TV series

Zen

2011 · 1 season

A stylish, slow-burning Italian-set detective drama with a world-weary hero navigating bureaucratic corruption and personal melancholy.

Overview: Zen is a British television mini series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the BBC, co-produced with WGBH Boston for its Masterpiece anthology series, Mediaset and ZDF. It stars Rufus Sewell and Caterina Murino and is based on the Aurelio Zen detective novels by Michael Dibdin. The series was filmed on location in Italy, but the dialogue is in English. The series, which comprises three 90-minute films, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sunday evenings from 2 January 2011 on BBC One. The three films were based on the books Vendetta, Cabal and Ratking.
How it feels: Melancholic, tense, cynical and earnest. Measured and needs your attention.
About: Corruption, justice, identity, betrayal
Content: Mild violence, sexual content and language. No gore.
Note: Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Full breakdown

Tone: melancholicstrength 2 of 3
tensestrength 2 of 3
cynicalstrength 2 of 3
earneststrength 1 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: corruption
justice
identity
betrayal
power
Places: big city
countryside
Era: contemporary
Audience: adult
Form: procedural
serialised
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex mild