Forbrydelsen

Stevecw

Got a loan of the boxset from a friend who says it's well worth the watch. She loved it. I have 12 of the episodes from 1st series done, it's amazing.
Thought the subtitles would ruin it, but after a few mins you just adjust. After 1st episode you don't even realise you are reading subtitles.

Are there any other foreign language shows out there like this that ye have seen?

brian_t

Stevecw wrote: »

Are there any other hidden gems out there like this that ye have seen?

The problem with this question is that I wouldn't have described Forbrydelsen as a hidden gem. I'd have thought it was more of a well known show at this stage.

Have you seen The Bridge (Bron)

pickarooney

I just finished Ørnen last week and it was only deadly. Watching Borgen now and it's not half bad either.

Birneybau

Stevecw wrote: »

Got a loan of the boxset from a friend who says it's well worth the watch. She loved it. I have 12 of the episodes from 1st series done, it's amazing.
Thought the subtitles would ruin it, but after a few mins you just adjust. After 1st episode you don't even realise you are reading subtitles.

Are there any other hidden gems out there like this that ye have seen?

Hardly a hidden gem.

The Bridge and The Returned are my recommendations.

Sheela

Borgen is IMO really good. It was made by the DR television station, who also made Forbrydelsen, so you'll see some of the same actors as Forbrydelsen.

According to Wikipedia, ''It tells the story of charismatic politician Birgitte Nyborg who unexpectedly becomes the first female Prime Minister of Denmark''

You should also seek out the other 2 series of Forbrydelsen.

I have also watched series 1 of Unit One, which is an early TV appearance of Mads Mikkilsen. Its not in anyway groundbreaking but its an easy watch. One of the things I love about Danish TV is the way there only seems to be about 10 actors who turn up in each series, and again you'll see the same familiar faces in this...

I have just finished Series 2 of Israeli TV show Hatufim (Prisoners of War) which was the inspiration for Homeland. The second series was fantastic, way better than series 2 of Homeland. It mightn't be popular in the current climate to watch a show about IDF prisoners of war, but I would heartily recommend it, as its very balanced.

_Whimsical_

I absolutely loved Borgen. I really liked the West Wing but I thought Borgen was even better. It manage to cover topical issues very well but also gives a rounded sense of the impact a job like PM has on family life. They got the balance so right between the personal lives of characters and an indept explorations of the political issues at the heart of their professional lives.

Like Sheela I also really liked Hatufim. It's the inspiration for Homeland but apart from it being about POWs there's not much comparrison between the two. Again Hatufim gives more than the polished US series, it's a much more realistic and tangible sense of the grief,pain and the loss that goes with having years of your life violently stolen from you. It's quite heart rending.

I also watched Arvingerne which is another series by the makers of Borgen and to date their highest rated series shown in Denmark. I really enjoyed it. It's a family drama dealing with the reverberations caused by the will of an eccentric artist's will after her death. It's coming to Sky Arts in the autumn, I'd recommend it highly. Season 2 is in production and the rights to the US remake were bought before it even hit screens in Denmark!

Arturo Bandini

Not similar, but Les Revenants is possibly the best foreign series I've watched. Can't wait for season 2.

Sheela

Arturo Bandini wrote: »

Not similar, but Les Revenants is possibly the best foreign series I've watched. Can't wait for season 2.

+1

Another French series worth checking out is Engrenage (Spiral) which follows Parisian police, solictors and a judge.

pickarooney

Sheela wrote: »

+1

Another French series worth checking out is Engrenage (Spiral) which follows Parisian police, solictors and a judge.

Season one is very ropey but if you stick with it the quality improves tenfold in season two and beyond.

Stevecw

Cheers all, haven't seen any of them that ye mentioned. So that gives me a few options to check out over the next while.

Alf Veedersane

Coming to the end of Season 3 and it's definitely worth persisting with.