HISTORICAL ACCURACY

1864 was the year of Denmark's most humiliating defeat, by Prussia. It was also the making of the country, as it destroyed any pretensions to Great Power status; Denmark renounced war, turned inwards, and built a modern society. As part of the 150th anniversary of the event, DR (the Danish equivalent of the BBC) has made an 8-part drama series about the war. The cost is an eye-watering kr.173 million, and it includes all the suspects from previously successful DR drama series such as Borgen.

Condensing a complicated war into 8 hours of drama is not easy, and there has already been a long discussion in the press about historical accuracy (DR presenters are careful to say that the series is "inspired" by the events of 1864, but that apparently is not enough for some people). Into such discussion have inevitably waded politicians, who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Instead of saying something along the lines of "it's a drama series, not a history lesson", there are pious remarks about misrepresenting Danish nationalism, and other stuff. Blah, blah, blah.

A much more interesting and relevant question in my view is whether the series is any good. Judging from the first episode this evening, not brilliant. The structure is a bit tired (modern girl goes to work at a big house and finds the diary of a girl who lived during the war) and the various characters are a bit standard (two brothers who love the same girl, son of the big house loves the daughter of the bailiff etc). There is a danger of its lapsing into War and Peace minus Borodino and Napoleon.

Still, it's early days. I will be watching the remaining 7 episodes, for sure.

Walter Blotscher