You sound like me with the constant catching up. Although I seem to have kept up with Thicker Than Water, The Night Manager and American Crime Story, I currently have all episodes of Murder and Stag to catch up on after they have finished airing ... unless I hear one or the other is not worth watching, or I start them and don't want to see the whole run. From my point of you, we are going through a golden era of excellent TV drama, both home-grown and international. I'll be sorry when Spin has finished but am looking forward to Blue Eyes at the weekend.

I have boxsets of Deadwood, GOT, American Horror Story, Braquo, Breaking Bad, the last four series of Dexter and a shitload of films to catch up on.

When is anybodies guess!

Oh dear! Sabbatical soon?!

The trouble is I watch far too many series on Freeview!

Nice one!

There have been a few references to it on the generic "sub-titled drama" thread.

For me, Spin is entertaining enough but I don't really care about any of the characters and it certainly doesn't have anything original to say - not after the likes of Campbell, Mandelson, et al. I detest the portrayal of women in Spin - there isn't one woman who isn't dependent on Kapita or Desmeuse to give them their confidence (even Anne Visage needed Simon's approval in order to run for President) and now we have Gabrielle, chief of staff for the Elysée fgs, falling apart until Simon and the President put her back together again

Birgitte Nyborg, CJ, Amy and Mrs Barlett were all capable women in their own right... it's as if the past 15 years have never happened.


I totally agree. I don't think I've ever had so many series / episodes backed up waiting to be watched. I very much enjoy the international series (Trapped was wonderful) but I do wonder how much of their appeal comes from unfamiliar settings and cultures. If Trapped had been set in Alaska with the usual airbrushed, Hollywood kit-form actors, would it have been as appealing?

I'd give Braquo a miss. Piss-poor, posturing pastiche of The Shield that it is.

Thanks for that - I have not spotted the "Sub-titled drama" thread but will seek it out. The other series I couldn't find any discussion of is Thicker Than Water, which I am not gripped by but am quite enjoying and will see through. I expect that's in the same thread.

And I have to agree with you about why international series are so popular here at the moment. I used to avoid anything sub-titled but I can't get enough of them now. I think the fact they are produced 'locally' and feature excellent actors we have not had the opportunity to see before makes them a great novelty and very involving.

I had not really thought about the female characters in Spin - I was just thinking so many women in it are in positions of great influence but now you mention it, several are shown to be dependent on the male lead characters or in their thrall. I am still loving it though.

Some of the women are completely wet, Valentine in series 1 being a prime example.Also the shamed politician's wife. Ironically the same man seduced them!
Gabrielle is a strong woman can't quite understand why she'd jump in Simons bed so swiftly! Series 2 hasn't been as much fun as series 1. I like the Presidents bipolar wife! Feel like she is going to confess all in the final episode!

I really like the look of it otherwise I would not have bought three series to watch.

The superb Engrenages was the programme that first got me into subtitled drama on BBC4 and after the incredible Forbrydelsen I was hooked.

The Shield was a cracking show by the way.

I would definitely watch Braquo, one of the best foreign shows I have watched imo.

The poster above seems either to love or loathe so I would take anything they post with a skip-ful of salt.

On the subject of "weak" women in Spin, after what you and Normandie said, I paid a bit more attention to how they were characterised. I thought some of the female leads at least came across as more principled in the end, trying to do the right thing. For me, possibly the two strongest women (strongest willed) were Kapita's ex-wife Appoline and daughter Juliette, and I really disliked both! Maybe this says something about the writers (two men and a woman) and their views ... although I realise Appoline and Juliette might only have been unlikeable to me!

??? Ooh what's that then.

Apologies, I am getting my foreign dramas mixed up. The one that is starting this weekend is Follow The Money on BBC4 tonight: Danish, 10 parts, with Part 1 at 9.00 and Part 2 at 10.00 (so sort of the Trapped slot). Here is a bit about it:

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...ir-hit-factory

Blue Eyes starts on More4 next Friday in the Spin slot. It's another 10-parter but Swedish and there's a short description and Youtube trailer below:

http://cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsd...=en&did=254159

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNEGkSqDAug

Both look like my sort of thing!

