Borgen ("castle", "fortress" or "burg", sometimes also known by its alternative international title Government) is a Danish one-hour political drama television series. It tells the story of a charismatic populist named Birgitte Nyborg who is catapulted into office by an unexpected landslide victory to become the first Danish woman prime minister.
The series stars Sidse Babett Knudsen as Birgitte Nyborg. The other main actors are Pilou Asbæk as troubled spin doctor Kasper Juhl and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as ambitious news anchor Katrine Fønsmark.
The show is created and written by producer Adam Price and co-writers Jeppe Gjervig Gram and Tobias Lindholm. It is produced by DR, the Danish network and production house behind another Danish hit series The Killing, which was remade in the United States under the same title.
Contents |
| Character | Actor | Character's role |
|---|---|---|
| Bent Sejrø | Lars Knutzon | Finance Minister (Moderate Party) |
| Bjørn Marrot | Flemming Sørensen | Foreign Minister (Labour Party) |
| Birgitte Nyborg Christensen | Sidse Babett Knudsen | Moderate Party Leader |
| Hanne Holm | Benedikte Hansen | TV1 Journalist |
| Hans Christian Kongsmark | Bjarne Henriksen | Defence Minister |
| Kasper Juul | Pilou Asbæk | Communications Chief for Birgitte Nyborg |
| Katrine Fønsmark | Birgitte Hjort Sørensen | TV1 Presenter |
| Lars Hesselboe | Søren Spanning | Leader of the Liberal Party / Prime Minister at the start of the series |
| Lisbeth Hesselboe | Ida Dwinger | Lars Hesselboe's wife |
| Michael Laugesen | Peter Mygind | Labour Party Leader |
| Niels Erik Lund | Morten Kirkskov | Prime Minister's Permanent Secretary |
| Ole Dahl | Claus Riis Østergaard | Communications Chief for Lars Hesselboe |
| Philip Christensen | Mikael Birkkjær | Lecturer at Copenhagen Business School (Married to Birgitte Nyborg) |
| Pia Munk | Lisbeth Wulff | TV1 Editor |
| Svend Åge Saltum | Ole Thestrup | Freedom Party Leader |
| Tanja | Patricia Schumann | TV1 Makeup-artist |
| Torben Friis | Søren Malling | TV1 Editor in Chief |
| Troels Höxenhaven | Lars Brygmann | Justice Minister and Labour Party Deputy Leader |
| Ulrik Mørch | Thomas Levin | TV1 Journalist |
| Yvonne Kjær | Jannie Faurschou | New Right Leader |
| Episode Title | Originally aired Denmark | Originally aired USA | Originally aired UK | Official UK ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Decency in the Middle | 26 September 2010 20.00 | 29 October 2011 21.30 | 7 January 2012 21.00 | |
| 2 Count to 90 | 3 October 2010 20.00 | 5 November 2011 21.30 | 7 January 2012 22.00 | |
| 3 The Art of the Impossible | 10 October 2010 20.00 | 12 November 2011 21.30 | 14 January 2012 21.00 | |
| 4 100 Days | 17 October 2010 20.00 | 19 November 2011 21.30 | 14 January 2012 22.00 | |
| 5 Men Who Love Women | 24 October 2010 20.00 | 26 November 2011 21.30 | 21 January 2012 21.00 | |
| 6 State Visit | 31 October 2010 20.00 | 3 December 2011 21.30 | 21 January 2012 22.00 | |
| 7 See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil | 7 November 2010 20.00 | 10 December 2011 21.30 | 28 January 2012 21.00 | |
| 8 The Silly Season | 14 November 2010 20.00 | 17 December 2011 21.30 | 28 January 2012 22.00 | |
| 9 Divide and Rule | 21 November 2010 20.00 | 24 December 2011 21.30 | 4 February 2012 21.00 | |
| 10 The First Tuesday in October | 28 November 2010 20.00 | 31 December 2011 21.30 | 4 February 2012 22.00 |
The programme has screened in various countries including
The second series screened on DR1 in the same Sunday 20.00 slot from 25 September 2011. The first episode was seen by 1,417,000 viewers in Denmark with 1,610,000 seeing the final episode in series 2 on 27 November. The average number of viewers was 1,516,000 giving an impressive 53% audience share. [5]
Awards for the show includes the FIPA d'OR at the Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels and the Prix Italia for best drama series, as well as Knudsen's win for best female lead in a drama series at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival.
United States television network NBC will produce a remake of Borgen with a pilot being developed by David Hudgins and Jason Katims of Friday Night Lights (TV series) fame.[6]