Wallander (2008) - Season 1
The gritty crime drama stars Kenneth Branagh as Swedish author Henning Mankell's scruffy Swedish police detective Kurt Wallander. Season 1 finds him tackling a series of engrossing mysteries. First, he investigates a 15-year-old girl's self-immolation and a series of ax murders; then, he tackles the murder of a cabbie by two teens and the death of a computer-systems analyst; and, last, he looks into the Midsummer Eve's disappearance of three young people. At the same time, he deals with his aging dad (David Warner), who's slipping into the grips of dementia, and a re-energized social life, as his daughter Linda (Jeany Spark) enrolls him in an Internet dating service.
29 July 1941, Manchester, England, UK
14 December 1961
20 January 1963, Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, USSR [now Lithuania]
27 October 1977, Cape Town, South Africa
28 March 1961, Dublin, Ireland
25 April 1965, Lambeth, London, England, UK
30 June 1963, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, UK
1966, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, England, UK
13 February 1943, Brixworth, Northamptonshire, England, UK
November 30, 2008
The strength of the script and Branagh's finely drawn performance - not to mention the excellent scenes between Branagh and David Warner, who plays Wallander's dad - make up for missteps.
November 30, 2008
It's the road traveled that makes Wallander more than worthy of its Masterpiece imprimatur.
November 30, 2008
It's the main character who provides the main reason for watching, as the long-suffering Wallander struggles to solve the crimes and put his life back in order.
November 30, 2008
The series has great hypnotic allure, as the murders and deaths drive Wallander further into himself.
November 30, 2008
Mr. Branagh dominates the screen, but there are some excellent, low-key performances by supporting actors who play Wallander's colleagues.
November 30, 2008
What makes Wallander memorable in the end is the arc that underlies them -- the detective's own story as he plummets toward emotional and physical crisis.
November 30, 2008
When a series has only two interesting things about it, and one of them is that it's set in Sweden, you may ask yourself, "What's the point?"
November 30, 2008
As wonderfully played by Kenneth Branagh, Wallander is a fine addition to the tradition of PBS' Mystery!
November 30, 2008
Kenneth Branagh is perfect as one of its broken-down men.