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Kurt Wallander belongs to this second group - his work takes over his life, he has a troubled relationship with his daughter and he is clearly depressed. Frankly, this character brief doesn't sound that original after the raft of detective dramas featuring such police detectives as Morse, Frost and Rebus. So why should we watch another one?
Well, for starters, this one's Swedish. The BBC's Wallander is based on a series of novels by Henning Mankell, described as the master of Swedish crime fiction. His books are a phenomenon not only in Sweden but all over the world, selling 25 million copies worldwide and translated into 40 different languages.
While the BBC's version is in English, the production leaves you in no doubt that the drama is set in its native Sweden. But Sweden is more than just the setting - it is a character that is every bit as important as the protagonist. It is beautifully realised on screen, from the wide swathing fields of corn to remote cottages by the sea. But beneath this idyllic veneer there lurks a dark side of Swedish society that Mankell explores through these novels.
The Sweden of the 1950s was a liberal society striving for an egalitarian utopia. One of the richest countries in the world, its open door policy for asylum seekers meant that many flocked to the country seeking security and work. However that all changed in 1986 when then Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated. He had been returning home from the cinema with his wife and, as is the norm in Sweden, was not protected by bodyguards. The murder is still unresolved, but it created fears that the influx of immigrants had somehow changed society for the worse, and it is this issue of immigration that Mankell addresses in his first Wallander novel, Sidetracked.
The BBC's version hasn't tried to amp up the action for the television, choosing rather to focus on Wallander's procedure of deduction and his own personal life, anchored by a superb performance by Kenneth Branagh. 'Brand-Branagh' has always seemed too big and grand for television, but his performance is subtle and reveals the humanity behind the character that marks Wallander out from other fictional detectives. Wallander lets his cases affect him on a personal level, haunted in the first episode by a young girl who commits suicide in front of him. The emotional trauma he goes through with each case drives him to consider retirement - he remarks that he is no longer sure when he is on-duty or off - but he realises that while he is troubled by what he sees, he can't do anything else.
Wallander is not meant to be a sexy, damaged character such as the likes of House, and the casting of Branagh might have altered that (well, many people do find him attractive). But he inhabits the character so well that all you see is an ordinary man whose life isn't what he had hoped it might be. Plus the make-up department have done a good job in making Branagh look haggard in his middle-age.
The final episode this Sunday sees one of Wallander's own colleagues turn up dead during the investigation of the murder of three teenagers. If the previous two episodes are anything to go by, Wallander will be on a mission for vengeance, and the drama of death will continue to be as fascinating as ever.
The final episode of the BBC adaptation of Wallander airs this Sunday at 9pm on BBC1.
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