The Bridge

The Wicker family have just finished watching the original Danish/Swedish drama series The Bridge. I didn't know all that much about it before we started. The boys had watched it while I was away in Europe, and wanted to join in watching it with me on my return. I'm glad they did. It's 10 hours well spent, and nice to watch something as a family. The extraordinary success of The Bridge has been much copied- there has been an English/French The Tunnel, and American/Mexican The Bridge.

I don't get to watch all that much TV these days but do enjoy the occasional whodunnit, but without all the slick and gloss of CSI or NCIS. The Bridge is a perfect gritty crime drama. Be warned it's not for the faint hearted at times.

A body is found on the amazing Oresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmo in Sweden. Police from both Denmark and Sweden investigate the case, and so we have the intriguing Saga Noren from Malmo working alongside Martin Rohde from Copenhagen. As a non-Scandinavian viewer I'm sure we miss many of the nuances- it isn't always obvious if they're in Malmo or in Copenhagen, and the two languages sound rather similar to our ears. The subtitles force active engagement from all in the room- no watching tv while using iPad or laptop at the same time.

The Bridge was written as a tv show by Hans Rosenfeldt in 2006 when he was given the mission of creating a thriller set equally in Sweden and Denmark. It's a fascinating glimpse to a part of the world I've never been. The Bridge is possibly not the best tourist advertisement for Copenhagen (there's no Princess Mary, no palaces, no blue sky), or Malmo (not even a hint of a Eurovision final), but you can now do a Bridge tour in Copenhagen. Perhaps one day, if I can ever stop going to Paris, maybe I'll go to Copenhagen and cross the bridge to Malmo.