nickmp1

I'm a big fan of the series, but it probably helps that I'm the only British politician (I was an MP for 13 years) who grew up in Denmark. To complement rather than repeat the other reviews, a few words on how realistic it is.

The multi-party negotiations are entirely plausible - that's how Danish politics works, and there are parties that switch allies from time to time. The balance between idealism and scheming is also really well done - most British and American movies and TV series portray all politicians as ruthless power-mongers, but generally politicians like to think they're doing the right thing, just like anyone else. The character are recognisable types - in particular, the far-right leader is clearly modelled on Mogens Glistrup, the entertaining, folksy and erratic founder of the current Progress Party.

The series is maybe a bit weaker on the big political issues, since it has to tackle something complex in an hour, and an issue like Afghanistan can't really be analysed in any depth in that time. The episode on a thinly-veiled Sudan with the smooth, corrupt Northern leader and the plausible Southern leader with some uncomfortable views is gripping but stereotyped. But it works brilliantly with smaller issues, especially those that interweave with the private lives of the protagonists. Above all, it creates sympathetic yet flawed political figures with a non-political private life, so much more like real politicians than the one-dimensional figures that the media try to make us.