Deutschland 86

After Das Boot comes the sequel to Deutschland 83.

This centres on the need of East Germany for foreign currency. A shady arms deal is set up and carried out by Lenora Rauch (Maria Schrader) and her nephew Martin (Jonas Ray). This takes place in South Africa in 1986 and Angola with filming there.

The apartheid era is carefully represented with good attention to detail.

Though spoken mostly in German with subtitles quite lot of it is in English too. It must have a huge budget as little is shot indoors in the studio and the last episode in a petrol refinery in Angola. The acting, particularly of the older cast, is excellent. As with most 10 part series each episode has a mini-plot which rather stretches credulity.

Germany’s history over the past 100 years makes for more interesting television than most European countries.

They have had two world wars, the inflation of the Weimar Republuc, the rise of Hitler and Nazism, their total defeat and destruction in WW2, rising again post war in the Economic Miracle, several World Cup and Euro victories, a position as Europe’s leading economic powerhouse, the driver of the EU, reunification, the Baader Meinhof gang and the atrocity in the Munich Olympiad.

Now they turn their hand to televises series and do them rather well.