Spiral is my favourite thing on TV at the moment. It's a French crime series and has the same kind of feel as the brilliant Danish series The Killing, which finished recently. What I like about Spiral is the coppers in question are not just vulnerable and insecure (like, say, Wallander), they're genuinely lousy at their jobs. As they bungle one thing after another they try to cover their tracks through bribery and corruption. But it's a desperate kind of corruption: they genuinely want to nail criminals, but they can't do it the normal way because they're not good enough. It makes other so-called realistic crime series - even The Wire - look heroic and romanticised by comparison.

I suppose it's pretty obscure - in French with subtitles, on BBC Four - but is anyone else watching it?

iPlayer link to first episode in current series

Is this a repeat of the first series or a second? I remember seeing a few episodes a year or 2 back and thought it was good but was too far in for of to get into it.

'The Butcher of La Villette', third series of Spiral, is at midway point of 12 episodes on BBC Four.

Believe boxset of all three series is on sale in UK next month.

If it is anything like 'The Killing' I'll give it a go, thanks. That was the best tv I've seen in years.

Apparently 'Forbrydelson' means simply 'The Crime', a Danish friend told me, which is probably a more pertinent title?

Quick look and series 1 is around £10 and Series 1 & 2 together around £15 (Amazon & elsewhere)

It looks like the first two series have already been broadcast, in which case I missed them. Never mind - the double DVD is in the post

Fans of The Killing are bound to like it.

Really enjoyed series 3 of Spiral so will be looking for series 1 & 2 when up town today, and will also keep an eye out for The Killing, seeing as that comes highly recommended too.