’s a trailer for Jo. We can talk more after the break – spoilers ahoy!
It’s “What did you watch this week?”, my chance to tell you what I movies and TV I’ve watched this week that I haven’t already reviewed and your chance to recommend things to everyone else (and me) in case I’ve missed them.
First, the usual recommendations:
The Americans (FX/ITV)
Archer (FX, 5USA)
Arrow (The CW/Sky 1)
Being Human (US) (SyFy)
The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
The Doctor Blake Mysteries (ABC1/ITV)
Cougar Town (TBS/Sky Living)
Doctor Who (BBC1/BBC America)
Elementary (CBS/Sky Living)
Go On (NBC)
Hannibal (NBC/Sky Living)
House of Cards (Netflix)
Modern Family (ABC/Sky 1)
Plebs (ITV2)
Shameless (US) (Showtime/More4)
Southland (TNT/Channel 4)
Spartacus (Starz/Sky 1)
Vegas (CBS/Sky Atlantic).
These are all going to be on in either the UK or the US, perhaps even both, but I can’t be sure which.
I’m adding to the recommended list both Plebs (ITV2) and Hannibal (NBC/Sky Living) (hopefully, I’m not being too quick off the mark there).
Still in the viewing queue: Jonathan Creek, last night’s Orphan Black, Arne Dahl and Rogue. I’ll be reviewing last night’s Doctor Who on Monday, when I’ve woken up. But I’ve tried a few new shows this week:
How To Live With Your Parents For The Rest of Your Life (ABC)
In which Sarah Chalke (Scrubs,Mad Love) is once again wasted, this time in an incredibly bland sitcom with an almost zero joke count. The story, for what it’s worth, is that Chalke splits up from her no-hope, but good-hearted husband and takes her kid with her to live with her parents. Six months later, she’s still there. Everyone, including Elizabeth Perkins as Chalke’s mother, tries really, really hard to make this work, but i’s just utterly bland.
Corleone (Sky Arts)
2007 Italian crime drama aka Il Capo dei Capi based on the life of real-life gangster Salvatore Riina, aka Totò u Curtu, growing up in post-war Sicily. Surprisingly well made for Italian TV, it is, nevertheless, completely unremarkable and lacking in interest for anyone who doesn’t know about said gangster. Trailer over here, for those who want one.
I’ve also been watching a few things on Netflix, just to mix things up a bit:
Black Books Yes, I never watched Black Books. Treat me like the leper I am. The first episode wasn’t bad and it surprised me to see Martin Freeman in it as a doctor, doing the exact same Martin Freeman routine he’s apparently been doing for the last 12 years now. Still feels like a slightly less funny cousin to Spaced, Hippies and The IT Crowd. But I’ll keep watching when I have time.
House of Cards (remake)
I finally got to the end of it. Yes, it ends on a cliffhanger. Yes, that cliffhanger is not the same as the BBC original’s cliffhanger. Yes, nothing much at all is resolved. But it’s still magnificent.
Spiral (season 1)
Yes, I know I’ve watched it already, but I thought I’d give season one a re-watch, since I’m now horrified to discover it was filmed in 2005 (although I think it took BBC4 a couple of years to pick it up). It’s remarkable to see what’d different and what’s changed. The directorial style, with the CGI zoom and crash zooms with sound effects are just weird; the swearing was considerably less than it is now; it’s filmed in Summer, so everything looks sunny for a change; Laure’s happy; Karlsson’s still learning how to be evil from the drunk struck-off solicitor; Clement’s still a magistrate; Romanians are the ethnic enemies; Pierre and Laure are shagging like very French bunnies. It’s all just so fascinating to watch and fun to see how the Spiral formula is still being worked on.
Now, some thoughts on some of the regulars and some of the shows I’m still trying:
The Americans (FX/ITV): Just keeps getting better every week, blurring the boundaries between who’s good and who’s bad in the cold war between the KGB and the FBI. The separation was unexpected, as was the final killing, and while the show obviously amps up the intrigue beyond what the KGB would have allowed their sleeper agents to do, it’s all done in as unshowy a manner as possible. A regular must-see.
Arrow (The CW/Sky 1): Despite the presence of Count Vertigo, this episode surprisingly didn’t suck and was actually quite good. Nice to see that they’re making the Chinese woman Oliver’s flashback mentor, rather than Deathstroke.
