Danish television drama
Danish television dramas have come to represent an important and popular aspect of TV broadcasting in Denmark, especially since the 1970s.
One of the most successful Danish drama series in the 70s was Matador (1978), which has been repeated many times as well as being released on DVD. For many years, Danish television drama suffered from what has been dubbed the "Matador complex": every new drama series would be marketed as "the new Matador" – only to be found, by both critics and the general viewing public, not to measure up in the event.
Since the late 1990s, Danish television has once again enjoyed increasing success with a large number of drama series. Often aired in
Danish film directors as well the Danish Film Institute have warned that the growth in television drama drains the Danish film industry of talent, particularly scriptwriters. They maintain that film producers operate on market conditions while particularly DR, funded by a broadcast receiving licence fee, is able to pay better salaries. The television stations are also able to offer longer contracts and more responsibility.[2]
In 2014 the success achieved by several Danish TV drama series in gaining international attention led Aarhus University to initiate a research project entitled What makes Danish TV drama series travel?. Its main hypothesis is that "specific transformations and value creations are happening at all stages in the production of several Danish TV drama series".[3]
Selected series
- DR, it tells the story of interactions between a number of families living in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of central Copenhagen. It was directed by Ebbe Langberg and Tom Hedegaard.[4]
- Bent Fabricius-Bjerre. Matador originally aired on DR between November 1978 and January 1982, but has enjoyed repeated successful reruns in 1984-85, 1989–90, 1997–98 and 2006-07.[5]
- TAXA is a series in 56 episodes produced by DR and written by Stig Thorsboe. First broadcast on 14 September 1997, the action revolves around a taxi central in Copenhagen. The series was a huge success from the first episode.
- TV2 in 1997-1998. The story tells how Christian Top who has lost his wife in an unsuccessful robbery brings his daughter Sille to the island of Samsø. They have difficulty in integrating into a society where everyone knows everything about everybody but they find a friend in Ulla, a secretary.[6]
- International Emmy Award from The International Academy of Television, Arts and Science for best non-American television drama series in 2005.[7]
- Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) drama series in 22 episodes written by Stig Thorsboe and Hanna Lundblad. It was broadcast in four stages between 2004 and 2007. The principal producers were Charlotte Sieling and Henrik Ruben Genz. Starting in 1949, the series follows four young Danes through 25 years of history and personal development in a story about finding yourself in a world of changes.[8]
- TV2 starring Charlotte Munck and Iben Hjejle. It consists of three sets of 10 episodes. Anna Pihl, a policewoman at the Bellahøj police station in Denmark's capital, Copenhagen, is divorced, and lives with her son, Mikkel, in a flat shared with Jan, her gay male friend. The series focuses on personal stories and realism combined with action and suspense.[9]
- Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) drama series in 20 episodes written by Jesper W. Nielsen and Karina Dam. The actors include Jesper Langberg, Lisbet Dahl, Mikael Birkkjær and Lars Ranthe. It traces the story of a doctor who falls ill and has to give up his practice. His wife and two sons have to cope with the difficulties which ensue.[10]
- Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) political drama which tells the story of a charismatic politician, Birgitte Nyborg (played by Sidse Babett Knudsen), who unexpectedly becomes the first female Prime Minister of Denmark.
- American remake(2011-2014).
- Danish Broadcasting Corporation) and Sveriges Television. There have been four series of the show, comprising 10 episodes in the first three series.and eight episodes in the fourth The series follows a police investigation following the discovery of a dead body on the bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden. The series has also spawned an American remake, also called The Bridge (2013-2014), and a British-French series called The Tunnel(2013–2017).
Mini series
- Riget (The Kingdom) (1994) was a mini series created by film director and co-founder of the Dogme 95 movement Lars von Trier set in a haunted hospital. The series was later remade by Stephen King for American television under the name Kingdom Hospital, and also inspired the British spoof series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. The show's combination of surrealism and soap opera-like plotting earned comparisons to David Lynch's cult series Twin Peaks.[11]
- Edderkoppen (The Spider) (2000) is a mini series of six one-hour episodes collaboratively written and developed by Thomas Heinesen, Lars Kjeldgård, Birgit Olsen, Ebbe Kløvedal Reich, Lars Andersen, Ole Christian Madsen, Nikolaj Scherfig and directed by Ole Christian Madsen. It is a dramatization based on the unravelling of a criminal syndicate in Copenhagen in the post war era of 1949-50 and the series was made for the DR national public TV Channel. Edderkoppesagen (The Spider Case) was a real criminal syndicate case in Copenhagen around the time, but the series are fictional to a large extent. The series were aired for the first time in March 2000 and was a huge success with 1-1.5 million Danish viewers.[12][13][14] The series has been sold to many countries around the world.
- Unge Andersen (Young Andersen) (2005) is a mini series in two episodes written by Rumle Hammerich and Ulf Stark and directed by Hammerich. It describes the formative boarding school years of Hans Christian Andersen.
See also
References
- ^ "Danish TV series Livvagterne wins Emmy for Best TV Drama". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
- ^ "Filmfolk slår alarm: TV opsluger de bedste folk". Berlingske. 20 December 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
- ^ Professor, Anne Marit Waade; P +4540231785, 251 P. +4587162009. "danishtvdrama.au.dk". danishtvdrama.au.dk.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Huset på Christianshavn from the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Matadoronline (in Danish). Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Strisser på Samsø from Dvdcity.dk. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
- ^ Ørnen: En krimi-odyssé from the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Krøniken from the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Anna Pihl from TV2 (in Danish). Archived 2008-12-22 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Sommer from Settet.dk (in Danish). Archived 2008-12-05 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Moats, David (11 July 2011). "The Original Darkplace: Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom". The Quietus. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
- ^ Edderkoppen IMDb
- ^ Edderkoppen Det Danske Filminstitut
- ^ Tilbageblik: Sådan er DRs historiske dramaserier blevet modtaget TV2
External links
- Just how good is Scandinavian television anyway?, article from The Guardian