The tunnel (Sky Atlantic / Canal+ series)

[Thanas]

The Tunnel is a remake of a Danish/Swedish coproduction named Boren/Bron, which was released internationally as The Bridge. Now, before you go "remakes suck", I would say that this is only a remake like Sons of Anarchy is a remake of Hamlet, meaning the overall plot might be similar but the scenery, dialogue and characters are different, if only subtly so in the case of the main characters.

Here is why you should watch it:
- The acting is excellent. Stephen Dillane (Stannis, GoT) and Clémence Poésy (War and Peace, Harry Potter) are the leads. They are complemented by an excellent supporting cast including James Frain (you know him), Angel Coulby (who is leaps and bounds upon her dreadful Merlin stuff) and a dozen or so of well-known character actors.
- The direction is also great. While the cinematography mainly goes for statement by understatement, the direction will have you on the edge of your seat.
- The writing and the plot is top notch. It probably beats out Boardwalk Empire and Sons of Anarchy for that.

The negatives:
- The first episode is mainly filler.
- The promos you will find on youtube suck and totally give you a wrong impression about the show.

And that is about it.

The basic plot is as follows: Terrorist commits crimes in both France and England to highlight social issues. It basically goes "what if one guy decides to avenge the greater wrongs of ordinary society and turns into a terrorist claiming to have a social agenda?" And the show does not shy away from that. It gives credence to the issues. Even if it highlights how the methods are wrong you will find many of the leads agreeing that there is something wrong with society.

The show is also great with its humanity (strange to be typing that out after the previous sentence). The main character from the french side is struggling with Aspergers and cannot connect with people. The guy from the British side is a wreck, being on his third or fourth marriage and just having had a vasectomy. And yet, most people in the show are not dicks for being dickish. They behave with great decency, kindness and loyalty.

Lastly, I love the series for its cosmopolitan look. It takes part half in France and half in Britain. And the French actually are played by French (and one German) actors and speak french (subtitled of course). The overall plot is neatly waved in a sideplot which involves the secret service, the Euro crisis and the French security forces without sounding cliche or far-fetched.

So this is probably my favorite drama series for the year, beating out Boardwalk Empire and Sons of Anarchy.

Go watch it.

[Zaune]

Any idea when it's coming out on DVD? I don't have cable.

[Thanas]

January 13, for a modest 17 pounds according to amazon.co.uk

[Zaune]

Excellent, I shall look into it. Thank you.

[Thanas]

The second series just started, go watch it if you love great acting.

[Channel72]

I'll check it out. I liked the Danish version, especially the interplay between autistic/whatever lead Swedish detective and her Danish partner. Although ultimately I wasn't happy with how things played out with the "Truth Terrorist" towards the end of the series.

They also made an American version which took place on the Mexican border, but I only saw an episode or two, then it was cancelled.

[Thanas]

The British/French version IMO is by far the best of all the versions, mainly because of the acting.

[Thanas]

One episode in and it is already the best drama of the year for me.

[Dartzap]

Spoiler

Poor Julie. Literally the most innocent one on the show....yikes.This show really puts me through the emotional wringer!

^spoiler for ep4

[Thanas]

Damn, just when you think the show won't gothere, along comes episode 5...what a ringer. Show continues from strength to strength.