What better way to spend a long, wet weekend than a back-to-back viewing of the Danish crime procedural The Killing? It’s the grim story of a murdered teen, and the aftermath of the terrible crime as it impacts on the increasingly obsessive police, on her grief-stricken family, and on a rising politician who’s implicated during the investigation.
My attention wavered marginally towards the end – though after 20 hours of pretty much non-stop viewing, I suppose that’s to be expected. But in retrospect the story has stayed with me as one of the most riveting dramas I’ve yet seen on tv, a taut, intense, brilliantly-written psychological roller-coaster that literally simmers across twenty episodes. Set in Copenhagen in what seems like an interminable grey November, the series won’t be driving many tourists on its glamorous locations, gorgeous stars and fun nightlife (though it has apparently spiked uncommon interest in Faroe Island sweaters…) But as part of the Scandi-Krimski phenomenon, this is right up there with the best. Or: Forbrydelsen blev godt tv, as (I think) they say in Denmark. Tak…