Home Ground

Although I have previously seen the topic of a female coach/manager been tackled (cough), by the British way back in 1989 ! in "The Manageress" with the always lovely Cherie Lunghi, it is safe to say that we haven't gotten much further in this development. Therefore this new Norwegian show is a welcome addition to the discussion of egalitarianism in sports management.

The female protagonist here is surely competent and well aware of all the pitfalls and opposition she faces during this first season. Personally I found the subplots involving her daughter a bit off, as if they couldn't really figure out what she wanted - which is probably realistic enough, but makes for bad storytelling. Also it is glaringly obvious that Jon Carew is a former player and not an actor :-), however most of the rest of the cast is really good and the location scenery is just beautiful. Norwegian fjords, I mean - come on... NRK (Norwegian PBS) is on a hot streak with their TV-shows these days - good on them.

I had this series on my watch list for a year and just kept giving it a wide birth for some reason. Then came the awful lockdown. Man, what a fantastic series. You don't need to like fottie, I do, to really enjoy this. I binged it all and felt sad when the final of the last season ended.

Very well played and a good script!! Many unknown actors, very good main characters. Worth viewing!!

Fresh, joyful, exciting, emotional, proud. This one has it all, and set in the beautiful scenery of Norway's mountainous west coast fjords, in the small town of Ulsteinvik, the setting brings it all together. Beautifully!

Ane Dahl Torp delivers a solid, credible and relatable character in "Helena Mikkelsen" through all 10 episodes. While she starts out a bit flat and mysterious, she let's both us, the viewers, and her team mates in on who she really is and what makes her tick. There are many other good characters with great character development through this first season, which makes this show good and relatable, also for those completely uninterested in football.

The show focuses on some topics that have quite recently been in the media, with both "Me-too" relatable content, as well as stereotypes towards women and how they cope in male dominated fields of work. The show takes all of this on head-to-head without ever becoming too politically correct, educating, or in any way trying to preach any one message to the viewer. It also opens a window into the mind of someone struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder, for those of us lucky enough to never have experienced mental illness first hand.

Heimebane made me laugh, cry and stand up and cheer. Objectively it's probably an 8,5 or something, but who ever heard about an objective supporter? As the locals in Ulsteinvik would have said: "Great", or "Steikje bra" 10/10 !

Not joking either, I watched Norwegian TV drama 'Heimbane' around the same time as the FIFA 2018 World Cup and grew to love the series. Why aren't there more female coaches in football? Thinking about it as a fan of the game, I'm struggling to find any rational explanation?!? Ane Dahl Torp plays Helena Mikkelsen the head coach of newly promoted Varg FC (fictionalized, but most of the action is set among the fjordic landscape of Ulsteinvik in the west of the country) and really makes the part her own (particularly love all the little obsessive 'ticks' and character traits she's built into the role). The football during the series is done pretty well (which certainly makes a welcome change!), but not overdone, most of the attention is on the personal and professional lives of the characters. I wouldn't know a 'known' from an 'unknown' in Norwegian drama, but enjoyed Axel Bøyum's performance as the young football prodigy emerging from the shadow of his father, Emma Bones as Mikkelsen's supportive teenage daughter Camilla, sympathetic in the role, and former professional John Carew as Michael Engersen draws attention to the problems players often face in the twilight of their careers. Finally, Rolf Kristian Larsen gives a solid performance as Eivind, Mikkelsen's embattled boss standing up for her in the chauvinistic boardroom. There's lots going on here and a a few surprises along the way to keeps things interesting. The whole thing could easily have gone pear-shaped, but 'Heimebane' succeeds because it's a drama more about the human condition than 'The Beautiful Game'. Looking forward to another season.