Borgen (2010– )

A political drama about a prime minister's rise to power, and how power changes a prime minister.

Creator:

Adam Price

Stars:

Sidse Babett Knudsen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Emil Poulsen

5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Sidse Babett Knudsen	...	Birgitte Nyborg (30 episodes, 2010-2013)
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen	...	Katrine Fønsmark (30 episodes, 2010-2013)
Emil Poulsen	...	Magnus Christensen (30 episodes, 2010-2013)
Freja Riemann	...	Laura Christensen (30 episodes, 2010-2013)
Søren Malling	...	Torben Friis (30 episodes, 2010-2013)
Thomas Levin	...	Ulrik Mørch (30 episodes, 2010-2013)
Pilou Asbæk	...	Kasper Juul (29 episodes, 2010-2013)
Benedikte Hansen	...	Hanne Holm (27 episodes, 2010-2013)
Mikael Birkkjær	...	Philip Christensen (26 episodes, 2010-2013)
Anders Juul	...	Simon Bech (25 episodes, 2010-2013)
Lisbeth Wulff	...	Pia Munk (25 episodes, 2010-2013)
Kasper Lange	...	Dan (24 episodes, 2010-2013)
Lars Knutzon	...	Bent Sejrø (22 episodes, 2010-2013)
Søren Spanning	...	Lars Hesselboe (21 episodes, 2010-2013)
Christoph Bastrup	...	Journalist (19 episodes, 2010-2011)
Morten Kirkskov	...	Niels Erik Lund (15 episodes, 2010-2013)
Bjarne Henriksen	...	Hans Christian Thorsen (15 episodes, 2010-2013)
Peter Mygind	...	Michael Laugesen (14 episodes, 2010-2013)
Ole Thestrup	...	Svend Åge Saltum (14 episodes, 2010-2013)
Iben Dorner	...	Sanne (13 episodes, 2010-2011)

Storyline

A political drama about a prime minister's rise to power, and how power changes a prime minister.

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Plot Keywords:

prime minister | political drama | marriage | politics | denmark | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Also Known As:

The Fortress

Filming Locations:

Christiansborg, Copenhagen, Denmark

Company Credits

Production Co:

DR Fiktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title "Borgen" is a nickname for Christiansborg, the home of the Danish parliament and the prime minister's office.

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Crazy Credits

Begivenheder og personer i BORGEN er fiktive - men inspireret af virkeligheden. Serien refererer desuden til historiske personer og haendelser i dansk politik foer 1982. = Events and people in BORGEN are fictional - but inspired by reality. The series also refers to historical people and events in Danish politics before 1982.

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Connections

Referenced in Natholdet - med Anders Breinholt: Ellen Hillingsø (2011)

User Reviews

Is Borgen convincing?

I'm a big fan of the series, but it probably helps that I'm the only British politician (I was an MP for 13 years) who grew up in Denmark. To complement rather than repeat the other reviews, a few words on how realistic it is.

The multi-party negotiations are entirely plausible - that's how Danish politics works, and there are parties that switch allies from time to time. The balance between idealism and scheming is also really well done - most British and American movies and TV series portray all politicians as ruthless power-mongers, but generally politicians like to think they're doing the right thing, just like anyone else. The character are recognisable types - in particular, the far-right leader is clearly modelled on Mogens Glistrup, the entertaining, folksy and erratic founder of the current Progress Party.

The series is maybe a bit weaker on the big political issues, since it has to tackle something complex in an hour, and an issue like Afghanistan can't really be analysed in any depth in that time. The episode on a thinly-veiled Sudan with the smooth, corrupt Northern leader and the plausible Southern leader with some uncomfortable views is gripping but stereotyped. But it works brilliantly with smaller issues, especially those that interweave with the private lives of the protagonists. Above all, it creates sympathetic yet flawed political figures with a non-political private life, so much more like real politicians than the one-dimensional figures that the media try to make us.