Hinterland director: Welsh drama should be bilingual

We do like a bit of Hinterland on this site, but getting it on-screen is a tricky-old business. In fact, it’s an incredible process – Welsh-language versions are produced for S4C, and then it’s re-filmed for English-language markets, like the BBC and Netflix. It sounds like a big-old faff, but seems to make commercial sense, although the rise in Scandinavian and Nordic drama and our being fine with subtitles begs the question: why can’t we just watch stuff in Welsh? Now creator and director and Ed Thomas has had his say.

Advertisement

Finnish drama Bordertown starts on Netflix: will you be watching?

The proliferation of foreign-language crime drama is widespread these days – it seems not a day goes by without a new series starting on either Walter Presents, Channel 4 or the BBC. And, in this case, Netflix. The global, streaming behemoth springs these little surprises on us from time to time, and Bordertown is one such surprise. A Finnish drama, I wondered when it would make its way to these shores. Finally, the day is here.

BBC4 picks up Swedish thriller Black Lake

We’ve heard whistles in the wind that BBC4 – once the beacon of foreign-language crime drama in its 9pm Saturday slot – is looking for things that are slightly different. This chimes with recent articles in British newspaper The Guardian, which proclaimed that Nordic Noir as we know it is dead, and that broadcasters are looking for something different to what has been available; a new twist to the genre. So, with all that in mind it’s interesting the channel has gone back to Scandinavia to buy a Swedish thriller that has a touch of the horror genre about it.