Villordsutch reviews The Saboteurs…
If you’ve hit a certain point in your life you probably linger around the History Channel or Yesterday too often, watching far too many documentaries regarding the atrocities, heroics and catastrophic mistakes created during the Second World War. You probably then either a) find a peer group to discuss these battles or b) bore your children/partner senseless with details gleaned throughout the numerous battles that you’ve been briefed on.
Now I missed The Saboteurs when originally shown on More 4, but its premiere drew in 336,000 which was nearly 100,000 ahead of the channels’ slot average and back in Norway, the show’s native country, it brought in 1.7 million people. So when I finally got wind of this I was kicking myself as this is the type of programme I adore. For those unaware The Saboteurs, it follows an real-life moment in history in which Germany attempted to create a Nuclear Weapon with the assistance of Nobel Prize winning German scientist Werner Heisenberg. A key component for this weapon was Heavy Water which was only generated in one location within Norway, and this becomes a target of importance for both the Axis and the Allies – the Axis to control and build the bomb, and the Allies to somehow get inside this isolated factory in Norway and destroy the source.
Leif Tronstad (Espen Klouman Høiner) and Captain Julie Smith (Anna Friel)
The show stays extremely close to the facts, only deviating slightly with the inclusion of Anna Friel’s powerful, strong role of Captain Julie Smith, who manages to bring the heartbeat to the cold War rooms of Britain, though she isn’t a mewling girl in a uniform as you may be expecting. Along with Maibritt Saerens in Norway, both bring the humanity to what could have been a “Boys Own Saga”. However, to besmirch this six-parter with a “Boys Own Saga” tag is something of an insult, as this show is much greater and grander than that. There are no square-jawed heroes ready to go punch Fritz on his nose, people are starving for months eating moss or raw reindeer awaiting rescue, and resistance fighters question orders from those in bunkers a thousand miles away. There is drama spread perfectly throughout these episodes, drama that manages to capture the admiration of not just the belly-spreading middle-aged father, but also the seventeen year old daughter who strolls in during the middle of episode two and during episode four announces, “I really need to go to bed!”, but continues to the end of the episode.
This multi-lingual war drama is how war dramas need to be from this point on. We don’t want evil Nazi’s with Mock German accents, we want Germans actors playing their parts, Norwegians playing their roles and British actors doing their bit too. The Saboteurs has arrived and the bar has now been set extremely high.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=8k_v0cVxqEY
Originally published August 9, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