Mine too - thanks very much for the info

Strongest willed... but in a petulant sort of way (I didn't like them either ). Appoline endangered the only witness to the bombing in season 1 (she went to Mali to bring him back despite being told not to and he died) and their daughter is just playing at being her mother - and expected her Papa and Mama to get her out of trouble when it all went wrong.

Having just caught up with the final episode of Spin, I see President Marjorie and wife at the theatre and the assasination of Bakian and friend was a direct copy of the episode in the West Wing where President Bartlet gives the go ahead for the assasination of Shareef in Bermuda. Bartlet is at the theatre too.

The writers of Spin would probably call it an hommage to one of the best political series ever... but I just think it's lazy writing and I think it's rash to reference a show that highlights the lack of power of your own.

I liked the look of it too and bought S1 on disc, sight unseen. It was a chore to work through, becoming increasingly ridiculous as it progressed. Got rid of it as soon as I finished it off.


Indeed it was.


Why does posting my opinion about a show under discussion cause you to make a snide comment about me? You need to post with some civility in future.

Excellently ironic ! Didn't realise you were funny as well as scathing.

Nothing snide about my comment. If I read a really nasty scathing post in this section most often I look to the posters name and find yours.

Snide comment - no, honest observation - yes

I have not read many negative comments about Braquo.
Your wildly dismissive comments are out of kilter with not only how I feel about Braquo but the majority of people who have reviewed or commented on it in my experience. You are however entitled to your opinion. I am just trying to point out the the poster above that the majority of people do not hold your opinion as it is not typical.

To the op - I would give it a go, Strakers comments are not typical of how most people seem to have recieved this prog.

Watched it, didn't dislike it but have to say I'm not quite sure what it was about. S1 had the election running through it as the glue that held the rest of it together. S2?

Was it about the President's relationship with his wife and friend, Her bipolar. Kapita and Ludovic, Kapita's relationship with his wife and daughter and Gabrielle. The hostage situation.

If someone asked me what S2 was about I'd struggle to tell 'em.

Also surprised that they didn't have Ludovic having an affair with Juliette, Kapita's reaction would've been an interesting watch.

This:


...is snide. You're dismissing and dismissive of my comments because you happen to disagree with them over one particular show. You're also inferring I am somehow being disingenuous when I say I didn't like it - What on earth would I have to gain by doing that?!?!


You feel the need to surround yourself with like-minded views and castigate those who disagree? You say I'm "entitled to my opinion" but then rubbish not only that opinion but also attempt to impugn any others I might offer up. It's a bizarre stance to take don't you think particularly in light of you attacking me for it?


It's my opinion, which is self-evident for anyone posting here. Except those who want to use it as a reason to have a go.

Thoroughly enjoyed this show but it was very soap opera, just luckily for me I like soap opera

Anyone else see a resemblance between Steptoe (from Steptoe and Son) and Kapita It's true, have another look.

Ha! Not sure I get that - but I was struck by Kapita's mincing walk though.

Had to watch this on catch-up, and enjoyed the conclusion. Series started with the President's wife, and ended with her. Series 1 revolved around Kapita, less so with this one, and the other characters were more developed. Thought the President was a great character, and Hussan's scenes in his country house were great.

I didn't see The West Wing's theatre scene, so can't comment on the similarity, but the play they were watching had some significance. You could pick it up from the lines that were heard, but the plot was relevant too -
From a Daily Telegraph review - "The plot is simply told. Titus is in love with Berenice, queen of Palestine, who has been living in his palace in Rome for the past five years. But his father has just died and he has been proclaimed as the new emperor. But the Romans won’t tolerate a foreign queen as empress. Titus must either give up his beloved or run the risk of insurrection in the state."

All in all, very enjoyable series.

Finally caught up with the last episode.

I am left wondering if the second guy that was shot actually was Wahid, (there was a third guy at the scene who got away)?
The name had me thinking that he would be of Middle Eastern origin, but the second guy who was shot looked African to me.... (No racial stereotyping or offence intended, btw.)