NRK's Mammon gets thumbs down in UK
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Published: 31 Mar, 2014 CET.
Updated: Mon 31 Mar 2014 10:26 CET
The Guardian has given NRK's Mammon TV drama a decidedly lacklustre first review, badly damaging its chances of becoming the UK's next 'Scandi Noir' hit.
The British newspaper's near obsessive following of Danish shows such as The Killing, Borgen and The Bridge have brought Scandinavian crime television, pioneered by BBC4, a huge fan following in the UK. But on Friday night, Guardian reviewer Stuart Jeffries professed to being "bored" by the journalistic investigation which takes up most of the first episode of Mammon, complaining that the show's "putative hero", maverick reporter Peter Verås, " looks like a cross between Seinfeld's George Costanza and Clive Anderson". Ouch. Jeffries then laid into the plot, pointing out that Verås's big anti-corruption scoop came from "an online chat with a person he'd never met and whose bona fides he's never verified,", making him arguably the "Worst Investigative Reporter Ever". He did say, however, that the show's strange cliffhanger would "certainly draw me back next week to find out what, for helvete, is occurring", so perhaps the next review will win him over. What is worst of all for the prognosis for the show, broadcast on the More4 channel, is the fact that a mere twelve people had tweeted Heritage's article by Monday morning, with just sixteen sharing it on Facebook, and only 100 comments. Compare this to the mammoth 1,660 comments Heritage received for his recap of the final episodes of The Bridge's first series. Almost as soon as the article was written, however, fans of Scandinavian Noir hit back, with 'Scan Noir', the anonymous operator of the Scanoir fan-site, citing the "many positive responses" to Mammon's first episode on the Facebook page he/she operates. "Most viewers are sufficiently gripped by the tense opening of the drama to be definitely tuning in to further episodes," Noir wrote. "Tension and atmosphere were built throughout and viewers enjoyed the twists, shocks, the moody look and feel of the show and the exciting soundtrack. We are seeing no sign of the letting up of interest in the crime dramas coming from our Scandinavian neighbours which continue to enthral and delight us here in the UK!"
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The British newspaper's near obsessive following of Danish shows such as The Killing, Borgen and The Bridge have brought Scandinavian crime television, pioneered by BBC4, a huge fan following in the UK.
But on Friday night, Guardian reviewer Stuart Jeffries professed to being "bored" by the journalistic investigation which takes up most of the first episode of Mammon, complaining that the show's "putative hero", maverick reporter Peter Verås, " looks like a cross between Seinfeld's George Costanza and Clive Anderson". Ouch.
Jeffries then laid into the plot, pointing out that Verås's big anti-corruption scoop came from "an online chat with a person he'd never met and whose bona fides he's never verified,", making him arguably the "Worst Investigative Reporter Ever".
He did say, however, that the show's strange cliffhanger would "certainly draw me back next week to find out what, for helvete, is occurring", so perhaps the next review will win him over.
What is worst of all for the prognosis for the show, broadcast on the More4 channel, is the fact that a mere twelve people had tweeted Heritage's article by Monday morning, with just sixteen sharing it on Facebook, and only 100 comments.
Compare this to the mammoth 1,660 comments Heritage received for his recap of the final episodes of The Bridge's first series.
Almost as soon as the article was written, however, fans of Scandinavian Noir hit back, with 'Scan Noir', the anonymous operator of the Scanoir fan-site, citing the "many positive responses" to Mammon's first episode on the Facebook page he/she operates.
"Most viewers are sufficiently gripped by the tense opening of the drama to be definitely tuning in to further episodes," Noir wrote. "Tension and atmosphere were built throughout and viewers enjoyed the twists, shocks, the moody look and feel of the show and the exciting soundtrack. We are seeing no sign of the letting up of interest in the crime dramas coming from our Scandinavian neighbours which continue to enthral and delight us here in the UK!"
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