Carriage House Plans: Homeland Tv

Saturday 8 December 2012

Homeland Tv

Would the American version of The Killing have made a greater impact in this country had British viewers not already been in love with the Danish original? It's a moot point because after three months of Channel 4's Homeland being one of the most lavishly praised shows on UK television, subscribers to Sky Arts now have a chance to see the Israeli original. And having watched the first two episodes of Prisoners of War, I think that the recently concluded Homeland might have suffered somewhat in comparison had it been broadcast here second.Critics may well have sniffed at some of the more superficial plot elements in Homeland, for Prisoners of War is a more realistic and emotionally sophisticated account of what it is like for former PoWs to reintegrate into their families and society. It's far less slick, as you might expect (although its writer and director, Gideon Raff, oversaw the American remake), but also more quietly compelling – even without Carrie Mathison (the CIA agent played by Claire Danes), her role as the arch sceptic being here filled by a middle-aged male army psychiatrist.