Borgen (TV series)

With Danish elections to begin soon, Birgitte Nyborg, leader of the Moderate Party is interviewed by Katrine Fønsmark, a journalist for the broadcaster TV1. Both women are unknowingly connected by Nyborg's media advisor, Kasper Juul, who is also Katrine's ex-boyfriend. Katrine has been having an affair with Ole Dahl, the communications chief for Prime Minister Lars Hesselboe. When Dahl dies of a heart attack whilst in bed with Katrine, she panics and contacts Kasper for help. While removing evidence from Dahl's flat, Kasper comes across sales receipts showing that Hesselboe has made expensive personal purchases using his official credit card. He offers these to Nyborg as a possible bargaining chip for use in the upcoming general election. When Nyborg declines, Kasper gives it to opposition leader Michael Laugesen. After Laugesen reveals the information in a television debate, Nyborg deduces the source and fires Kasper.

Laugesen's action backfires, however, and many voters reject both him and Hesselboe in favour of the minority parties, including the Moderates. This puts Nyborg in the running for prime minister, a development even she didn't expect. Although the obvious choice for the office, Nyborg faces condescension and chauvinism from other party leaders, but is buoyed up by the support of her deputy, Bent Sejrø. Laugesen refuses to support her as leader of a coalition government, but is undermined by his own resentful colleagues, who leak information that leads to his own resignation as party leader. With delicate navigation Nyborg is thus able to form a centre-left coalition government with the Labour and Green Parties, along with support from the far-left Solidarity Party. Laugesen is appointed head of the Ekspres tabloid newspaper, and uses his new position to become the government's fiercest critic.

Nyborg continues to rely on Bent and her husband Phillip for help making her premiership a success. She appoints a new P.R. assistant to replace Kasper, but he quickly proves disastrous during a TV interview with Laugesen. Nyborg re-hires Kasper, who is still troubled by his break-up with Katrine. Kasper learns from Katrine that she became pregnant by Dahl and had an abortion, becoming heartbroken when she begins a short relationship with her fitness instructor. He faces more problems when Laugesen writes a memoir revealing details about the personal lives of several politicians, including Kasper's role in exposing Hesselboe's receipts. Katrine realises that he took them from Dahl's apartment and angrily confronts him. Nyborg and Kasper manipulate the facts and dismiss Laugesen's book as "gossip".

As the parliament prepares to convene, Kasper struggles to write Nyborg's opening speech. He half-heartedly flirts with Nyborg's personal secretary, Sanne, who loses her job as a result. Meanwhile, Phillip, unhappy with his own position, finally loses faith in his marriage with Nyborg when he is forced to resign as the CEO of a major electronics company to avoid a conflict of interest; he begins an affair with a recruitment consultant. Nyborg attempts to disguise their marital crisis by agreeing to a television documentary about her official and personal life, but calls it off when Phillip, unable to stand the subterfuge, insists on a divorce. Katrine, learning that Kasper has obtained editorial control over the programme, resigns from her job at TV1.

A poor showing in the polls results in Nyborg's Labour allies approaching her to get a bigger share of Cabinet seats. They focus on Bent, who is obliged to resign as finance minister to make room for a Labour politician. Nyborg's opening speech is a resounding success, but she is close to an emotional breakdown as the season ends.

Eleven months after her separation from Phillip, Nyborg visits troops in Afghanistan and promises an imminent withdrawal of Danish troops from the region. However, a coordinated attack by the Taliban results in the worst single-day casualties in the history of the Danish military. With Laugesen and Hesselboe blaming her for the casualties, Nyborg consults on-the-ground commanders and military leaders before deciding – despite her election commitment to withdrawal and her own personal feelings – to keep Danish troops in Afghanistan for a while longer. This causes tensions within the coalition government, especially with regards to the Green Party.

After some deliberate delay, Nyborg signs Phillip's divorce papers. Shortly afterwards, she finds herself jealous when Phillip begins seeing another woman Cecile, a young pediatrician. Meanwhile, Nyborg faces infighting within the coalition that eventually destabilises her government. She comes to realise that careerist members of the Labour Party, led by Troels Höxenhaven, are staging a revolt against the party's leader, Bjørn Marrot, by tricking him into making public gaffes and questioning his authority. Labour eventually succeeds in ousting Marrot and appointing Höxenhaven in his place, derailing a government's welfare policy summit in the process.

