KOOL TV BABE OF THE WEEK: 'BORGEN's SIDSE BABETT KNUDSEN

Diplomatic responsibilities for the lovely Sidse Babett Knudsen in BORGEN. Image: DR.

Doing a difficult but better job of running her fictional Coalition Government than anything British Prime Minister David Cameron could ever do in reality, the talented Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen gives a marvellous and subtly compelling heart and soul performance as double life juggling, devoted mother and career woman for the people, Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg, in the addictive European political/personal serialised drama BORGEN, currently taking UK audiences by storm on the BBC 4 and BBC HD channels with its excellent, high quality second year of ten episodes.

Title sequence: Borgen / Government - title sequence on Vimeo

Tough decisions are made, with support from Spin Doctor Kasper Juul (Johan Philip Asbæk). Episodic images by Mike Kollöffel, Courtesy of DR TV. 

Recently divorced from her husband, with a young daughter caught in the middle of the family conflicts and suffering from anxiety attacks, the emotional pressure is on for an often isolated Birgitte, who also has vying outside worries to contend with from her ambitious political foes and rivals looking for weakness in her leadership decisions, moving in for the kill as her once trio coalition loses key support from the Green Party. So, lots of upheaval and great drama here for the actress to mine (backed up with high-calibre scripts from creator Adam Price and his team), as the Prime Minister equally tries to keep her country from sinking into economic debt whilst also wanting to usher in a tide of positive change and growth for her country and its citizens. Despite such good intentions, the last part of Season One and the early part of this new season intriguingly saw a darker side emerging from her character, too, as Birgitte's need to do the right thing sometimes challenged her personal convictions and nurturing instincts as both a woman and a mother, and saw her run afoul of her loyal friends and loved ones, whose affections and allegiance she only just wins back. As we head towards the final episodes (and the eventual third and final season), political and personal change is surely in the air once again for the character and her life and career, giving Knudsen further character building blocks on top of an already accomplished, multi-layered and compelling performance.

A fractured family life with ex-husband Philip (Mikael Birkkjær) and daughter Laura (Freja Riemann).

In her life and career before and since BORGEN (whose series international success proved surprising to her), Miss Knudsen's body of dedicated, critically acclaimed film and TV work in her native land has been diverse, from heavy personal drama (the noteworthy AFTER THE WEDDING with Mads Mikkelsen) to light comedy (SOVER DOLLY PA RYGGEN?). With her excellent spoken English, backed up with a radiating intelligence and personal style, a mature sex appeal, plus one of the most charming and giddy smiles I've yet seen, it surely won't be long before her career branches off further with exciting work offers from both the UK and US.

Interview: BBC News - Borgen actor Sidse Babett Knudsen on Scandinavian drama

A winning smile for the people in Season Two's final episode.

Seasons One and Two of BORGEN are available on Blu-ray here: Borgen - Series 1 [Blu-ray]: Amazon.co.uk: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Johan Philip Asbæk, Mikael Birkkjær, Søren Malling, Adam Price: Film & TV and Borgen - Series 2 [Blu-ray]: Amazon.co.uk: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Johan Philip Asbæk, Jannik johansen, Jesper W. Nielsen, Louise Friedberg, Miikel Nørgaard: Film & TV

HER LAST STAND. SARAH LUND RETURNS IN 'THE KILLING' SEASON THREE

Could THE KILLING's final season storytelling prove too high a price for even Sara Lund (Sofie Grábol) to handle? Image: DR 1 TV.

Sales of Faroese jumpers are likely to got through the roof again-and just in time to help desperate Xmas stores sales figures!-with the arrival of the third and final thrilling case for clever and intuitive Detective Sarah Lund to investigate, back into the dark and chilly streets, warehouses and high tech power worlds of Denmark in Forbydelsen-or THE KILLING for us Average Joe's in the UK. Having created the new term of Nordic Noir with it's two previous well-crafted and critically acclaimed seasons, whose success have also made it the envy of its TV making rivals and inspired a wave of imitators not just in native Denmark but worldwide (including the US's very own, only partially successful, re-make), THE KILLING's lead star Sofie Grábol, a noted thespian of her native land and now a well deserved television sensation and attractive sex symbol outside the series, along with its distinctive creator Soren Sveistrup, promise that the show will go our with a resolute and satisfying high-quality bang fireworks cocktail of drama, thrills, mystery and murder.

This time out, our heroine is about to celebrate her 25th year of ups and downs as a police officer- the only career she's ever known and loved, of which she's pretty much sacrificed everything in her life in the line and sake of her duty- when she's called to action investigating the mysterious and seemingly random death of a sailor, whose body is found in a scrap heap. What follows over the next ten weeks is a collision course return into the unstable mixing realms of social and political agenda, and its resultant grey palette of emotions, revelations and ideologies. The heart of the worlds financial institutions-already a hotbed of scum and villainy if I ever I saw any!- comes under Lund's almost fearless microscope and then into the very corridors of the Danish Prime Minister no less! In her prior rocky dealings with state and power brokers she has already fallen foul of her country's own security service and its paymasters, resulting in the death of one of her detective partners. Now, on the fierce eve of the country's all-important election, is it possible that, this time around, she may have strayed too close to the fire in her dogged pursuit of the truth?

Trailer: Forbrydelsen 3 (The Killing Season 3) - YouTube
The Killing (DK) Season 3 starts on 17 Nov 2012 [BBC4] - See description for music - YouTube

Despite a few preposterous story and character moments here and there- drawbacks that come with the need to create a controversial and powerful tale capable of living up to heavy viewer expectations generated from the original smash-hit premiere- the second season of the KILLING, with its military theme and the cover-up linked to Danish soldiers in Afghanistan, was solid and entertaining, but ultimately lacked the emotional involvement of the previous story, as well as proving far too short, coming to a close just when it was getting interesting. It's story-telling roots more centre stage in Denmark, with it's people and multi-layered, recognisable problems, here's hoping that this final, surely emotional run, really does live up to it's promise when it starts on the UK's BBC 4 channel from 17th November.

Coming soon to UK Blu-ray and DVD...

More on THE KILLING SEASON THREE here: The Killing creator Soren Sveistrup: Sarah Lund will go out on a high in series three | Radio Times

Sofie Grabol, aka The Killing's Sarah Lund: 'I took off my, jumper and my gun, and cried all, the way home' - Features - TV & Radio - The Independent

Sofie Gråbøl: 'There's not going to be a fourth Killing' | Television & radio | The Guardian

UK FACEBOOK page for the series: Forbrydelsen II (The Killing) BBC Four