Ride Upon the Storm
Channel 4

The second series of the magnificent Danish drama, Ride Upon the Storm, is only three episodes in and already I feel thoroughly wrung out by it. At the end of the first series last year I wrote that I hoped we would see some more women getting their “dark night of the soul” in future episodes – for the gigantic, tormented figure of the pastor, Johannes Krogh, so dominated the action that women occasionally felt relegated to the kitchen. Now, however, they are moving to the centre.

The death of the Kroghs’ priest son, August, 18 months before, has devastated his parents, Johannes and Elisabeth; his embattled, embittered wife, Emilie, has since given birth to his son, Anton; his brother, Christian, the un-favoured son of his father, has become a bestselling mindfulness author and started up a business, Open Mind, for spreading Buddhist teachings. And August’s old church is about to be sold off to the highest bidder due to a declining congregation. To Johannes’ horror, the highest bidder might be a Muslim education centre.