Rejseholdet

Yep, I too love the series, shown here in Australia on SBS. When it's on I fire up google earth and get my aerial view of the crime scene in Denmark! Charlotte Fich, and Trine Pallesen are gorgeous although some people say that Charlotte looks a bit like New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke (well Helen Clarke would do well if she looked more like Charlotte)!

Some things puzzle me a little, First is the video "treatment", it seems to have some "texture" or treatment which puzzles me a little as it looks like it has passed through analogue production processes.

Second is one of the bridges in the opening title sequence. Is this bridge the one between West Zeeland (Vastsjaelland) and Fyns?

Well done to the team at "Rejseholdet", and glad IMDb has the literal translation of the original title.

Rejseholdet is the second project from the national danish TV-station DR1 to bear that name, and it is by far the best of the two shows.

The plot is very basic. The danish police force has a team that can move out and assist the local police in cases where expert knowledge is required. Each episode is based on real-life crimes commited in Denmark and (so far) the neighboring countries of Sweden and Germany. The story follows the away team, and much of the plot is focused around the character's interaction between themselves, their private life, and the people they meet during the cause of the investigation.

What the series lack in action, is made up in the show of realism presented. The crimes are not solved at gunpoint, but rather in careful examination of the crimescene and the general public's help (remember Denmark is a small country, so often someone is bound to know something or have seen something).

The acting is quite good, and very realistic compared to most contemporary danish shows and films. Especially Mads Mikkelsen (as Fischer) and Lars Brygmann (La Cour) stands out. The two characters suplement each other very well and are the ones with most depth.

What also makes this movie very popular, is the fact that a lot of neglected locations in Denmark, is shown in the show. No town is too small for a crime, and most danes will have their city, or one close to them, featured in one of the episodes.

It is no wonder that almost a quarter of the danes watch this series every week. And it is also no wonder that the concept has been sold to other tv-networks - so look out for your own version of "Rejseholdet" soon.

I've seen selected episodes of Unit One on German television and am extremely impressed. I'm a fan of several Swedish crime series (Commissar Beck and the Henning Mankell mysteries), but Unit One is just as good, if not better. What is surprising is how much it packs into little over an hour. Not only does it cover the case in all its complications, but it also covers various back stories, the private conflicts that affect the members of Unit One. The writing, the cast, the photography, the direction are all superb, and I can only hope that ZDF in Germany will show all the episodes, and when they do, that they will put the series in primetime, and not in a late-night slot as they have up to now.

Taking inspiration in actual events in Danish crime history, this series simply rocks. I've just bought the whole series on dvd, and I must admit that it is quite amazing to see the development of the characters during the run. Finally a Danish series that can give the American ones, like CSI, Colombo, Murder She Wrote a.s.o. a little fight for the money.

This series only began (on SBS TV) here in Australia around a month ago, and I'm already hooked!! Whilst not the best or the most original cop show there is, it's well made, and the stories are believable, and the characters of the police are well drawn. Mostly, I like the balance between the crime-of-the-week and the personal lives of the detectives, where the latter never ever seems to overshadow the former, as it should be, but the personal insights into regular characters gives them substance and dimension.

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes their crime shows on TV to be straight-forward and without too much fanfare and sensation.