Brave New World

A new HBO series stars two women in repressed, male-chauvinist Naples and is filmed in Neapolitan.

- Fiona Rae

In the UK, it was Danish series Forbrydelsen, otherwise known as The Killing, that broke the commonly accepted notion that TV audiences can’t cope with subtitles. Many more Scandi productions and even some – quelle horreur – French series have screened in Britain since Inspector Sarah Lund first appeared in her Faroese jumper in 2011.

By contrast, the US has preferred to remake the originals, with varying success. Sofie Gråbøl, who played Lund, once told the BBC that the remakes were necessary because Americans “for some reason cannot read subtitles, or they don’t want to”.

Perhaps that is about to change. HBO is testing its viewers’ sophistication with