I have already reviewed the Onedin Line series as a whole, but I feel I had to add something about this episode, which is supposed to be taking place in my country: Sweden. In a northern town called Luleå, more to the point, where I have by the way been living for a year. Because there were so many mistakes about Sweden in this episode, that it made me wonder how many other faults there are in this series..???
Yes, it IS very cold in Luleå in the winter, and the Baltic Sea freezes over. The ice, however, does not become thick enough to carry a man in only a matter of hours. (Not even days are enough.) There is not THAT cold BEFORE the freezing either - and very few Swedes wear big, furry fur-coats in a town! :-) Also, there are no - I repeat: NO - ice-bergs in the Baltic Sea! :-)
The equivalent of "Count" is "Greve" in Sweden. Not "Graf", which is German. A "Greve" would never be called Ericson, which is a typical common peasant name. I suppose it was taken from the company name..? Instead he would be called something like von Löwenström, von Silfverskiöld or von Leijonhufvud. It was also a little funny that the Count's employee was called Borg. This name DOES exist as a Swedish surname, but I suppose the reason it was chosen was because of Björn Borg - the Swedish tennis player who was very famous when The Onedin Line was made..?
Furthermore: a Count controlling a whole Swedish town as late as in the second half of the 19th century, is an impossibility. Also, as far north as Luleå there has never been any noble estates - these only existed in southern and mid-Sweden.
Count Ericson's clothes are completely wrong. Adult Swedish men have never worn short trousers as formal attire. They can be found in traditional costumes - but not as part of a tweed suit. His clothes seem more Bavarian or maybe Austrian to me... His accent is also not Swedish at all, but more German. (Or rather "German" accent as one is used to hear it in British and American movies...) I think it was very bad, that they could not take the trouble to find a real Swede for this part!
A Swedish businessman as late as the second half of the 19th century, would not have such things as stuffed bears, pelts, and elk horns on the walls of his office. (Possibly, he could have them in his hunting lodge.) The antique furniture and other things in this office, are a) not typically Swedish, but more general European, and b) they should not have been kept in an office, either. Things like that could, though, at this time still have been found in farmhouses.
One thing is correct though: the dynamite really is a Swedish invention, and it was in use in Sweden at this time. It's inventor was of course Alfred Nobel - the founder of the Nobel Prize!
Yes, it IS very cold in Luleå in the winter, and the Baltic Sea freezes over. The ice, however, does not become thick enough to carry a man in only a matter of hours. (Not even days are enough.) There is not THAT cold BEFORE the freezing either - and very few Swedes wear big, furry fur-coats in a town! :-) Also, there are no - I repeat: NO - ice-bergs in the Baltic Sea! :-)
The equivalent of "Count" is "Greve" in Sweden. Not "Graf", which is German. A "Greve" would never be called Ericson, which is a typical common peasant name. I suppose it was taken from the company name..? Instead he would be called something like von Löwenström, von Silfverskiöld or von Leijonhufvud. It was also a little funny that the Count's employee was called Borg. This name DOES exist as a Swedish surname, but I suppose the reason it was chosen was because of Björn Borg - the Swedish tennis player who was very famous when The Onedin Line was made..?
Furthermore: a Count controlling a whole Swedish town as late as in the second half of the 19th century, is an impossibility. Also, as far north as Luleå there has never been any noble estates - these only existed in southern and mid-Sweden.
Count Ericson's clothes are completely wrong. Adult Swedish men have never worn short trousers as formal attire. They can be found in traditional costumes - but not as part of a tweed suit. His clothes seem more Bavarian or maybe Austrian to me... His accent is also not Swedish at all, but more German. (Or rather "German" accent as one is used to hear it in British and American movies...) I think it was very bad, that they could not take the trouble to find a real Swede for this part!
A Swedish businessman as late as the second half of the 19th century, would not have such things as stuffed bears, pelts, and elk horns on the walls of his office. (Possibly, he could have them in his hunting lodge.) The antique furniture and other things in this office, are a) not typically Swedish, but more general European, and b) they should not have been kept in an office, either. Things like that could, though, at this time still have been found in farmhouses.
One thing is correct though: the dynamite really is a Swedish invention, and it was in use in Sweden at this time. It's inventor was of course Alfred Nobel - the founder of the Nobel Prize!