Since starting work for the Ekspres, Katrine has felt misgivings about Laugesen's obsessive vendetta against Nyborg and her allies. When Katrine and her long-time editor, Hanne Holm, cover the aborted summit for the Ekspres, Laugesen sends along Mikkel, a purported photographer, to accompany them. Unbeknownst to them, Mikkel is a call boy Laugesen has hired to lure Höxenhaven into a homosexual tryst. When Laugesen tells Höxenhaven that he aims to discredit the government by outing him, he commits suicide. Katrine and Holm investigate the affair and uncover Laugesen's culpability in Höxenhaven's death, resigning from the Ekspres in disgust. Katrine works for Hesselboe's Liberal Party for a short time before returning to TV1 along with Holm.

In the wider world, a Danish ship with Danish soldiers have been hijacked by Somali pirates. Having taken on the role of Deputy Leader and Foreign Minister after Marrot's departure, Höxenhaven and Nyborg have agreed to an uneasy truce. Determined to move on from the bugging incident while Höxenhaven was Justice Minister for which Nyborg fired him, Nyborg warns Höxenhaven that she expected professional behaviour and integrity from her new partner. However, Nyborg becomes increasingly frustrated at Höxenhaven's independent stance over the Somali hostage situation. Directly countermanding her instructions to remain detached whilst the shipping company dealt with the situation, Höxenhaven gives interviews and makes public appearances to suggest that he was the true supporter of the hostage families. Public polls show Höxenhaven's increased popularity at Nyborg's expense. Eventually, when confronted by Nyborg, Höxenhaven admits that he has plans to take over as Prime Minister and have the coalition led by Labour not the Moderates. Nyborg angered by this betrayal and stark aibition considers the wisdom of holding a new general election.

Soon afterwards, Laugesen arranges a meeting with Höxenhaven and shows him the compromising photographs. Höxenhaven is asked to give his side of the story on what it was like to lie to his family about his sexual preferences, and to deny that he was a security risk. Laugesen gives him time to think about agreeing to the interview warning him the story would come out with or without his co-operation. Laugesen leaves Höxenhaven with the photos and walks away from the shocked man.

Just before Höxenhaven and Nyborg were to attend a update meeting on the hostage crisis, Höxenhaven asks for a private meeting. Nyborg thinks that he is going to talk about his confession that he wants her job but he surprises her by saying he's resigning. When pressed he tells her that he is about be outed as a homosexual. Nyborg tries to persuade him to change his mind saying that a public statement before the papers published it would be to his advantage and that he could become a pioneer for other gay politicians. Thinking that she had convinced him that he was a skilled politician who shouldn't be defeated by this form of blackmail, Nyborg leaves Höxenhaven to recover in her office.

She attends the meeting and decides to grant permission for a rescue. The following morning, a jogger discovers an apparently abandoned car in the woods and opens the door to reveal a dead Höxenhaven. He has taken pills from Nyborg's bathroom and taken an overdose. The police agree to cover up the fact that the pills were from Nyborg's bathroom but say that they were his own but Nyborg says that she doesn't want to lie about it but would just rather the information didn't get out. There is shock throughout the political world. Katrine and Hanne track down Mikkel and learn of Laugesen's culpability in Höxenhaven's death, passing the information to Kasper and Nyborg. Nyborg unsuccessfully attempts to blackmail Laugesen into silence but gains his agreement to treat Höxenhaven with respect and not mention his sexuality. At her press conference, Nyborg praises Höxenhaven and credits his role in the eventual success of the hostage crisis.

Laugesen uses his connections to make it difficult for Katrine and Hanne to find new jobs. Katrine briefly works as a media advisor for Hesselboe's Liberal Party before returning to TV1 as a newsreader and journalist; she joins the broadcaster on the condition that Hanne, a recovering alcoholic, also be hired.

At the conference, Kasper and Katrine had briefly rekindled their romance, even though he lives with his girl-friend, Lotte. Kasper had moved in to Lotte's apartment and moved by her obvious love for him, wants to make his relationship work. Although it is clear he has feelings towards Katrine, he hesitates in leaving Lotte. He visits Katrine again after the conference and they fight. Katrine does not want to renew their relationship as she is tired of Kasper keeping things from her. He tells her he loves her but cannot tell her everything and they fight before making love despite themselves. After this, Kasper makes a decision to make things work with Lotte and imposes conditions on Katrine which makes it difficult to contact despite their professional roles. Katrine tries to honour Kasper's request but this is difficult due to Kasper's own conflicting feelings which causes him to break his own rules on keeping a distance. Kasper's increasing commitment issues and conflict cause him to engage in affairs with other women and become distanced from Lotte who is confused and upset by Kasper's growing coldness.