Being Human (US) (SyFy): Another US TV season ends with an overly sentimental wedding. Quelle surprise. But despite some good jokes in this final episode, it’s largely been a bit of waste of a season, offering no real plot advancement, with everything that happened in the first few episodes effectively reset by the end of the season. There have been a few changes and clearly a whole lot of things are being set up for next season that might pay off. But unlike the British original, it’ll probably still be worth watching. UPDATE: Duh! Obviously, it wasn’t the season finale. Silly me…
The Doctor Blake Mysteries (ABC1/ITV): A decent 10 episodes of intelligent TV period crime drama. It became a little formulaic towards the end, with less of the period commentary than before, but the story arc about Blake’s family was very well handled and moving, and the ending only promises good things for the future.
Elementary (CBS/Sky Atlantic): Surprisingly close to a genuine Sherlock Holmes mystery, although Jill Flint was badly unused. The addition of Doyle’s Hudson to the roster of characters was very welcome, changing the Watson/Holmes dynamic in useful ways, and well handled, too, given the changes made by the producers. The story was also a good way to capitalise on New York’s recent weather ‘issues’.
It’s Kevin (BBC2): Cameos from Stewart Lee, Peter Serafinowicz, Matt Berry and more show how respected Kevin Eldon is. Definitely getting better but a little bit of an acquired taste. The Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber sketch was marvellous though.
Parks and Recreation (NBC/BBC4): Six episodes into the second season and I’ve finally see a funny episode that didn’t entirely depend on Ron Swanson for the jokes. And that’s after an episode that didn’t have Ron in it at all, and so was virtually unwatchable.
Plebs (ITV2): While largely The InBetweeners in Roman times, it’s surprisingly clever and this week’s “role reversal” episode where the hero and his slave swapped jobs for day and the two cousins who shag were interesting marriages of laddish humour with Roman cultural differences. If you watch one ITV2 show, this is the one to watch.
Shameless (US) (Showtime/More4): Surprisingly, not the final episode of the season, despite the apparent resolution of so many plot threads, including an unexpected act of kindness by Frank. What they do tonight should be the last thing we expect then.
Southland (TNT/Channel 4): More or more like a series of vignettes, rather than an actual drama, with our characters almost aware that their television time is drawing to an end and looking for personal closure. A great couple of cameso this week for long-time fans of the show, which I’m hoping will lead to more by the end of the season.
Strike Back (Sky 1/Cinemax): I’m finally catching up with this, which has been sitting on my Apple TV for months now. Funny to see Tim Piggott-Smith running around with a sub-machine gun, Charles Dance being an arms dealer, and
Spartacus (Starz/Sky 1): We’re on the home straight of the season, the traditional time for the show to really dig into the politics and intrigue. An almost nostalgic episode, where the gladiators return to the ‘arena’, various characters get the vengeance they want and deserve, and with the arrival of the third member of Caesar/Crassus triumvirate, Pompey (if not yet in person), it’s starting to feel more and more like a prequel to Rome as well as decent ending for one of the most surprising shows on cable TV in years.
Vegas (CBS/Sky Atlantic): Finally realised that the FBI guy is Shawn Doyle (with US accent and black hair) from Endgame. An odd little procedural about an under-age prostitute, with a somewhat surprising, feminist conclusion that once again shows what a standout Sarah Jones is. That, and the addition of a new title sequence, suggests the producers have been having a slight rethink in the show’s extended absence. Needs a little more umph, but still a good drama and a cut above the standard CBS procedural.
And in movies:
No Country For Old Men
An excellent movie with a great cast. Josh Brolin finds some money, Javier Bardem chases him with a bad haircut, Sheriff Tommy Lee Jones wanders around cluelessly. It’s quite a scary movie, in some senses, where the moral of the story is that even if you are a Vietnam vet and a hunter, there’s always someone deadlier than you out there, and beyond that is God/Fate who can kick that person to the kerb, too. It’s ending defies analysis, too, although it’s efforts to defy the standard Hollywood traditions of how plots must be resolved, particularly violent plots, is welcome.
The Raid
An elite Indonesian SWAT team have to take in a crime lord who lives at the top of a building. To get to him, they have to shoot, punch, stab, kick and beat everyone they come across along the way, in what is largely a demonstration of the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat, starring some of the art’s greatest living practitioners. Not exactly the most plot-driven or character-rich movie out there, but a cracking action film, incredibly shot on a ridiculously low budget, that’ll be too violent for a lot of people. Came out at the same time as Dredd 3D, to which it bears such a similarity that it largely (unfairly) killed that movie’s box office.
Bad Boys 2
Dreadful, even by Michael Bay standards. Shame, because Bad Boys was actually quite good.
“What did you watch this week?” is your chance to recommend to friends and fellow blog readers the TV and films that they might be missing or should avoid – and for me to do mini-reviews of everything I’ve watched. Since we live in the fabulous world of Internet catch-up services like the iPlayer and Hulu, why not tell your fellow readers what you’ve seen so they can see the good stuff they might have missed?
