Jonathan Dodd‘s latest column. Guest opinion articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication. Ed
How was your Christmas? Mine was wonderful. Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. And all of this really happened, more or less, to quote my favourite author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Twice. I’m such a show-off.
One of my Christmas presents was a box set of the TV series the Bridge, and we’ve been watching it obsessively. We missed it when it was on TV and someone actually took note of my hastily-assembled Christmas wish list and bought it for me.
All darkness and drizzle and doom and death
I love a good Scandinavian series, all darkness and drizzle and doom and death. The production company for the Bridge is actually called Nordic Noir, which works rather well.
The Bridge differs from the other shows because it’s set equally in Sweden and Denmark, across the amazing Oresund Bridge that connects Copenhagen and Malmo.
It uses the elegant device of an apparent murder committed dead centre across the territorial boundary between the two countries to bring together two police forces and show up the differences between them.
All the multiple aspects of living
One of the reasons why I love foreign movies is that they give me a window into the way other people in other countries deal with all the multiple aspects of living and getting on with each other. And I love hearing people talk in their different languages and accents.
You might think that Denmark and Sweden would be practically indistinguishable, being so close together. As with all close neighbours, much is very similar and there are startling differences. It’s difficult sometimes to distinguish the cities and the landscapes and the offices the principal protagonists work in, but they have very different ways of working and their attitudes to each other sometimes show deep prejudices and ignorance.
My new hero
The Swedish Police officer, Saga Noren, is my new hero. She’s got some kind of autism or similar condition. She has no people skills at all and no sense of humour and simply states what’s in her mind because she has no understanding of how it might affect people.
I was amazed at the way that her boss and colleagues banded together to work round her and cherish her amazing work rate and sharp intuition while putting up with her weirdness. I was sad to think that she would probably have no chance in England to work at such a level, and I was surprised that the Danish Police officer thought the same thing about Denmark
The bridge was treated like any other road, with all the characters driving back and forth across it as a matter of course. It was a powerful symbol, and it made me think about the history between the two countries while they were separate, and how it would be changing that relationship now it’s there.
The idea of a bridge
It also made me think about the idea of a bridge between us and the island off the north coast.
I think I can safely say that this will never happen, because there’s no convincing economic case or political excuse for it. Besides, I can’t begin to imagine the arguments over where it should be sited.
It would be useful though. Especially in times like these when the ferry services are being forced to think like hard-nosed businesses rather than public services. I recently found out the hard way that there’s no longer a 22:00 hover crossing from Southsea, and some people I know are having difficulty as a result of cuts to Wightlink sailings.
People on the mainland
People I know and work with on the mainland are very interested in all this.
They always ask me about my crossing, especially in bad weather, and they’ve noticed the recent Hovertravel consultation through TV and the newspapers. I tell them that I’m delighted that Hovertravel have restored the 22:00 crossing in the timetables they have issued for consultation. As a commuter the daytime crossings don’t affect me, but I would like to work late sometimes or eat in Portsmouth or even go to the cinema over there occasionally, all of which are scuppered by the current 21:00 curfew.
I suspect that Hovertravel have made a mistake here and used old timetables in their consultation exercise, but I’d be delighted if they do restore the later crossing, even if it’s only for the occasional passenger. We’re going to see Amour at the excellent No. 6 Cinema in Portsmouth Dockyard tonight, and we have to catch the last Fast Cat at 22:15 instead if we’re to get home.
A little claustrophobic
I love living on the Wight, but the restricted access both ways sometimes makes me feel a little claustrophobic.
It’s necessary in the world we actually live in to have freedom to travel. If we’re not to have a bridge we must have a comprehensive and affordable ferry service, and we should not accept anything less. I think a bridge would be good for everyone in so many ways, as it has been for the Danes and the Swedes. Can we have one, please?
If you have been, thank you for reading this.
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