Scandi-Drama/Nordic Noir or just foreign drama

Does anyone watch this kind of drama? Danish, Norweigian, Finnish, Swedish? Some Icelandic? I find the series very dark but almost always engaging. I’ve enjoyed many shows - The Bridge, The Tunnel, Valhalla Murders, When the Dust Settles, Cry Wolf, Occupied, State of Happiness, Trapped, many more - as well as shows from France, Belgium, Poland and so on. If the subtitles are legible I have no problem watching them, and some of the best shows I’ve seen in the last few years have been in other than English.

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i tried to watch foreign Dramas, butI cannot keep up with the subtitles.

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It takes a little doing, sure, but if they’re presented well it is worth persevering. we miss so many amazing dramas here just because they’re not in English, and the same with movies. Have you seen Downfall/Der Untergang? Amazing movie, chronicling the last days of Hitler in the bunker. No English version though. The other thing about foreign (I use that word advisedely, as in, foreign to me as an English-speaker) drama is that you can in fact if you want turn down the sound and just concentrate on reading the subtitles.

I have the subtitles turned on for English language dramas too.

well the thing is when im reading the subtitles im missing whats going on ,on screen .

You have a point. There’s a bit of an art to it. If you think of an English-language drama though, people are not talking all the time. Someone might walk into a room, say, open a drawer, look through files, look up and then say “What about this guy” to someone else in the room. The subtitles would only be onscreen for that sentence. It’s simplistic, yes, but you just flick your eyes down to the subtitles when they come on, and yes, sometimes I will have to pause the thing to read what’s being titled across the screen, if it’s a long-ish piece, but overall I don’t have a problem keeping up. The only real issue I have is that it’s hard to eat and watch something like this. You can eat and listen with your head down or your eyes off the screen, but trying to keep watching what’s being said as you eat, that can be a pain.

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yes ,you could be a messy eater ,say the food miss’s your mouth and lands in your eye,you would have a eye full instead of a mouth full . :rofl:

Yes I watch some of these . Looks like BBC4 have dropped them of late tho they used to be regulars on a Saturday night

Oh there have been occasions of food sliding off fork or spoon as I sit open-mouthed, trying to catch what I missed, that’s for sure!

I don’t think they’ve stopped. It kind of goes in cycles; they just don’t have one at the moment. Have you ALL4? There are some great ones on there. Also available online for free. Walter Presents is the one.

My local library’s online service Hoopla had a bunch of these non-English series. Most are European. There are several Asian ones on HBO Max. Some of them look quite good but it seems like a lot of work to read subtitles. Maybe I’ll try one based on your recommendation here.

If you want recs let me know. I have seen quite a lot. As I say, many of them are available for free through ALL4 both online and on the telly. If you let me know what sort of thing you’re into I can probably make a decent rec for you. Most of them are definitely worth it; you wouldn’t believe the quality of drama that’s out there. We only scratch the surface by staying with English-only. I even watched one that was partially in Welsh! It was pretty good.

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Yes I have All4 .
Agreed Walter Presents has had some good ones .I always look for those.

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Have you seen When the Dust Settles?

Looking in now no I haven’t and that’s going back a while . Will take a look .

I’m beginning to think all Walter Scandi Series are becoming like one other. Usually, a disillusioned police officer, martial problems, gets transferred to another place, falls out with his or her superiors, drink or drug problems, but solves the murder the others can’t. The latest was The Wall, which I jumped from quite quickly. I can’t remember one which I lasted all the way through. Remember, some go on for ages. :frowning_face: :anguished: :frowning:

Try Cry Wolf and When the Dust Settles, and if you can get it, Public Enemy. I guarantee you they’re different. I do agree though; most of the series do seem to follow an almost pre-programmed character sketch for the protag. Not all do, though.

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I did watch Cry Wolf some time aga.
Some stick in my mind forever ,like Follow The Money .
It wan’t Nordic ,nor All4 but Spiral (French) went on and on., 7 series ,loved it !

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Okay, if you liked Follow the Money you might also like Bad Banks.

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Yes about a year ago on the beeb might still be on iPlayer
Norwegian drama Twin
A women is responsible for the accidental death of her husband, she persuades the dead husband’s identical twin to take his identity.
Was very good

I haven’t seen that one. Must look it up. Unfortunately being in Ireland we are not able to access iPlayer, but I’ll look around. Thanks.

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