Later, in order to reach a bi-partisan consensus on a reform package she is proposing before parliament, Nyborg makes concessions to the right-wing opposition and to industrial polluters. The Green Party leader, Amir Dwian, who is the Minister of the Environment, voices his concern at the watered down bill and threatens to withdraw support. Dwian is popular with the press and Nyborg feels concerned that he is no longer a team player. Revealing the extent to which she has changed in her time as Prime Minister, she agrees to let Kasper release a story about Dwian's fondness for vintage cars. These cars are exempt from green taxes and consume lots of fuel which would undermine his position as a sustainability and green supporter.

Nyborg and Kasper are taken aback by the backlash against Dwian with the media attacking Dwian as much as they previously applauded him. Dwian has a meeting with Nyborg and tells him how his family and young children have been affected by the media and public uproar. Nyborg is aware that she allowed Kasper to release the story but says nothing. She tries to persuade Dwian to agree to the reform package's watered down measures so that he could enjoy more positive publicity. After a struggle, he agrees and holds a press conference. However the next day he informs Nyborg that as leader of the Green Party, he could not agree to the diluted environmental measures and that the Green Party would be resigning from government. He gives Nyborg 24 hours to form a new government before he issues a press statement.

Nyborg and her team go into lock down mode and eventually agree a new deal with Labour to form a two-party coalition. The Green Party's four ministries are divided between them and the press conference goes ahead without difficulty. By this time, Katrine has accepted Hesselboe's offer to be his media advisor. Despite her political preferences she accepts and her doubts are made obvious. Hesselboe, who is planning his re-election bid, tries to exploit the divisions in Nyborg's government by demanding a new general election so the public could decide. Laugesen continues to attack Nyborg in online editorial videos. Having argued with the Leader of the Liberal Party's allies, the Freedom Party, Katrine realises that despite the salary and perks, she cannot help Hesselboe win the election as she doesn't want him to win.

With Nyborg under attack from the right-wing Freedom Party over reducing the age of criminal responsibility for children from 14 years to 12 years, Kasper finds it difficult to remain impartial. He verbally abuses the Freedom Party leader and is forced to apologise. Even while Nyborg is relying on Kasper to manage the press in her favour, plagued by personal demons and sexual frustrations, Kasper behaves erratically at work and at home causing problems for Nyborg and himself. His vulnerability over the Freedom Party's proposed bill causes him to attack Katrine for being too soft on the Freedom Party leader who has been attacked by a gang of young people who fall beneath the existing age limit. Stung by the rebuke, Katrine interviews the injured leader and takes a less than sympathetic approach which back-fires forcing Katrine to apologise after a rebuke from her boss.

The Freedom Party uses the attack as an opportunity to promote their anti-immigration policy and for hard-line justice. As public support for the proposed bill grows, the Government appears weak and soft on crime and immigration. The Liberals attempt to use the opportunity to add pressure on the Moderates and Labour who now form a minority government of two parties. As Nyborg tries to negotiates a deal with the new hard-line Justice Minister (one of the new Labour appointees following the Green Party's resignation from the government), Kasper's growing unreliability and lack of judgement casue Nyborg to question his position and Kasper, throwing his job to the wind tells Nyborg that he is frightened by the proposed bill and that it robs children of their childhood. Nyborg is struck by the passion and the emotion revealed by Kasper's outburst and uses some of his thoughts in her closing speech where she outlines a counter-proposal setting up a review commission from all parties to consider the issue of lowering the age of criminal responsibility. The government's alternative bill is passed by one vote and the Freedom Party bill is thus defeated.

Kasper's infidelities causes his relationship with Lotte to disintegrate and he moves out. Believing that he has been fired (he has not, Nyborg decides to allow him time to reflect and cool down), Kasper tells Katrine that he has always loved her. She again reminds him that he is prone to keeping too many personal secrets which will always threaten their relationship. Soon afterwards Kasper leaves the Prime Minister's office and visits Katrine's flat giving her a box containing a videotape and a scrap book with press cuttings. Katrine finally understands what has been troubling Kasper for so long (and thus his sensitivity to the proposed Bill). Katrine learns that Kasper (who was called Kenneth as a child) had, aged 12, stabbed his father following years of sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, at home, Nyborg and her former husband Phillip, have to deal with their daughter Laura's mental health issues. Feeling under pressure to be a model teenager and student as the daughter of the country's Prime Minister, Laura gradually becomes overwhelmed with anxiety and depression. Following a panic attack at camp, Celine suggests that Laura takes anti-depressant medication which Nyborg vehemently opposes. Nyborg becomes annoyed with Phillip who had previously shared her dislike of medicating young people for depression, and accuses him of forgetting their shared stance against "happy pills" for children due to his new loyalty for Cecile. It is agreed between Phillip and Nyborg, that Phillip will bring up the matter with the Psychiatrist and get his opinion. The next day, Phillip and Laura return from the meeting and Phillip shows Nyborg a packet of anti-depressant tablets which the Psychiatrist had prescribed. Nyborg refuses to give them to Laura until she has the opportunity to speak to the doctor first. He tells her about the pressure that Laura had been under and that the medication would help stabilise Laura's anxiety levels and help her benefit from her talking therapy. Still unhappy about the situation, Phillip and Nyborg sit with Laura and help her to take the first tablet. Laura takes the pill and goes to bed unaware of her parents' concern and mixed emotions. Nyborg sends Phillip home and then sobs alone in the bathroom in deep unhappiness about her daughter's condition, feeling angry at herself for allowing Laura to take medication despite her deep misgivings.

