TG4 happy not taking the dub step

TG4 continues its inspired acquisitions policy with the first series of Borgen airing on the station beginning tonight.

The Danish-made political drama, which follows the career of Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) from ambitious outsider to prime minister to founder of her own party, has been a critical hit in its home country and across Europe.

TG4 will not be replacing the English subtitles with Irish ones – it’s too expensive – and the station has wisely been reluctant to go down the dubbing route for bought-in dramas.

"We did it some years ago for a Welsh drama but apart from the cost it's never entirely successful," says Deirbhile Ní Churraighín, acquisitions executive, adding that TG4 viewers tend to be used to subtitles so it's not an issue.

“We produce a lot of original Irish drama which supports our remit of providing a service in the Irish language, these acquisitions augment our offering.”

Ní Churraighín has, she says, "the least buying power in the market" and so looks out for critically acclaimed series that for whatever reason TV3 or RTÉ have overlooked.

So TG4 broadcast The Wire, Boss and Breaking Bad, (imagine Walter White with a brogue or work out the Irish for crystal meth and you can see why dubbing would be challenging) and is currently showing Nashville and Justified.

"Our viewers aren't afraid of anyone's language," says Ní Churraighín who has snapped up the other critically acclaimed Scandi crime dramas The Killing and Arne Dahl to be shown later this year.

BBC Four, who first acquired these subtitled Danish and Swedish dramas for an English-speaking audience saw them boost viewership.

The first series of The Killing began on BBC Four in January 2012 with just 393,000 viewers, by the time the second series rolled around 800,000 people were tuning in.

On TG4, acquired dramas brought in an additional 250,000 viewers per week last autumn but the buzz surrounding Breaking Bad led to a jump of 375,000 extra viewers.