Anno 1790
Swedish tv has an uneven history in my book, when they get it wrong, the crap stinks worse than any similar crap on say US tv, because it can't drown in the gigantic pot of mediocrity that is served in a country with a big tv drama production, but when Swedish tv (Stv) gets it right, it truly shines and actually often outshines many other contemporary projects with bigger budgets.
Right now I'm completely hooked on Last fall's big Swedish 10 episode historical drama Anno 1790, which is currently shown on American tv via Mhz World View, a channel which is available as a content provider for several U.S. public TV stations such as PBS, and also via DirecTV USA. The subtitles are of surprisingly high quality, so the Geek is enjoying it too.
For a history buff it's an enjoyable gold mine of combined costume period drama and murder mysteries in a time when forensics didn't exist. It explores the time right after the French Revolution started, which in Sweden was quite a turbulent time too. The Russian Swedish war had just ended in a dissatisfying tie, and the main protagonist, Police Comissioner Dåådh, a former army surgeon is trying to compromise his love of peaceful free thinking with both his more violent revolutionary friends as well as his loyalty to the crown.
The Swedish king at that time, Gustav III, was a prominent character in Europe, but also controversial at home. The period between 1718 and 1772 is called The Age of Liberty is Sweden, because it was a window of modernization of the parliamentary system, with two parties; The Hats and the Caps, which brought on many reforms, such as freedom of press for instance.
King Gustav III committed a coup d'etat in 1772, but kept a lot of age of enlightenment inspired, progressive laws, such as freedom of press and laws against torture and capital punishment.
The King was overall a mixed bag of bones, often popular with the common people in the fist decade of his rule, he was also the first European monarch to acknowledge the United States as a state, but in other ways he was very anti-revolutionary, since he had been personal friends with the French royal family.
This series is full of historical details and innuendos which makes it a joy for those with deep history interests, it cleverly winks in every episode to viewers with special knowledge and yet combines this with general attractions such as great actors and good storytelling and suspense. Commissioner Dåådh, and his heavily drinking assistant Freund are walking through a gorgeously filmed Old Town Stockholm, assisting all kinds of people and often ending up in complicated political situations among pietists, secret societies, revolutionaries, Republicans and King-faithfuls. The series has a good strong female lead character too, and several female supporting characters in each part, and the role of the common person is never neglected.
Just like real life, reality is never easy in the show, and historical currents are not as straightforward as popular history wants to paint them. The King was assassinated two years after this show takes its starting point, on a Masque Ball, I can only hope Anno 1790 gets a second season so they can continue filming all these exciting events in Europe. I also like the relationships between the 4 main characters, as they are deliciously complicated, and all the wonderful and authentic historical props they use, from the hats and spectacles, to genuine buildings and streets.
I guess, if I had a time machine, this is one of those times I'd want to go back to and spy on, sit in a tavern and listen to the debates, wearing a nicely cut longcoat (I'd prefer to be a man, at least in disguise). I would just probably surgically seal my nose before making the time jump!
Right now I'm completely hooked on Last fall's big Swedish 10 episode historical drama Anno 1790, which is currently shown on American tv via Mhz World View, a channel which is available as a content provider for several U.S. public TV stations such as PBS, and also via DirecTV USA. The subtitles are of surprisingly high quality, so the Geek is enjoying it too.
For a history buff it's an enjoyable gold mine of combined costume period drama and murder mysteries in a time when forensics didn't exist. It explores the time right after the French Revolution started, which in Sweden was quite a turbulent time too. The Russian Swedish war had just ended in a dissatisfying tie, and the main protagonist, Police Comissioner Dåådh, a former army surgeon is trying to compromise his love of peaceful free thinking with both his more violent revolutionary friends as well as his loyalty to the crown.
The Swedish king at that time, Gustav III, was a prominent character in Europe, but also controversial at home. The period between 1718 and 1772 is called The Age of Liberty is Sweden, because it was a window of modernization of the parliamentary system, with two parties; The Hats and the Caps, which brought on many reforms, such as freedom of press for instance.
King Gustav III committed a coup d'etat in 1772, but kept a lot of age of enlightenment inspired, progressive laws, such as freedom of press and laws against torture and capital punishment.
The King was overall a mixed bag of bones, often popular with the common people in the fist decade of his rule, he was also the first European monarch to acknowledge the United States as a state, but in other ways he was very anti-revolutionary, since he had been personal friends with the French royal family.
This series is full of historical details and innuendos which makes it a joy for those with deep history interests, it cleverly winks in every episode to viewers with special knowledge and yet combines this with general attractions such as great actors and good storytelling and suspense. Commissioner Dåådh, and his heavily drinking assistant Freund are walking through a gorgeously filmed Old Town Stockholm, assisting all kinds of people and often ending up in complicated political situations among pietists, secret societies, revolutionaries, Republicans and King-faithfuls. The series has a good strong female lead character too, and several female supporting characters in each part, and the role of the common person is never neglected.
Just like real life, reality is never easy in the show, and historical currents are not as straightforward as popular history wants to paint them. The King was assassinated two years after this show takes its starting point, on a Masque Ball, I can only hope Anno 1790 gets a second season so they can continue filming all these exciting events in Europe. I also like the relationships between the 4 main characters, as they are deliciously complicated, and all the wonderful and authentic historical props they use, from the hats and spectacles, to genuine buildings and streets.
I guess, if I had a time machine, this is one of those times I'd want to go back to and spy on, sit in a tavern and listen to the debates, wearing a nicely cut longcoat (I'd prefer to be a man, at least in disguise). I would just probably surgically seal my nose before making the time jump!