Have you discovered 'The Killing'? I stumbled across it by chance late one Tuesday and got to watch the repeat of the first two episodes. I should have gone to bed after the first but, be warned, its compelling stuff.
Its about the 20 day investigation of the brutal murder of a school girl and each one hour episode covers one day. Quite why the BBC do the two episodes back to back I can't understand, logically they should have been brave and shown episodes on consecutive nights - it is on BBC4 after all.
Why is it so good? In some ways being subtitled makes you concentrate in a different sort of way but then as I recently found out at 'The King's Speech', when you watch something really good you don't want to miss one w w w word. I suppose the reason is that it is very well written and everyone else involved in the production is on top form.
Its Danish but, unlike their bacon, has tremendous intensity. Most of the action seems to happen at night, in dark rooms and cellars so its all very noirish too and the story gradually engulfs more people spreading out like high definition slow motion ripples on a pond.
The acting seems fantastic but one can't be entirely sure since, by necessity, they all speak Danish. Sadly my Danish has not improved beyond now knowing that Danish for Hi is Hey pronounced in a shortened way that almost sounds like Hi. It also has the remorselessness and inevitability of a dentist drill.
So, thinking of watching Casualty next Saturday? Give it up, lets face it, its now rubbish, past its sell by date by years and I will tell you next weeks episode now so you do not need to watch it anyhow. To cut a long story short, (never easy with Casualty) a terrorist plants a dirty bomb which cannot be moved or it will explode, there is not time for bomb disposal to arrive but Charlie saves the day revealing, that at one time, he was in the army (the experience pushed him in to nursing) where he was a bomb disposal expert - while Charlie is doing his stuff with the bomb Ruth, who has managed to escape from her ward, trepans herself in a broom cupboard - nice touch eh oh and a man who keeps on complaining about tooth ache and is initially ignored ends up diagnosed with terminal cancer (large tumour in brain) with only few days to live i.e. his own personnel bomb. Now thats what I call poignant. Give it up, tune in to BBC4 and start following 'The Killing'.
