Ah, the Danes! Just when you think your late night TV shows are all starting to look and end the same way, along comes another piece of Nordic noir to brighten, well, err, darken your day.

Norskov takes elements from some of the strongest television to come out of Scandinavia and combines it into a truly original and thought-provoking slice of arctic life. Think of the family confrontations of The Legacy mixed with the political manoeuvrings of Borgen, throw in the police-procedural of The Bridge and voilà, you have Norskov.

Police investigator Tom Noack returns to his hometown, Norskov, on the windswept northern coast of Denmark to help solve the drug problem increasingly affecting its youth and city alike. Connecting again with an old flame and her son complicates matters privately and professionally, as do his relationships with old friends and former sporting-teammates Martin (now town Mayor and Noack’s brother in-law) and Casper (a businessman of shady repute). Noack’s secrets, as well as those of his dysfunctional mother and sister, only aid in creating turmoil that ultimately leads to tragic circumstances.

As always, quality television throws up a few surprises and an early death certainly is unexpected. This death creates a maelstrom of lies and innuendo and, ironically, truth that tears through every character, taking no prisoners.

The main character is, of course, the city of Norskov itself. Cold, isolated and endemically troubled, it holds a mirror up to its cast of egocentric inhabitants. There are many secrets in Norskov, some of which you may not want to uncover. This is exceptional crime drama.

Lou Fulco