Borgen, BBC Four

Knitwear fetishists won’t be as thrilled with Borgen as they were with The Killing, but based on the first two episodes of the Danish political drama, Birgitte Nyborg Christensen is a match for Sarah Lund. She’s as likely to stray from what she ought to be doing as Lund and just as adept as spotting what no else can see.

On live TV, days before the parliamentary election, party leader Nyborg horrifies her spin doctor by reacting to a clip of a coalition partner’s new position on asylum seekers by instantly saying she can’t work with him. Following her convictions and being honest is what she’s about. Soberly so. But each of these first two episodes of Borgen was preceded by a quote from Machiavelli.

Borgen's seductive ebb and flow draws you in

Although Borgen is murder-free, the world of Denmark’s coalition politics has become familiar from The Killing. The Danish national broadcaster DR's Ingolf Gabold is the executive producer of both programmes, and a smattering of other names involved in Borgen crop up in The Killing's credits. Søren Malling and Mikael Birkkjær are also familiar from The Killing, in which they played (respectively) Meyer and Strange. Despite the setting, this isn’t a Nordic West Wing, but an even-paced drama whose seductive ebb and flow draws you in by centring on how the characters navigate through their world. In a style familiar from The Killing, situations aren't imposed on them.

It’s days before the parliamentary election. Nyborg isn’t an obvious new Prime Minister. The incumbent is in London, being programmed by his British spin doctors. His wife goes off the rails, and he uses his government credit card to pay for her bags and whatnot in a swank Burlington Arcade accessories shop. Naturally, the receipts fall into the hands of an opponent, Nyborg’s very own spin doctor. She has no truck with his suggestion of using the ill-gotten evidence as a weapon in her campaign. So he passes the paperwork to a rival party leader who flourishes it during a live TV debate, cancelling the Prime Minister out. Instantly realising their source, she sacks her Mr Spin. That’s pretty mild treatment, as another party's spin doctor dies of a heart attack after secretly coupling with TV journalist and Billie Piper-lookalike Katrine Fønsmark (Birgitte Hjort Sorensen), who later hosts the debate (pictured above right). Nyborg goes on to win more seats than any other party in the election. She gains, then loses and finally gains enough allies to secure a mandate. It’s a compelling world to peak in on, one that's winningly woven.

Sidse Babett Knudsen’s Nyborg is measured, openly learning yet willing to embrace steel. The viperish politicians around her, whether supporters or not, are self-serving, slimy, patronising, car salesmanish double-dealers, especially Peter Mygin’s terrific Michael Laugesen (pictured left, seen in the centre). The message about Denmark's lack of love of spin doctors is clear - and Borgen blames Britain for them. Only - for now - Nyborg is straight down the line. She’ll have to fight dirty and compromise to preserve her position as Denmark's first female Prime Minister – something the real-life Helle Thorning-Schmidt (whose arrival as Danish Prime Minister last October Borgen predicted both ideologically and gender-wise) is presumably grappling with right now.