SWEDISH WALLANDER SERIES ENDS

UPDATE: This blog has now moved to Crime Scraps Review where you can read all the old posts and a lot of new material.

http://crimescraps2.wordpress.com

The factors that make a TV series a success are varied, but many of the best crime series usually feature an ensemble cast of characters.

The Swedish Wallander series on BBC4 featured brilliant acting by Ola Rapace [as Stefan], Johanna Sallstrom [as Linda], Krister Henriksson [as Kurt Wallander] and Mats Bergman [as Nyberg] that kept you totally gripped throughout each episode.

I will say that watching the final episode was a gut wrenching experience in view of the subject matter and the subsequent tragic death of Johanna Sallstrom, but it was typical of this series that it dealt with unpleasant subjects in a realistic manner.

A new series of the British Wallanders, starring Kenneth Branagh, was advertised at the end of the program, and the trailer promptly emphasised why the British series lacked the veracity of the Swedish version.

Branagh so dominates the screen that the rest of the cast were, in that first series, mere appendices to his personality and acting ability.

In the Swedish series there was a balance to the cast and the performances, which was distinctly lacking in the Branagh version. I hope the second series will be an improvement, and I won't keep thinking about Henry V every time Branagh speaks.