The Day (De Dag) - more people need to know about this series!

[ButterPiesAreGreat]

Back in pre-Covid times (do you remember?), I found this series on Virgin Boxsets. I was completely blown away by it but as it was so tucked away, no one else really got to watch it.

Fast forward to this year when Walter Presents acquired it and put it on Channel 4 streaming. I have just rewatched it and it didn’t disappoint.

The basic premise is a hostage situation develops in a bank in a small Belgian town. The story is told in pairs of episodes, so the first one is from the outside, from the point of view of the public/police, and in the second, you see inside the bank and the point of view of the criminals and hostages as the story unfolds.

I won’t say anymore so as not to spoil the action but it does all take place in the course of a day, hence the name.

For me, it’s up there with some of my favourite tv series ever. The number of times I’ve got to the end of an episode and felt compelled to continue. I had to drag myself away a few times.

It’s in Flemish with English subtitles.

if you watch it, I’d love to know what you think.

Ooh thanks for the recommendation. Will give it a go.

Thanks, will watch. We quite enjoy foreign series.
you might enjoy Money Heist. A Spanish series on Netflix.

Already watched! I am a huge foreign language drama nerd. I always have a list to watch. Spanish series can be up and down but Money Heist is great. Belgian series are rarely awful and usually good. I can also recommend 1985, which is based around the true story of the Brabant killers, which remains unsolved. They blend the fictional story of 3 people in with real people and events. So good. Also on Walter Presents.

Have you watched Dark on Netflix, I loved it and its the no1 thing I always recommend to people .

Thanks for the rec! I enjoy lots of European series.

Have you watched Lupin?

Yep. Love Lupin!

Thanks for the recommendation, half way through. gripping stuff! Wish it didn't look like it's filmed in black and white though!

😂 I guess it’s a gloomy day in Belgium. It’s still dark at nearly 9am!

And everyone wears black, grey or brown, all the cars are black!

this was great - I really enjoyed it. I was also totally captivated by it!

If you like Belgian dramas, I can highly recommend Undercover (and the other Ferry series around it). Also Knokke Off (which is more soap drama like). The other one (Danish) that is good is on the BBC, the Those Who Kill series.

I’m contemplating rewatching Borgen at the moment as I’m running out of things to watch!

Sounds good, thanks.
I recommend the French series called Les Revenants, maybe 10 years old, was fantastic

Oh I loved the Revenants! It was very creepy!

Love this thread! I recommend a French series called Zone Blanche which they translated as Black Spot (I thought it would be about pirates lol) but it's more like a dead zone in terms of phone reception. Creepy, weird, surprising. Starts as what seems like a police procedural but evolves from that. On Netflix.

I’ve watched all of those! 😂 Belgian drama is great. Have you noticed that Ruth Becquart and Geert van Rampelberg play a couple in De Dag and also are a couple in Knokke Off?

Public Enemy (if it’s still on Netflix) is great and on WP, Pandora is also gripping. Then there’s 1985 on WP. I used to love Salamander but I don’t know if its available to stream anywhere.

If you want to find foreign language dramas to watch, there’s a UK blog called Square Eyed World which publishes a monthly calendar of all non-UK and US dramas being released in the UK. It is a great way to find new stuff to watch (although there can also be dross that I sack off very quickly!).

I think Zone Blanche is actually a Belgian-French co-production and filmed in both countries. It was definitely a little strange but I enjoyed it.

Well, we’ve just finished bingeing on it tonight- wow, what a rollercoaster! Thanks so much for recommending, best thing I've watched for ages. So many twists and turns - and the ending, never saw that coming.
Loved the way the characters developed over the many episodes. What a plot!
Phew!!

Thanks for the recommendation @ButterPiesAreGreat , I’ll have a look. Have you watched the Walter presents Carmen Curlers story? It’s also compelling.

Yup. To be honest, there is not a great deal on WP that I haven’t watched. 😂

There’s a good new one on Prime called The Truth Will Out (Swedish). Just started it but looks promising!

It’s great! It was on Walter Presents a couple of years ago.

I loved this and also 1985. There is another great one set in a restaurant on WP - can’t remember the name but really enjoyed it. I assume everyone has see the original The Bridge and those from that time. Another good one called The Legacy (little more soap opera slant tho). Thanks for the blog tip - off to look it up!

Ooh. Perhaps you mean Before We Die, from Sweden? Female cop with wayward son, finds out he’s an informant and he’s working in a restaurant run by a Balkan crime family?

I loved the legacy

Don’t think so but also watched that! Just googled and it’s ’When the dust settles’ - very good.

Ah yes, the one with the terrorist attack. I loved that, beautifully done considering the grim subject.