Tuesday, May 02, 2017

TV review - "The Heavy Water War" (2015) ****

I'd never seen any TV from Norway but this was very enjoyable. It's about the true story of the mission to stop the Germans from developing the atom bomb in Norway - previously dramatised in Heroes of Telemark. This suits TV a lot more than film because the narrative feels more naturally episodic - watching the film I remember it feeling clunky that one minute there's this plane that's crashing, then they attack a dam, then they blow up a boat.

By making it a mini series they're able to focus on specific episodes. So we also get the scientists in Copenhagen (the basis for the Michael Frayn play).

There's some good actors, and tough action, and impressive period detail. It's smart, exciting TV even if the title is daggy. The Anna Friel subplot didn't quite work for me - I didn't buy her character. I don't want to be sexist - I'm sure there were women in secret service - she just felt a bit "TV".

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