Wallander Series 2

[Bob The Skutter]

The second series of Wallander is set to start on BBC One on Sunday 3rd of Jan.

From BBC Press Office

Wallander – Faceless Killers Ep 1/3

Sunday 3 January
9.00-10.30pm BBC ONE (Schedule addition 10 December)

• www.bbc.co.uk/drama

Entering an isolated farmhouse on what he believes is a routine call, Inspector Wallander discovers a bloodbath, as the Bafta-winning series starring Kenneth Branagh as the famous Swedish detective returns to BBC One for three new feature-length investigations.
An old man has been tortured and beaten to death. Beside his shattered body, his wife is barely alive. As her life slowly slips away, she whispers to Wallander a word that sounds like "foreigners". When her dying word is leaked to the press by the police, there is an outbreak of racist reprisals in Ystad.
Meanwhile, Wallander's personal life is a shambles. He sees little of his daughter, struggles to bond with her new partner – a second-generation Syrian doctor – and his relationship with his mentally fragile father is pushed to the limit. On top of that, the fallout from the case causes him to doubt everything, even his abilities as a police officer.

I only ever got round to watching the first episode (I think) of the first series, but I'll probably check out the second after hearing the acclaim the first series got.

 

[Emher]

I sadly only saw the last half of the last episode of the first series, but from what I saw I liked it. Having read the actual books I'd say they're very faithful to them and Branagh is the best Wallander since Rolf Lassgård, the first to play him in Sweden. The current one that plays him in Sweden, Krister Henriksson, is a competent actor but woefully miscast as Wallander.

I will say that it feels odd to see people with perfect British English in Sweden and Ystad (other great thing about them, they're actually filmed in and around Ystad) but with Swedish props and signs! It's like some odd alternate universe!

 

[Lonemagpie]

Weird - I didn't think there was going to be a second season, as Branagh was buggering off to direct The Mighty Thor... They certainly kept this quiet

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Weird - I didn't think there was going to be a second season, as Branagh was buggering off to direct The Mighty Thor... They certainly kept this quiet

Nah, it was announced yonks ago. I think Branagh mentioned it was filming when he accepted the BAFTA.

 

[Kirks_Flying_Wig]

Weird - I didn't think there was going to be a second season, as Branagh was buggering off to direct The Mighty Thor... They certainly kept this quiet

I think they filmed the three new eps over the summer; Thor doesn't start filming until next month so there was plenty of time for Branagh to chew the Swedish scenery and deal with pre-production issues for the film at the same time.

Argh! It's that same awful two-weeks-out-of-RADA actress playing his daughter! Couldn't the BBC have slipped in a little recast?

 

[cardinal biggles]

Woo-hoo! I'm looking forward to this when it shows up on PBS. Really enjoyed the first series.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I enjoyed the first series, though it took me ages to get round to watching them on Sky Plus. Will tune in for this.

I see BBC4 has recently been showing the Swedish tv series too but I haven't caught any of it.

 

[Emher]

^If it's the Swedish series with this dude as Wallander:

http://images.google.se/images?q=kr...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CCwQsAQwBA

Don't bother. I saw one of them, one of the ones that was made for cinemas even, and it sucked. Might have improved but I doubt it.

If it's this dude though:

http://images.google.se/images?hl=sv&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&um=1&ei=fdEjS-bSOI3W-Qa6laGyBg&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=rolf+lassg%C3%A5rd&spell=1&start=0

Then it's awesome

 

[Bob The Skutter]

^According to my media center it's the one with Krister Henriksson.

 

[Emher]

Eh. I'd say don't bother. Then again I am a bit of a nut when it comes comparing adaptations of books to the books and I'd say Lassgård and Branagh are superior Wallanders. But then again, I've only watched one episodes of Henriksson's, so maybe I should shut my trap

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Give the guy another chance. Watch another episode before you make a definitive judgement on him!

In similar vein (ie Scandinavian detectives), I've started reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo today. Pretty good so far.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I forgot this started last night, I meant to check it out.

 

[Captain Shaw]

Will this show make sense to someone who has not seen series 1?

 

[Kirks_Flying_Wig]

Will this show make sense to someone who has not seen series 1?

It should do. All of the stories are self-contained. There's just a couple of minor plots that continue from the first series but they're explained for new viewers.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

The BBC have skipped a lot of the early Wallander stories, haven't they? Is there any particular reason for that?

 

[Bob The Skutter]

The BBC have skipped a lot of the early Wallander stories, haven't they? Is there any particular reason for that?

There were 3 that aired last year, 3 this year... Wiki says there were only 7 books, so I guess they've adapted most of them now.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I have only seen one episode of Wallender and I was underimpressed. though maybe it was a less then stillar episode and I should look at at least a couple more.

I din't really like the English accents. They seemed so out of place.

I haven't yet read any of Henning Mankell books thouugh I plan to as I lstarting to really like Scandanavian crime fiction. So far I have read three books in Karin Fossum's Inspector Sejer series (norwegian) and one of Jo Nesbo Inspector Harry Hole novels (Norweigian) and all those Arnauldur Indrridason's Inspector Erlandur series that have been translated into English (set in Iceland).

I would appreciate any recommendations for authors that you think I might like.

Does anyone know any Finnish or Danish crime writers?

 

[Kirks_Flying_Wig]

The BBC have skipped a lot of the early Wallander stories, haven't they? Is there any particular reason for that?

There were 3 that aired last year, 3 this year... Wiki says there were only 7 books, so I guess they've adapted most of them now.

There were eight books (nine if you include a new one that came out last year but hasn't been translated into English yet), plus a volume of five short stories and novellas. Branagh said in this week's TV & Satellite that they skipped two of the books deliberately, one because it is set in Latvia immediately after the fall of the USSR, and the other because it is set against the backdrop of Nelson Mandela's first presidential campaign!

I wish they'd filmed the books in order. Last night's episode (based on the first book) was just terrible because most of the plot had been cannibalised in the first series and sprinkled throughout those three episodes. What was left was mangled beyond all recognition. Instead of claiming to be adapting the novels, the BBC should have just gone down the same route as the Henriksson films and devised all-new plots.