Beyond The Bridge: Contemporary Danish Television Drama

by Tobias Hochscherf, Heidi Philipsen

Overview

Drawing worldwide acclaim from critics and audiences alike, programmes like The Killing, Borgen, The Bridge and The Legacy demonstrate widespread fascination with Danish style, aesthetics and culture as seen through television narratives. This book uses familiar, alongside lesser known, case studies of drama series to demonstrate how the particular features of Danish production - from work cultures, to storytelling techniques and trans-national cooperation - have enhanced contemporary Danish drama's appeal both at home and abroad. The era of globalisation has blurred national and international television cultures and promoted regular cross-fertilisation between film and television industries. Important questions have emerged from this context surrounding, for example, the 'Americanisation' of foreign television formats, the meaning and practice behind the term 'quality television', and the purpose and efficacy of public service broadcasting. Beyond the Bridge tackles these issues in relation to Danish television, by examining the so-called 'scaffolded production processes' behind the making of quality serials and their thought-provoking content.
Drawing on popular motifs from these celebrated dramas such as foreign politics, organised crime, global warming, and the impact of multinational corporations, this timely book provides crucial insight into the Danish dramas at the forefront of sophisticated, forward-thinking, fictional television.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350243910
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/29/2021
Series:	Popular Television Genres
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.57(d)

About the Author

Tobias Hochscherf is Professor of Film, Radio and Television at Kiel University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Previously he worked as a senior lecturer at Northumbria University, UK. His research interests include film and television history, televisual representations of society and politics, as well as transnational media cultures. Hochscherf is the author of The Continental Connection: German-speaking Emigres and British Cinema, 1927-1949 and has co-edited the anthologies Divided, But not Disconnected: German Experiences of the Cold War and British Science Fiction Film and Television: Critical Essays. He is Associate Editor of the Historical Jourbanal of Film, Radio and Television.Heidi Philipsen is Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University ofSouthern Denmark. Her research interests focus on the creative processes and talent development within audiovisual media. Among other publications, she has written a comprehensive study of The National Film School of Denmark: The New Wave of Danish Film - Influences and Imprints from The National Film School of Denmark.

Table of Contents

Introduction

2) Audiovisual Production Culture in Denmark:
From Dogme95 to Transnational Cooperation

3) Small-Screen Drama, Creativity and Public Service Broadcasting:
Scaffolding as Production Principle

Does Crime Pay? The Thriving of Nordic Noir
The Killing (Forbrydelsen)

5) Crime Across Borders:
The Bridge (Broen)

National Security and the War on Terror:
The Eagle (Ørnen: En krimi-odyssé)

Politics, Family Life and the Media:
Borgen

Generational Changes and Family Feuds:
The Legacy (Arvingere)

9) Conclusions

Editorial Reviews

Well-researched and lucid ... written in clear prose, this book will thus be of great interest to students and scholars of media and television studies as well as to producers seeking new ways of creating quality television for an international audience.” —The Historical Jourbanal of Film, Radio and Television

“A truly fascinating study, rich in detail about Danish public service broadcasting and its production ecology. The book can be recommended for its insight into the scaffolding behind the nation-based production culture which makes these dramas, one that absorbs lessons from inside and outside the nation.” —Critical Studies in Television

From the Publisher

"Integrating analysis of internationally acclaimed programmes and their reception by audiences, as well as TV production practices, this is an illuminating exploration of contemporary Danish TV drama. It tackles the key questions in current media culture about national specificity, public value and television, professional industry training and the relationship between TV and cinema in a globalised world."

Jonathan Bignell

"In Beyond the Bridge, Hochscherf and Philipsen take us on an analytical ride into the creative context of transnational success and public service channel DR. This book is essential for anyone who wants to understand a fascinating phenomenon in international TV-drama."

Ib Bondebjerg