Professor T.

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.

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!

In spite of potential unreality and exaggeration (I am not sure that a person like that could be in contact with young people and assist authorities nowadays), but the concept and its realisation are really distinct. True, the cases are not equally interesting, but when the wrongdoer could be guessed in advance, there is always a twist in his-her motive and some aspect the viewer (as well as the police) was unable to ascertain...

The gem of this Series is undoubtedly Koen de Bouw - he is really something, so different from his other performances; I have also briefly looked at remake trailers and must state that no other actor in the role of Professor T. Is up to this task. Plus, here my another favourite was Goele Derick as Ingrid Sneyers. Well, the remaining cast was good as well, though I was not fond of certain replacements in Seasons 2 and 3... As for the latter, I disagree with those claiming that Season 3 is worse or unnecessary, I find it pleasant change of venues and skilful roundup of the story, no hasty finish due to less viewers, lack of funds, etc.

Thus - 10 points for performances and depiction of "crazy moments", 8 for the smoothness - 9 in total. Good work!

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.