In an attempt to improve her government's standing, Nyborg recruits Bent and Amir to help her negotiate a peace agreement between the warring Christian and Muslim factions of a (fictional) African nation called Kharoun. Despite deep mistrust and aggressive overtures by both sides, Nyborg's plan is a success. However, just as Nyborg pushes for public health care reform, the increasingly-unstable Laura is diagnosed with a mental illness; the only place that can treat her is a private hospital, the use of which provokes charges of hypocrisy from Nyborg's opponents. When the invasive attention of the press threatens Laura's recovery, Nyborg decides to take a temporary leave from office to support her daughter. Nyborg's commitment to Laura causes Phillip to reconsider his separation from her, leading him to break up with Cecilie.

As Laura recovers, Nyborg and Phillip show signs of getting back together. Despite being initially torn on whether to return to work, Nyborg resumes her duties when she realises that Hans-Christian Thorsen, the Labour chairman and acting prime minister, is positioning himself as her successor. After her health care reform is passed by parliament, Nyborg formally announces a new general election.

It is two and a half years since Birgitte Nyborg called the general election and Lars Hesselboe is once again Prime Minister.

Having been unable to form a new coalition government, Nyborg was forced to resign as Prime Minister and, in order to make way for a younger generation, chose to step down as party leader and turn her back on the world of politics. She is now a highly paid speaker and sits on the boards of a several large companies. Under the leadership of Jacob Kruse - the former deputy leader whom Nyborg had 'exiled' to Brussels as Denmark’s EU Commissioner - the Moderates have, on many of the issues that are close to Nyborg's heart, adopted a much more right-wing position that is increasingly indistinguishable from that of Lars Hesselboe's Liberal Party.

Although now separated, Katrine Fønsmark and Kasper Juul have a baby son, Gustav, for whom they share the parental duties. Fønsmark is still TV1's news anchor, whilst Juul now also works at TV1 as a political analyst and host of a political magazine programme, 'Juul & Friis', with TV1's head of news, Torben Friis.

No longer able to ignore the persistent questions about what she would do if she were Prime Minister, season 3 follows Birgitte Nyborg's return to the political arena and her attempts to find supporters and formulate a position that is true to her beliefs. ^[4]

The series has been well received by critics and audiences alike.^[7] It became a hit in the UK as well as Denmark, becoming one of several Danish series to do so in recent years.^[7] Maggie Brown of the Guardian cited the strong female characters, originality and an ability to "uncannily forecast actual developments in Danish politics" as reasons for its success^[7] Jane Merrick of The Independent published a list of similarities from Borgen series 2 to actual events in present day UK politics following the conclusion of series 2 in the UK.^[8]

The US critics has been similarly positive, with Newsweek dubbing Borgen "the best TV show you have never seen" ^[9] and bestselling novelist and Entertainment Weekly columnist Stephen King put the series on the top of his top 10 list of the best TV shows of 2012.^[10]

With middle of the road 3/6 star ratings, the Danish media’s reaction to the third series was noticeably less positive than for the first two series. Politiken commented that the third series “ended like a soap opera” and “never succeeded in breaking free from predictability”^[11]; with Berlingske's review declaring that whilst the third series “tied up the loose ends in pretty bows and was, like the rest of the series, well performed, it was also insidiously dull”^[12].

