It's been a pretty poor year for British television. I can't honestly say that many new homegrown programmes really caught my attention. It was a poor year for American imports too.
For me the best programmes on tv this year have come from Europe particularly The Killing (Forbrydelsen), Braquo and Night Shift (.Næturvaktin) oh and Spiral too.
I won't discuss the plots etc - just watch them for yourself. What I will say is that it has created some true stars (or bloody well should have!)
The Character of Sarah Lund in the Killing is played by Sofie Gråbøl. Her superb performance in both series have made her a minor star in the UK. But she great as she was, her stardom was eclipsed by her collection of Faeroe sweaters.
A veteran of French cinema, Jean Hugues Anglade (You may know him for Betty Blue and Killing Zoe) pulled out a great performance as Eddy Caplan, a basically honourable cop who is not averse to murder, housebreaking and armed robbery if it gets results. For all his infamy it was impossible to dislike him
Georg Bjarnfreðarson from Night Shift must rank as one of the most appalling sitcom characters of all time. That talentless tosser Ricky Gervais and hislame character David Brent, pale into insignicance compared with the horror that is Bjarnfreðarson! his vile tv persona must surely have catapulted actor Jon Gnarr into his current role - that of Mayor of Reykjavik ( I am not joking!)
A third series of the Killing is showing in Denmark next year; the second series of Braquo has just finished its run in France; Night Shift was followed by two further series - Day Shift and Prison Shift and the feature film Bjarnfreðarson. I hope that all appear on British tv soon (The Killing and Night Shift appeared on BBC 4, Braquo was shown on the cable channel FX)
For me the best programmes on tv this year have come from Europe particularly The Killing (Forbrydelsen), Braquo and Night Shift (.Næturvaktin) oh and Spiral too.
I won't discuss the plots etc - just watch them for yourself. What I will say is that it has created some true stars (or bloody well should have!)
Georg Bjarnfreðarson from Night Shift must rank as one of the most appalling sitcom characters of all time. That talentless tosser Ricky Gervais and hislame character David Brent, pale into insignicance compared with the horror that is Bjarnfreðarson! his vile tv persona must surely have catapulted actor Jon Gnarr into his current role - that of Mayor of Reykjavik ( I am not joking!)
A third series of the Killing is showing in Denmark next year; the second series of Braquo has just finished its run in France; Night Shift was followed by two further series - Day Shift and Prison Shift and the feature film Bjarnfreðarson. I hope that all appear on British tv soon (The Killing and Night Shift appeared on BBC 4, Braquo was shown on the cable channel FX)
