Deutschland 86

I have to say I'm disappointed. I fell it was to much removed from S1. Alex's character this season was not utilized enough and story line was shallow in it's attempts to be Nobel. Very few scenes that were intriguing and impacting like S1.

Three years have passed since the events of 'Deutschland 83' and a lot has changed; Martin has been shipped off to Angola where he is teaching German to orphans and changes in the Soviet Union mean the German Democratic Republic must fend for itself. This means that the government is desperate to earn foreign currency; even if it means dealing with ideological enemies... such as shipping arms to Apartheid South Africa despite the arms embargo. Martin's aunt, Lenora Rauch, is working in Cape Town working on the plan and utilises Martin; he sabotages the plan and comes up with another that will see them head to Angola and into danger. Events will ultimately take them back to Germany.

I really enjoyed the first series so was pleased to learn that there was to be more; having just finished the second series I can say I enjoyed it as much as the first. It contains plenty of tense moments, some good action, lots of great characters and the all-important nostalgia factor for those who grew up in the 1980s (but not in East Germany). The story includes many real events such as the bombing of a West Berlin disco and the retaliatory strikes on Tripoli by the United States. The series captured the paranoia of living in East Germany and the dangers involved with trying to get out. Surprisingly there are also quite a few amusing moments; the sight of East German officials at a 'Rocky Horror Show' event at the US Embassy was priceless! The cast do a fine job; most notably Jonas Nay, as Martin; Maria Schrader, as Lenora; and Sylvester Groth as Walter Schweppenstette. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to anybody who watched 'Deutschland 83'... I'd advise watching that first as it serves to introduce most of the key characters.

These comments are based on watching the series in German with English subtitles.

The plot was very interesting with lots of twists, good balance of continuity and variation. No one's "good" or "bad", the characters have so much depth. The setting's awesome, really makes you travel in time. A meaningful and adventure-packed talk about history, adventures, feelings and human nature.

Being married to German woman and speaking some of the language as well I was pleased the German speakers weren't dubbed. We both enjoyed season one as it was set in the town where we live, not that we could recognise it.

We were excited to see a second season and it was just as good as the first. My wife's father was born in the East, before the war that is, he fought in Stalingrad and wounded there. So found himself in the west after the war and stayed there. The rest of his family remained in what was to become East Germany. She told me many stories of what it was like to visit them, her father was arrested once by a family member, undercover Stasi, because he was discussing the price and quality of cigarettes in the West, really.

So a lot of this series was pretty close to what it was like to live in the east. We are both hoping there will be a series around the fall of the wall, there is a fab story there somewhere.

Compared to the first season, it's actually a little disappointing at first - in particular the first few episodes, but it does get better about halfway through and finds its feet well enough....and becomes the familiar show we all know and love.

The Berlin stuff is all good, I found the African parts quite poorly handled and just not very interesting or compelling.