Ole Søgaard

Matador is a Danish TV series produced and shown between 1978 and 1982. It is set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947. It follows the lives of a range of characters from across the social spectrum, focusing specifically on the rivalry between the families of two businessmen: The banker Hans Christian Varnæs, an established local worthy, and social climber Mads Skjern, who arrives in town as the series opens. The name Matador was taken from the localised edition of the boardgame Monopoly, also the series' tentative English title. In addition, in contemporary Danish a "matador" is often used to describe a business tycoon, in the series referring to the character of Mads Skjern and his craftiness as a self-made entrepreneur. Directed by famed Danish film maker Erik Balling, Matador was the idea of author Lise Nørgaard who wrote the bulk of the episodes alongside Karen Smith, Jens Louis Petersen and Paul Hammerich. The series is one of the most well-known and popular examples of Danish television and represents the peak of longtime development of Danish TV drama by the public service channel Danmarks Radio. The series has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes, partly because of its successful mix of melodrama and a distinct warm Danish humour in the depiction of characters, which were portrayed by a wide range of the most popular Danish actors at the time; but also not least because of its accurate portrayal of a turbulent Denmark from around the start of the Great Depression and through Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark in World War II.

In 1970s Denmark, the criminal police in a provincial town solve different criminal cases, when the police was dominated by men and DNA was not yet a tool in investigation.

Landowner Martin Kaas lives with his grandson Martin at Næsbygård. Martin is an avid horseman. One day, his horse loses a shoe, so Martin goes to see the village blacksmith Mortensen, where he meets the blacksmith's foster daughter Elise. The blacksmith is known to be an honest and religious man, but no one but Elise knows how brutal and cruel he really is. Elise discovers that her foster father, together with the estate's manager Hermansen, is involved in many shady deals that are not in the best interests of the estate. Martin, who often feels lonely, forms a warm friendship with Elise. One day, Martin disappears, and a letter left on his bed reveals that he has been kidnapped and that only a large ransom can bring the boy back.

A veteran sea captain abducts his niece for what he believes is his last chance at love. As the sad demon of the ocean Klabautermanden watches the passing of doomed ships, the niece awakens in her uncle's cabin. She makes him marry her but never allows the tyrannical captain to ever touch her. For eight years, the ship never docks as the malnourished crew wishes for death.

Following a nuclear power debate in Parliament, a shot rings out. Was the Minister of Energy the gunman's target? And who was the would-be assassin? Police and Secret Service come under pressure to solve the case quickly. In this clearly political thriller, implications of power abuse and trampling of citizens' right are rife, but one calm police inspector brings everything down to earth.

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At the Næsbygaard estate, the old landowner misses his grandson Martin, who is on a cattle farm in Texas learning about agriculture. The estate's shooter is ill, so the stud master has to take care of his job as well. This comes at a time when he is training hard for the gallop race for the King's honorary prize. To help lift their spirits, they are visited by some children from Copenhagen who are on vacation. When serious problems arise involving poaching on the estate's land, the children help to solve the case. The stud farm manager is injured, and it looks as if the estate's horse will not be able to participate in the big gallop race. But luckily, young Martin returns home from Texas just in time....