As I type this, the weather here in London is cold, grey, and miserable. What we really need is some bracing Scandinavian beach weather. And as if by magic, Walter Presents have delivered us with not one, but two seasons of the engaging Danish drama, ‘Seaside Hotel’ (‘Badehotellet’ in Danish). Located in Skagerrak, near Skagen, Seaside Hotel is now on its 9th season in total. And for five years – between 2016 and 2020 – it was the most watched show on Danish TV.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading this article now.
For those of you unfamiliar with the series, it’s a delightful insight into the running of a rural hotel on the Danish coast set in the 1920s to 1940s. Not much happens, to be honest – no murders or anything quite so sordid. This is more about characters and the relationships that develop between the various guests and the staff.
Everyone is beautifully turned-out, and incredibly polite and respectful. The class system is very much evident, as witnessed by people’s reactions when a couple turn up who have come from visiting the King and Queen of Denmark – these new guests are treated like royalty themselves.
You don’t need to have seen the previous seasons in order to enjoy the show, but it would do no harm in order to get the full back-stories. And why wouldn’t you? It’s a real charmer of a series.
Running the hotel is maid-turned-owner Fie Kjær (played in a beautifully understated way by Rosalinde Mynster). She employs a rag-tag mix of staff to run the property, including her parents, all of whom have interesting characteristics and quirks.
One of the returning guests is debonair actor Edward Weyse (Jens Jacob Tychsen), an Errol Flynn lookalike who has charmed his way into the affections of many a female guest. He has his eyes set on the new arrival – Mrs Alma Molin, the Swedish wife to a successful stockbroker, August Molin. She and her husband have turned up out of the blue and are causing quite a ripple of intrigue amongst the staff and guests. Their interest is further piqued when the two of them row at dinner, resulting in Mrs Molin throwing a glass of water over her husband.
Meanwhile, Mr Molin has made acquaintance with another established guest, Georg Madsen, and has arranged a business opportunity for Georg involving the sale of Jutland timber – a cheaper alternative to the Swedish equivalent. But are Molin’s motives entirely selfless – or is he looking to offload a batch of inferior product on the unsuspecting Georg?
If you love shows like ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ or even ‘Downton Abbey’, this is really the hotelier equivalent. It’s a gentle, engaging and charming show that won’t be for every Walter Presents viewer. But at the end of the day, it’s quality drama – and that’s what WP always aims to deliver. And in ‘Seaside Hotel’, that’s exactly what you get.
Walter Presents: ‘Seaside Hotel’ Season 5 and 6 are available as boxsets now on C4 Streaming.
