15 minutes in looks quite good...

Someone needs to tell the Sunday Express to do a bit of research though when doing a synopsis of a TV progeamme ...

Number one They have used the original theme tune (just made it a tad more modern)

Number the old theme tune wasn't called "Eye Opener" but "Eye Level" .

Yes its so far so good.... Marc Warren a good fit as the detective...

Oh I thought we were in for a flying Dutch winger

Thanks for the reminder. We’ll catch it on the +1.

I’m recording it. Used to love the old Van der Valk.

Oranjeboom, Oranjeboom. It's a lager not a tune..

Well I liked it

Very entertaining. Enjoyed it.

Yep, very good. Shame his “piece” got banged up... tidy that.

bobinho wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:40 pm

Yep, very good. Shame his “piece” got banged up... tidy that.

No spoilers bobinho others haven't seen it yet

Enjoyed it but should have retained the original theme

Can't quite understand why these kind of series exist. Gave a chance watching an episode of the original but couldn't take it seriously when no effort is made to even pronounce stuff correctly.

Just can't get over people with British accents pretending to be Dutch! It's the same with the British version of the Swedish show; Wallander!

Can you imagine a Dutch detective series based in the UK?

Plenty of great detective series with a more authentic feel to them if you watch them created by the people who live there. Even with subtitles they are more enjoyable... Well at least for me

superdimitri wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:00 am

Can't quite understand why these kind of series exist. Gave a chance watching an episode of the original but couldn't take it seriously when no effort is made to even pronounce stuff correctly.

Just can't get over people with British accents pretending to be Dutch! It's the same with the British version of the Swedish show; Wallander!

Can you imagine a Dutch detective series based in the UK?

Plenty of great detective series with a more authentic feel to them if you watch them created by the people who live there. Even with subtitles they are more enjoyable... Well at least for me

On the point of British actors playing Dutch people youve just got to get over it.

After being bombarded with Corinavirus news and watching media interviewers setting traps for politicians in the most juvenile way it made a decent change of scenery.

Stayingup wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:08 am

On the point of British actors playing Dutch people youve just got to get over it.

After being bombarded with Corinavirus news and watching media interviewers setting traps for politicians in the most juvenile way it made a decent change of scenery.

Absolutely - enjoyed it and will be watching again next week

Very good, well acted, plausible and held your interest throughout.

Stayingup wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:08 am

On the point of British actors playing Dutch people youve just got to get over it.

After being bombarded with Corinavirus news and watching media interviewers setting traps for politicians in the most juvenile way it made a decent change of scenery.

Totally agree...

Thoroughly enjoyed the dry humour ....

Looking forward to next weeks episode.

Mark Warren is excellent in the lead and his supporting cast very good (I already have a crush on his sidekick Lucienne played by Maime McCoy )

Bosscat wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 12:53 pm

Totally agree...

Thoroughly enjoyed the dry humour ....

Looking forward to next weeks episode.

Mark Warren is excellent in the lead and his supporting cast very good (I already have a crush on his sidekick Lucienne played by Maime McCoy )

Hands off!!!

Not bad, but Warren doesn't have the hard edge that Barry Foster brought to the old series.
Maybe it's not fair to compare them, though.
Different times, and all that....

I'll give it another shot next week.

ElectroClaret wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 3:33 pm

Not bad, but Warren doesn't have the hard edge that Barry Foster brought to the old series.
Maybe it's not fair to compare them, though.
Different times, and all that....

I'll give it another shot next week.

Sometimes it is a big mistake to try and compare old with new. Barry Foster was terrific in the role but I suspect Marc Warren will also be.

Me and the better half enjoyed it, still early doors but looking forward to next weeks episode.

Was Steve McLaren given a cameo?

JohnMac wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 5:21 pm

Was Steve McLaren given a cameo?

Beat me to it!

Just watched it and really good episode
I used to watch the earlier version for a couple of years in the 70's. Didn't realise it ran for 20years (just googled it)

Stayingup wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:08 am

On the point of British actors playing Dutch people youve just got to get over it.

After being bombarded with Corinavirus news and watching media interviewers setting traps for politicians in the most juvenile way it made a decent change of scenery.

