“Taking the Flak” in German

Something positive following the downer that was the BBC’s axing of Taking the Flak.

I managed to find ZDF_neo, the German TV station which is showing “Taking the Flak” (“Reporter auf Kriegsfuss”), and from what I can tell, the dubbed version is really good, the voices match the characters, especially the ones of Joyful and Margareth. Nothing travels as badly as humour, but the jokes have been adapted in a way that actually works for a German-speaking audience. Some of the changes are strange, though. (Or very clever; depends on your point of view.)

Remember that one scene in “The Past is a Different Colony” with the beading soldiers? There’s a lady who whacks one soldier on the head when he points his gun at the BBC crew and confiscates the weapon. I can’t remember all of the dialogue, but if I remember correctly, Rory makes a comment that they could use someone like her in Ballymena (?). In German, it was “could use someone like her when we play poker in Belfast”…

The official German website calls Rory an “… alpha male who manages to talking his way out of even the most difficult situations”. Don’t tell David, he’d be shattered.

Damian O'Hare as Rory Wallace in "Taking the Flak" - Reporter auf Kriegsfuss