Pigerne fra Englandsbåden

After seeing the negative comments I decided to write a review about this series. Well, some of these comments are indeed true, such as being too slow and having plot holes, but if you like big twists and turns, this is one of those series you are looking for. Therefore, the series may not mean anything to the viewers until the sixth episode. Marie Sando Jondal gives a great performance and plays the lead character, journalist Nora Sand. This series is worth watching and I rate it 7 out of 10. Finally, please write a review here after learning the difference between Danish and Norwegian I am not DANISH but at least I know from checking on IMDb and Google that this series is not NORWEGIAN.

This is a slowly evolving narrative. It's not anything like as bad as some suggest. There is nothing doubt some scenes are on the ponderous side so the direction is a bit at fault. The story is credible and interestingly convoluted. There's definitely a number of points where you try to get Nora to behave a bit more rationally. Lisbeth is played with some menace by Susan A Olsen who stands out here compared to other roles she has been given in Borden or The Eagle. Over all worth watching. It is important to accept the play is about the character development and underlying psychology of the individuals here. I enjoyed it even with the slow pace.

I seen some reviews that were critical of the program being far too slow. Apparently, they are entertained by the procedural programs in which after a crime is committed in the first 10 minutes the rest of episode is spent gathering facts and suspects until the last 5 minutes when an arrest is made. Police work often is far more extensive requiring days, weeks or longer to arrive at a resolution. The weakness in this program was the potential police coverup which has become something of a cliche. Also, another cliche is potentially attaching a crime to the wrong individual. Otherwise, this particular program was very entertaining.

So they skimped on an editor - a shame. Could've worked in four episodes. Way too slow paced. The last two episodes, where you'd expect it to become exciting, 'thrilling' it completely deflates and leaves the viewers in this household yawning and glancing at their phones. The author surely can't be pleased with the result? The actors all do their best to make this glacier-moving narrative work, but have apparently all been told to speak excruciatingly slowly. If you have the time, then give it a go, but if you don't need to have everything repeated and regurgitated for you again and again, then give it a miss.

Journalist Nora Sand has to step back from her prestigious London job after getting romantically involved with a person she was investigating. She returns to her home town in Denmark and shortly after her arrival an unknown person places an envelope containing photographs in her letter box. They are of two girls who vanished from a ferry on a school trip to England in 1980. She determines to investigate; in the process uncovering various long hidden secrets. At the same time another teenage girl goes missing; is there a connection?

I thought this was a decent enough mystery series. It may not be the best of the ever growing number of Nordic dramas available to watch in the UK but the story is solid and had some good twists that I hadn't really expected. The protagonist is a little difficult to like; especially early on as she manages to annoy many people she interacts with. However by the time she was in danger towards the end I did worry about how things would turn out. Early on it is a little slow moving but the finale is genuinely tense and claustrophobic. The cast does a solid job bringing the characters to life. Overall a decent enough addition to the Nordic Noir genre; worth a watch if you enjoy such series.

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