Blog for November 2008

30/11/2008: Wallander

I meant to post this article a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve been very bad at updating my blog recently. The BBC is showing an adaptation of one of Henning Mankell’s Wallander novels tonight. Mankell is one of my favourite crime fiction writers, so here are a few random thoughts (no spoilers!):

• They’ve started with Sidetracked, the fifth novel in the series. Probably a good choice — it’s the most critically acclaimed. The first in the series, Faceless Killers, is arguably the weakest Wallander novel so would not be a good choice if the production company is hoping to have a series commissioned.
• Rather than try to compress the whole novel into a 90 minute show, the BBC has wisely made it into a mini-series. This is an excellant choice as it’s quite a twisty, turny story, and needs a bit of time devoted to it.
• Kenneth Brannagh will probably turn out to be an excellant choice of actor to play Kurt Wallander.
• I wonder if they relocate the novels from Sweden to the UK? I hope not. But if not, I…