Reviews

This highly entertaining show can now only be found in a fragmented group of grainy videos online. I would love to see the whole thing including the pilot restored and put on DVD. It shows off all of the players' talents, and was good for many laughs, with a little pathos thrown in. We get a lot of mediocre shows on endless repeat, why not revive a really good one, even if it's now 25 years old?

I was hooked from the moment Alan Davies' character woke from a bender to find himself in compromising circumstances. Both his high-powered wife and horrific boss do their best to manipulate him to their will, but the delightful Kate Ashfield steps in to bring some brightness to his life. There are a couple of good subplots as well. This brief series doesn't disappoint at any stage.

DVD, please!

Baltasar Kormákur was there to answer questions at the first screening of this excellent film at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2007. He did a terrific job, both of directing the film and of untangling some of the details for us after the screening.

This was a film that we picked up at the last minute, to see on the first day of the festival. We went in with absolutely no expectations and were thrilled to find one of the best films of the festival laid out before us.

Everything about this film was outstanding: casting, sets and locations, acting, directing, and the subtitling was unobtrusive but effective. It has a wonderful black humour to it in spots, too. No wonder Iceland has chosen this film as its Oscar contender.

I know I'll see this film again! Not only that, but I've ordered all of the books in the series by Arnaldur Idridason that I could find in translation, because I found his story so compelling and want to read the further adventures of Detective Erlendur. I sincerely hope Kormákur directs more of them.