Professor T.

I discovered Professor T on PBS. The first 13 episodes were so good, I am paying to watch Series 2. All the acting is top notch. These are not familiar actors to me, but I am very impressed. Each small mystery is interesting and fun to solve along with the cast. I can't wait for Series 3 to be available in the States too!

I thoroughly enjoyed Professor T., and was increasingly drawn into the two series available on UK's All4 channel, ultimately binge watching! Yes, it takes a while to get into its stride, so disregard the Guardian reviewer's lazy and flippant review based only on the first episode. The series' writers' intentions only become clear over time and some of the best scenes (and explanations of the Professor's complicated past) are left building right up to the closing episodes of Series 2. If there are echoes of previous TV dramas, so there are in a myriad of small screen offerings - where could we find total originality after so many decades of TV? Humour, tragedy, suspense, romance and whodunit unravellings take turns to entertain, and I ended up really liking all the main characters, finding the acting and directing high-end throughout. The European aspects might be appreciated more by a UK audience drilled in Scand-noir than by US viewers, as we know Americans often prefer to remake a successful Euro-series or movie in English on home soil to guarantee a good audience. Still, if subtitles and a foreign ambiance are fine by you, I'd unreservedly recommend giving this thoughtful Belgian drama a go. The intriguing series 2 ending leads me to think a third series might be pending.

...more in particular in my hometown Antwerp, and spoken in my native language Flemish (which some, mostly Dutch, minimisingly coin it a Dutch dialect). Excellent screen job in production, directing, acting, story line, score. It all shows in a most-enjoyable creation. No unnecessary depressing gore and attention-grabbing drama. It rather leaves you with a smile and spirits lifted.

Professor Jasper Teerlinck lectures in criminology at Antwerp University and sometimes helps the police with active cases. He is no ordinary crime fighter; not only is he very direct he is also rather troubled... some might say he is actually insane. He frequently sees things that aren't there; imagining people breaking into song and in one case seeing a man literally as a puppet complete with strings! The other characters are interesting too; most notably Inspector Annelies Donckers, a police officer who was once a student of the Professor; Paul Rabet, a senior police officer with issues of his own and Christina Flamant, another senior officer who was once involved with the professor.

When one first starts watching this series one may wonder just what is going on; is it a drama or is it a comedy... the truth is it is a bit of both with a touch of tragedy too. Koen De Bouw is great as Professor T; the character could so easily have been annoying or silly but he makes the professor likeable and believable. The supporting cast are solid too; most notably Ella Leyers as Annelies and Goele Derick as Mrs Sneyer's, the professor's secretary who steals every scene she is in despite being a relatively minor character. The cases are typically contained within a single episode, although the final case of each of the two seasons is spread over two episodes. These are fairly standard murder mysteries which are well handled with each having plenty of suspects to keep viewers guessing. The series does throw up some surprises as characters have to deal with personal issues one wouldn't expect in such a series; these are dealt with well; giving depth to the characters rather than detracting from the story. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of murder mysteries who are looking for something a little different.

These comments are based on watching in Dutch with English subtitles.

Like other reviewers, I was not convinced this was for me--I thought I knew what it was going to be. Stick with it, it is surprising how this holds your attention. The storyline and the characters are intriguing. Professor T is brilliantly, certifiably crazy, but remains functional, others care about him and accept his quirkiness--. It is also very funny. The music is also terrific.