The mixing of Vienna Blood

I think you will spend 88 seconds reading this post

Two recent pleasant pieces of viewing to report with similar names, one having the English translation of the other’s title. Pleasant in the sense of entertaining and stimulating. Murder after all is never pleasant.

First up is Vienna Blood – a joint BBC/ORF production short at three episodes in a series, set at the start of the 20th century. Lots of lavish sets, some scenes shot at Sacher, the Hofburg and street scenes seemingly from around Schottentor (Schreyvogelgasse). It has been well received in the UK, with the screenplay being by a Sherlock writer, hence why a lot of people have claimed similarities. It feels Schnitzleresque and captures the time well. There is also a lot of Third Man style discontinuity – from a rooftop chase by the Hofburg, the chase is soon in the Wien Kanal by the Stadtpark. The second and third episodes are due to air in 2020, although in the UK all three have been shown on BBC and the DVD comes out in January 2020. I will freely confess that I was unaware of Frank Tallis’ Liebermann mysteries until now, so hopefully I also have some new reading.

Secondly, there is Wiener Blut, a TV film that I originally videoed because it handles the fortunately fictitious murder of a banking supervisor from the FMA (potentially a colleague of mine!). There is an intriguing story behind it all, and a good watch (90 minutes). I originally recorded it having been tipped off by our daily press clippings summary that it was being shown, and have now got round to watching it. There are a few wonderful bits of Wiener Schmäh, such as scene where the body is found dangling from the Reichsbrücke, and a few barbed banking supervision references.