The Bridge is back. There will be blood. Lots of it

BBC2, FRIDAY 11 MAY, 9PM

Trying to preview the new eight-part series of The Bridge without revealing spoilers and ruining it for those yet to experience the joy of Hans Rosenfeldt’s exceptional Scandi Noir crime drama is like navigating a minefield wearing clown’s shoes. So, we are proceeding with extreme caution. At the end of last series, highfunctioning Swedish detective Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) and her Danish counterpart Henrik Sabroe (Thure Lindhardt) found themselves at crucial crossroads in their lives, leaning on one another for support. Stripped of her badge following an investigation into her mother’s death, Saga cements her friendship with Henrik – one of the few people who gets her – by helping him look for his missing daughters.

SERIES 4

The action picks up two years on, and Saga is shockingly in prison, convicted of her mother’s death and struggling to cope with having her personal space invaded by hostile inmates. Meanwhile, Henrik isn’t having a picnic, either, balancing worrying about Saga with dealing with new abrasive Danish colleague, Jonas (Mikael Birkkjaer), who joins him to investigate the death of a woman brutally murdered at the base of the bridge. As it turns out, said victim was the Director General of the Migration Agency in Copenhagen, and the murderer’s motive seemingly lies in a recent, highly-publicised deportation scandal…

THE VERDICT

It’s easy to be complacent about Rosenfeldt’s high-calibre drama, with its excellent storytelling, spot-on social commentary, shocking plot twists and well-crafted characters you really care about, but the final series of is testament to why he is the king of Scandi