Professor T.

This series could be compared to Monk or House, but, it does not remain in the simple genius with null social skills that solves police cases. The Professor T. is also a deconstruction of the human mind, traumas, emotions and their consequences in people's lives and is analyzed as the psyche and emotions have led to commit ordinary crimes. Although the cases are autoconclusive, the central characters are evolving and growing and all seasons have a common link that is the mysterious and traumatic suicide of the Professor's father. Apart is the music that accompanies the series, quite unusual, but, that fits like a glove.

T. is spectacularly good. It has humour, high quality acting. The storyline and dialogue are surprising and captivating. The direction is exquisite, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes chillingly emotional. Koen De Bouw is totally different from all his other roles, his comic timing and humour is spot on. Ella Leyers is very natural and spontaneous, and touching in her scenes with the equally authentic Gène Bervoets. Herwig Ilegems is a real comic gem, we already knew that, but this time he proves that he can be very believable in a dramatic vein. T. is not the classical whodunit, but it is thriller, comedy and drama all in once. It succeeds on all three levels. This series deserves a lot of viewers!

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.

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.

...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.