Babylon Berlin season 1

Babylon Berlin, also known as Germany's most expensive TV production, was something I found by chance having read a few positive articles and I was curious to see what this relatively unknown (in the UK) Sky production had to offer.

Based on Volker Kutscher's novels of the same name, the year is 1929 and Germany is trying to put its troubled past behind them during the Weimar Republic and look ahead to a brighter future, before Hitler would soon rise to power. However, the country is still damaged as we see a shellshocked WW1 veteran, Inspector Gereon Rath, transferred from Cologne to a seedy post-war Berlin on a secret mission to thwart an extortion ring run by the city's mafia.

I found this series to be something of a slow burn as this show gradually gained momentum. At the start I was somewhat rusty watching a show entirely through subtitles and there were a lot of moving pieces to quickly grasp including the series' other main storyline branch involving a young typist, Charlotte Ritter, who works with Rath and underground operations involving Russians as well as a mysterious train cart entering the city.

I watched the first episode and was immediately impressed by the visuals but it took me a while before I returned to commit to all eight episodes. We live in a time of there being so much content to watch in an ever increasing number of platforms and not knowing anyone who had seen this might have caused the delay but when I returned I quickly became immersed in this noir depiction of Berlin as all of the storylines came together.

The first season never once faltered, avoiding the dreaded 'filler' episodes that can curse a series, and was very satisfying to watch. It isn't the easiest show to recommend but if you're not afraid of subtitles and enjoy good drama then I can safely say this is worth watching.