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| Baby its cold outside |
I’d be completely utterly stupendously lost without Walter Presents. All4s on demand service is 3 years old, and has been a lifeline for me these gloomy winter eves since the Christmas lights came down, especially when terrestrial telly is as barren as a Brexit economic policy. Plus the fact that a high percentage of its contents are from the Euro nations, which is perfect for a Scandi obsessive like yours truly. Not that everything appeals, like the cliché-a-munite Franco-German production The Crimson Rivers (Les Rivières Pourpres) shown on More4 every Friday nights.
However,
another water-based drama is a new hit in my house. River (8x60’) aka Elven
set on the Norwegian-Russian border high up in the Arctic Circle where the
remnants of the Cold War still lingers on. A local girl disappears after
finding a severed foot in a local river, before ending up frozen to death
herself on an army no-gone zone. The Authorities are desperate to keep it
hush-hush, but local politi officer Thomas Lønnhøiden must have missed the
memo, as he and army officer and all round action gal Mia Holt are firmly on
the dangerous case.
I’m two episodes in so far, which slowly (too slow for some
maybe?) but surely sucks you in with its atmospheric views of the frozen falls,
spooky isolated farmhouses, empty highways and vaguely spoken locals with
Something to Hide.
Tusen takk, Walter.
But
what about some other Norwegian highlights? Despite not as numerous as their
Danish-Swedish cousins, they are available. Another firm favourite of mine was Acquitted
(Frikjent) about a wronged businessman returning to his roots to save a local
solar factory, twenty years after being accussed of killing his beau. The fjords scenery and the cast are stunning, and
are available as two series courtesy of Walter.
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| Yeah, but still not a patch on Snowdonia |
As
with Welsh language telly, I had fun ‘spotting the same actors’ in a fantastic
Netflix series from the same neck of the woods. Borderliner (Grenseland),
described as a Norwegian Line of Duty, utterly gripped me on a trip to Oslo
(bien sûr) last year – stars a towering Tobias Santelmann as moody detective Nikolai Andreassen forsaking
the bright lights of the capital to investigate a murder in his hometown – one which
his cop brother and father are murkily involved.
Only one series was produced,
despite the open-ended last episode that’s screaming for a sequel.
