Van der Valk

I am mystified by the awful reviews of this show. Unlike many reviewers, I watched the original series. This version is very different, but every bit as good. The team of actors playing the crime fighters led by Marc Warren do a fine job, and their various characters are well developed. The scripts are sharp and keep the action moving well, and I thought the plots were intriguing and definitely a cut above the ordinary. The episodes are well-directed, with well staged action. The personal Ives of the characters provided useful background without intruding to much, and the City of Amsterdam is used effectively as a back drop.

I hope they do a third series.

I quite enjoyed this first episode. It's entertaining, well made and quite funny at times. As an Amsterdam citizen, I was a bit suprised by the english speaking police at first. But in the end it didn't put me off at all. Political plot was interesting as well. Good acting and definitely a step up compared to recent dutch drama series on television. Looking forward to coming episodes.

I'm shocked how many people dislike this show. I found it entertaining and well acted with interesting storylines - not to mention beautiful Amsterdam as a backdrop. For me Marc Waerren was perfectly casted as the tough and complex Van der Volk. I'd like to see much more of him in in the future.

I watched all three episodes of this 2020 Van Der Valk and I enjoyed them. I like good police procedurals and it's a treat when I can watch one filmed in one of Europe's beautiful cities or the countryside.

Of the actors on Commissioner Van Der Valk's team, Elliot Barners-Worrell as Lt Cloovers and Luke Allen-Gale as Sgt de Vries were especially good. Warren and McCoy were good but not as strong as the above two actors.

It's a challenge to maintain viewers attention span over 90 minutes, especially so with a who-done-it and a number of characters with foreign names. Please be kinder to viewers - poor sound levels, strong regional British accents and other actors whose first language is not English, makes listening difficult. And lighting could have been better on interiors in dark old buildings and in long boats.

I'm not a big fan of flashbacks, but in this series it would have helped explain Van Der Valk's mercurial personality if we knew about his wife in Episode 1 not in Episode 3. Same with the Chief Commissioner.

I'd watch a series 2, it's good.

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I'm watching series 2 and enjoying it. The writing, the key to any successful series is very good. I also went back and re-watched series 1 and I scored it higher, the plots are very good.

Van Der Valk the commissioner, Hassell the inspector, de Vries the sergeant, Cloovers the lieutenant, Dahlman the chief commissioner and Davie the pathologist are very different personalities. There is some minor personal things but basically the characters are focused on solving the complicated crimes.

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Sadly Season 3 isn't that good, Brad de Vries (Luke Allen-Gale) and Job Cloovers (Elliot Bares-Worrell) have been replaced by two less experienced actors. Episode 2 is the best of the 3 episodes. And there is more of Emma Fielding (Julia Dahlman) and Darrell D'Silva (Henrik Davie). Luke Allen-Gale and Elliot Barnes-Worrell brought humor and acting skills their replacements ae stiff. In police dramas the top officers and pathologists come and go, New writers, this was probably farmed out by ITV, cliched episodes.. Chris Murray the creator is off writing his new series "Cannes Confidential". I dropped the rating, Season 1 & 2 were very good, Season 3 is poor.

I don't know anything about the original, so I'm going only on what I've seen. Good acting, writing, and interesting characters. I look forward to seeing episode 2 and hope it's even better.