While the political parties in the series are fictional, they do have "recognisable real-life equivalents":^{[citation needed]}

• The Moderates (De Moderate), Birgitte Nyborg's centrist or centre-left party, is similar to the Social Liberal Party (Radikale Venstre)
• The Labour Party, Nyborg's coalition partner, is perhaps comparable to the Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet)
• The left-wing environmentalist Green Party is perhaps comparable to the Socialist People's Party
• The far-left Solidarity Party is similar to the Red-Green Alliance
• The centre-right Liberal Party (Venstre) has a real-world equivalent
• New Right is similar to the right-wing Conservative People's Party.
• The far-right Freedom Party, like the real-life Danish People's Party, is stated by party leader Svend Åge Saltum to be a successor party to Mogens Glistrup's Progress Party

Following the 2011 parliamentary election, the Social Liberals, Socialist People's Party, and Social Democrats did form a coalition government, with parliamentary support from the Red-Green Alliance and with Helle Thorning-Schmidt becoming Denmark's first female prime minister (though, in the real-life coalition, the Social Democrats were the leading party).^[13]

Several fictional broadcasters and newspapers also exist in the series, including the public broadcaster TV1 (similar to DR1), tabloid newspaper Ekspres (similar to Ekstra Bladet), and the television station 2 (similar to TV 2).

Awards for the show include the 2010 Prix Italia for best drama series,^[14] a Golden Nymph to Sidse Babett Knudsen for Outstanding Actress in a drama series at the 2011 Monte-Carlo Television Festival.,^[15] and the Fipa Grand Prize for Best TV Series as well as for Best Original Soundtrack at the 2011 Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels.^[16] The program also won the award for Best International TV series at the 2012 British Academy Television Awards.^[17]

The series has been sold to a number of broadcasters outside Denmark:

• Norwegian NRK1 started broadcasting the first season on Monday 11 October 2010.^[18], the second season on Monday 16 April 2012 and the third season on Monday 25 February 2013^[19]
• Swedish SVT1 started broadcasting the first season on Wednesday 2 February 2011^[20] with over 500,000 viewers^[21] and started airing the second season on Monday 14 May 2012.^[22] The first episode of season two was the tenth most popular programme on SVT1 in its week, with an audience of 645,000 viewers.^[23] Episode 9 of series 2 was the sixth most watched programme on SVT1 during its week with 560,000 viewers.^[24] The third series will start at the end of April 2013.^[25]
• Finland's FST5 started broadcasting the first season on 31 August 2011 with both Swedish and Finnish subtitles^[26][27] and started airing the second season on 28 March 2012.^[28]
• US satellite and cable channel LinkTV started broadcasting season 1 on Saturday 29 October 2011.^[29]
• British BBC Four started broadcasting the first season on Saturday 7 January 2012, with a repeat showing from Wednesday 13 June 2012 through the summer.^[30] The second season commenced on 5 January 2013.^[31] Initial overnight viewing figures were over the one million mark for the first episode of series two considerably up on the previous series debut episode.^[32] The third series has been confirmed for next winter with a start date in January as with the previous two series.^{[33] [34]}
• South Korean JTBC started broadcasting the first season on Sunday 8 January 2012.^[35]
• French/German channel Arte started broadcasting the first season on 9 February 2012.^[36] The second season aired from 22 November 2012.^[37]
• The Dutch pay television channel Film1 Series broadcast the first season, beginning on 17 January 2012,^[38] and started the second season on 17 July 2012. The Dutch channel Nederland 2 started to broadcast the first season on Thursday 17 January 2013.
• The Flemish public broadcasting channel Canvas started broadcasting the first season on Wednesday 5 September 2012.^[39]
• The French-Canadian ARTV part of CBC started the first series on Thursday 13 September 2012.^[40]
• The Swiss public broadcasting channel SRF 1 started broadcasting he show on 28 August 2012 in German, RTS Un followed on 2 September 2012 in French.
• Greek public broadcasting channel New Hellenic Television (NET)^[41] started broadcasting on 18 October 2012.^[42] Previously aired episodes are also available on ERT's web TV.^[43]
• The Estonian channel ETV started broadcasting on 22 September 2012.
• Australian SBS channel has purchased the series with a start date yet to be announced.^[44]
• In Turkey Dizimax Drama started broadcasting the first season on Monday 7 January 2013.
• In Croatia HRT 3 started broadcasting the first season on Tuesday 12 February 2013. ^[45]

In September 2011, it was announced that NBC would produce a US remake of Borgen, with a pilot being developed by David Hudgins and Jason Katims of Friday Night Lights fame.^[46]

DVDs of the first two series have been made available in Denmark and the UK among other countries. Both are coded Region 2 format and consist of the complete episodes as screened on DR1 and BBC4.

A novelisation of the first series of Borgen was released in Denmark, Holland and France on 19 February 2013. The Danish release from DR in conjunction with publisher Lindhardt & Ringhof is written by Jesper Malmose.^[47] Head of DR Sales Anders Kjærsgaard Sørensen hopes to have the book available in the UK soon. DR also plan to make the music from the series available from March 2013.

• Borgen at IMDb
• Borgen, BBC Four, review
• Borgen, One of the Best TV Shows You Will Never See