Culture Round-Up: Where in fanden’s name did the Danish militia come from?

And talking of curveballs, who had money on the Københavns Politi Sangkor hitting number one with a coronavirus song?

Nov 30, 2020

The Danish language can pop up in the most unexpected of places in TV-land.

There was the episode of ‘Black Mirror’ in which it was spoken by villagers terrorised by humanoid mutants, ‘Men against Fire’.

They’re sending a Danish girl called Melissa?
And more recently it has come courtesy of episodes five and six of British series ‘Gangs of London’, when a whole brigade of Danish militia subjects a leafy cottage to a 25-minute hail of fire and brimstone.

A quick Google search of ‘Danish militia’ brings up the Danish Home Guard, so quite where the scriptwriter got the idea that Denmark has many mercenaries is anyone’s guess.

Bach in contention for mute of the year award
Laura Bach from ‘Den som dræber’ is not complaining. With barely a word to say, she steals scene after scene as the only woman in the crack force.

‘Gangs of London’ can be streamed on CMore. Be warned though, as despite soaring popularity in the UK, it’s pretty awful, albeit watchable for all the wrong reasons.

Among the privileged few to be ‘chosen’ by Netflix
More details have been revealed regarding the forthcoming Danish-language Netflix series following on the heels of the acclaimed ‘The Rain’, which has just completed its run after three popular seasons. Set in a small Danish provincial town that might or might not have been hit by a meteorite, just like ‘The Rain’ the forthcoming ‘Chosen’ is a sci-fi series created and produced by Christian Potalivo and Jannik Tai Mosholt. “It was natural that Netflix was also the right partner for ‘Chosen’: the perfect place to develop and tell a story that is universal and has the sci-fi genre as a driving force, but also draws on our own lives and Danish themes,” enthused the pair. Netflix has two other Danish-language series coming out soon: ‘Equinox’ on December 30 and ‘Nisser’ next year. Meanwhile, HBO Nordic also has a Danish-language series coming out next year: ‘Kamikaze’.

Danish Music Awards host beats #MeToo drum about Mø’s fuckability
Anything the Zulu Comedy Galla can do, the Danish Music Awards can do better. But unlike the Zulu host Sofie Linde, who in August single-handedly started the Danish #MeToo movement with her personal account of being sexually harassed, the DMA host Annika Aakjær’s anecdote on Saturday concerned discrimination about somebody else. The singer and sometime actress recalled how two talent scouts a decade ago were overheard discussing the potential of Mø, a six-time winner at the awards, to become a star. “One of them predicted her a short career as he did not think she had enough fuckability,” said Aakjær, who called upon such “sexists” to be fired “because they clearly cannot recognise talent”. Aakjær also joked she had been hired as host because all the male options were too expensive.

Mikkelsen confirmed in largest role of career
Warner Bros last week confirmed that Mads Mikkelsen is replacing Johnny Depp in the role of Gellert Grindelwald in the ‘Fantastic Creatures’ franchise, of which the third instalment will hit cinemas in the summer of 2022. For the 55-year-old Dane, who has had reasonably big roles in the James Bond, Marvel and Star Wars universes, it is the biggest part of his career so far. In total, five films are planned.

This year’s julekalender: I just can’t, I just can’t, I just can’t control my feet
This year’s new julekalender show is ‘Julefeber’, the story of a boy who cannot control his limbs when he hears music. Somehow he and his father end up moving into the attic above the Royal Theatre’s Gamle Scene where they make friends with a ballet dancer. Screened on DR1 at 19:30 every night, the series stars Silas Cornelius Van (Kasper in ‘Druk’) in the main role. TV2 is meanwhile showing its 2015 edition ‘Juleønsket’.

Copenhagen Police choir heading for the top of the charts?
Københavns Politi Sangkor have made a late bid for the Christmas number one spot in Denmark this year with an upbeat melody about coronavirus restrictions. Check out the melodious masterpiece in the link below.