I'm not sure I can get over it though! Perhaps it's because I lived in Amsterdam before.

JohnMac wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 5:21 pm

Was Steve McLaren given a cameo?

It never rained.
Enjoyed it especially the final twist.

mdd2 wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:45 pm

Just watched it and really good episode
I used to watch the earlier version for a couple of years in the 70's. Didn't realise it ran for 20years (just googled it)

It didn't really - there was a 15 year gap between two series and in total there were only just over 30 episodes

superdimitri wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:21 pm

I'm not sure I can get over it though! Perhaps it's because I lived in Amsterdam before.

Maybe but when you consider we have had programmes with aliens (Spock) with American accents and accepted that, I think with artistic licence we can accept English accents in a drama set in Amsterdam.. As I say I enjoyed it. My very favourite in this genre though, notwithsatnding how this pans out, is Vera. Brenda Blethyn is terrific in the part and the writer (same one who wrote Shetland) is very good.

Stayingup wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 28, 2020 11:30 am

Maybe but when you consider we have had programmes with aliens (Spock) with American accents and accepted that, I think with artistic licence we can accept English accents in a drama set in Amsterdam.. As I say I enjoyed it. My very favourite in this genre though, notwithsatnding how this pans out, is Vera. Brenda Blethyn is terrific in the part and the writer (same one who wrote Shetland) is very good.

It's the believability of crime dramas that suck me in though. I'm not a fan of the wild and extremes you find in most and prefer it to feel authentic and real. When I try to get into something that's based somewhere with a different language I just can't seem to get past it. It's the same with the BBC remakes of Wallander.

Star trek is a little different. Completely fictional and with little reason to come across as being believable. To compare more closely I don't think you'd find an American crime drama based in the UK nor would you find a British one based in the USA.

Of course everyone's different and this is just my opinion. I'm not claiming there's a right or wrong but this is just how it comes across to me. Be interesting to know what the Dutch make of the show!

For anyone who enjoyed the original Van der Valk or for anyone intrigued to see what it was like (and it did have the correct version of the theme tune), they are being repeated from this Friday at 9 p.m. on the Talking Movies channel which can be found on Sky at channel 328.

JohnMac wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 5:21 pm

Was Steve McLaren given a cameo?

No they did it in English, so he wasn't required!

Marc Warren is always decent , must watch this on catch up

For fans of the original. It is being repeated now on Talking Pictures, sky 328.

Tricky Trevor wrote: ↑

Fri May 01, 2020 9:19 pm

For fans of the original. It is being repeated now on Talking Pictures, sky 328.

Three posts above yours

Series 2 about to start on ITV anyone else watching

Ill watch on catch up, first series very enjoyable.

I recorded the first series and my Sky box remembered and has already set tonight’s to record.

What position does he play? Any good?

Stayed in the Van der Valk Hotel in Eindhoven with work, one of my colleagues kept humming the theme tune, it was lost on the 30 students that were with us!

professsorpiehead wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 26, 2020 9:23 pm

Oranjeboom, Oranjeboom. It's a lager not a tune..

Loopy juice. Many a Friday night spent in De Hems on Oranjeboom. Then waking up at the end of the Shepperton line

I've got one of those old flat round vinyl things.

'Simon Park Orchestra' apparently. And yes, 'Eye Level'.

dougcollins wrote: ↑

Sun Aug 07, 2022 8:59 pm

I've got one of those old flat round vinyl things.

'Simon Park Orchestra' apparently. And yes, 'Eye Level'.

Flat round vinyly things hmmmm a record or summat didn't they call them or was it a 43 or 45 or sumfink ...

I've got loads of albums from the 70's. Not that I'm a collector, I just bought them at the time and kept them in cases when CD's appeared.

A mate looked through them not so long ago and I've apparently got some 'valuable collectors' items'.

Well bvgger me.

Barry Foster was a brilliant Van der Valk and that superb theme tune always reminds me of 1973 when I got my A levels the brilliant Burnley team won the division 2 title and Rishton won the Worsley Cup at Enfield . Strange how on tune brings back so many memories of a great year. Presumably everyone has a special year they look back to ?