Flikken Maastricht, a Dutch police series.

Back in the Netherlands, I study in a town called Maastricht. Maastricht is a beautiful, old city with a lot of interesting sights.

Flikken Maastricht is a police series which is set in Maastricht and shows the most beautiful spots in a ‘criminal’ atmosphere. It is originally based on a Belgian police series and broadcasted on public television. The day after the television broadcast, you can watch the episode on the website of public television (www.uitzendinggemist.nl). Every week a have to watch the newest episode so you can safely say that I’m addicted.

But why? It’s quite strange that I like this particular television series because I don’t really watch television that often and I almost never watch a television series. I never watched another police series. Another reason why I can’t explain my addiction is the level of reality in the series. Because I live in Maastricht, I see a lot of flaws in the story in order to make it look good. For example, if the ride through one street, the next shot can be in a completely different part of the town. An explanation for these goofs could be the avoidance of the less beautiful parts of town. What’s more, the level of acting isn’t always of a high standard. It’s not annoying but some characters ‘overact’.

Because the series is Dutch-spoken, Flikken Maastricht is not internationally known. The script, though can be regarded as quite international; all episodes follow a certain script and end with a cliffhanger. A week later, we first see what happened the week before.
On the whole, I think that a series like Flikken Maastricht offers some good relaxation for the mind. After a day of work, it is good to relax with a drink and a nice episode of your favorite series.



Relevant links (in English):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flikken_Maastricht
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0920448/
http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-19398