The Best TV Shows on DR1

Every DR1 Show Ranked From Best To Worst

A broadcaster of distinction, DR1 has aired more than 20 shows between 1956 and 2022. Leading the pack on DR1 are Eurovision Song Contest and The House at Christianshavn, with their initial broadcasts in 1956 and 1970. Peruse our comprehensive roster of DR1’s top shows, encompassing over 20 distinct series as of June 2025.

  • Hammerslag
    Hammerslag (2007)10.0

    Realestate agents competite against each other, guessing 3 recently sold house prices per show.

  • Matador
    Matador (1978)9.2

    Matador is a Danish TV series produced and shown between 1978 and 1982. It is set in the fictional Danish town of Korsbæk between 1929 and 1947. It follows the lives of a range of characters from across the social spectrum, focusing specifically on the rivalry between the families of two businessmen: The banker Hans Christian Varnæs, an established local worthy, and social climber Mads Skjern, who arrives in town as the series opens. The name Matador was taken from the localised edition of the boardgame Monopoly, also the series' tentative English title. In addition, in contemporary Danish a "matador" is often used to describe a business tycoon, in the series referring to the character of Mads Skjern and his craftiness as a self-made entrepreneur. Directed by famed Danish film maker Erik Balling, Matador was the idea of author Lise Nørgaard who wrote the bulk of the episodes alongside Karen Smith, Jens Louis Petersen and Paul Hammerich. The series is one of the most well-known and popular examples of Danish television and represents the peak of longtime development of Danish TV drama by the public service channel Danmarks Radio. The series has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes, partly because of its successful mix of melodrama and a distinct warm Danish humour in the depiction of characters, which were portrayed by a wide range of the most popular Danish actors at the time; but also not least because of its accurate portrayal of a turbulent Denmark from around the start of the Great Depression and through Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark in World War II.

  • Theo and the magic talisman
    Theo and the magic talisman (2018)8.8

    Theodor travels to the magical land of Thannanaya to save his grandfather from dying. With him on the trip he gets Simone, who has just started the class.

  • Spise med Price
    Spise med Price (2008)8.5

    The artistically streaked brothers James and Adam Price learned early on to LOVE food and both are right at home in the kitchen. In this series they alternate between working together and competing against each other as they take on each episode's theme of food. Some dishes are done the old fashioned way, some get a twist but all is done in a humorous atmosphere of good-natured bantering, teasing and story telling.

  • The House at Christianshavn
    The House at Christianshavn (1970)8.0

    The series follows the residents of an apartment building on Copenhagen's Christianshavn, as they go about their daily lives and challenges. There is Olsen, a mover with an old fashion view of the world, Clausen who runs the local pet shop, Egon the career focused assistant, their wives who work hard to keep their spouses lives together, the young couple Tue and Rikke who recently moved in, the hard working caretaker Meyer, who never puts in to much effort, and of course Emma, the innkeeper of Rottehullet, where all the important decisions are made while running up the bar tab. The series was produced by Nordisk Film for Danmarks Radio TV station between the years 1970-77. The series' first director was Ebbe Langberg, then Erik Balling and Tom Hedegaard respectively. The series was conceived by an author team of well-known Danish authors such Leif Panduro, Benny Andersen, and Lise Nørgaard.

  • The Killing
    The Killing (2007)8.0

    The Killing is a Danish police procedural set in the Copenhagen main police department and revolves around Detective Inspector Sarah Lund and her team, with each season series following a different murder case day-by-day and a one-hour episode covering twenty-four hours of the investigation. The series is noted for its plot twists, season-long storylines, dark tone and for giving equal emphasis to the story of the murdered victim's family alongside the police investigation. It has also been singled out for the photography of its Danish setting, and for the acting ability of its cast.

  • Borgen
    Borgen (2010)8.0

    40-year old political leader Birgitte Nyborg secures her party a landslide victory through her idealism and huge effort, then faces the biggest challenge of her life: how most effectively to use the newly won seats, and how far she is willing to go in order to gain as much influence as possible.

  • The Kingdom
    The Kingdom (1994)7.6

    The Kingdom is the most technologically advanced hospital in Denmark, a gleaming bastion of medical science. A rash of uncanny occurrences, however, begins to weaken the staff's faith in science – a phantom ambulance pulls in every night, but disappears; voices echo in the elevator shaft; and a pregnant doctor's fetus seems to be developing much faster than is natural.

  • The Legacy
    The Legacy (2014)7.3

    The death of a matriarch brings forgotten secrets out into the open and causes a prolonged battle for the family inheritance.

  • Eurovision Song Contest
    Eurovision Song Contest (1956)7.2

    The Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition, organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and featuring participants representing primarily European countries. Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio, transmitted to national broadcasters via the EBU's Eurovision and Euroradio networks, with competing countries then casting votes for the other countries' songs to determine the winner.

  • Carmen Curlers
    Carmen Curlers (2022)7.2

    In 1963, a business adventure begins in a basement in a small Danish town. Within a few years, the company has 3500 employees, many of them women who are experiencing for the first time the joys and challenges of earning their own money.

  • Taxa
    Taxa (1997)7.0

    TAXA is a Danish television drama made by Danmarks Radio with 56 episodes, written by Stig Thorsboe and produced by Rumble Hammerich. The series revolves around a small taxi central, CrownTaxi, in Copenhagen. The series was a success from the start, 14 September 1997 on DR1. The series was broadcast during the period 1997-1999 for a total of five series. CrownTaxi has its ups and downs and in the course of the series, following the various drivers, radio opertor Lizzie and boss Verner Boye-Larsen. They have all their problems both with clients and family life and constantly threaten the show's villain Hermann from the competing taxi firm, City Car, which wants to take over the CrownTaxi. TAXA was also screened in Sweden on SVT1.

  • Unit One
    Unit One (2000)7.0

    Rejseholdet is a Danish television crime series starring Charlotte Fich, Mads Mikkelsen and Lars Brygmann. Produced by Danmarks Radio, the program aired 32 episodes spanning four seasons from 2000 to 2004. Each episode revolved around an elite mobile police task force called "Unit One" that travels around Denmark helping local police solve crimes. Cases portrayed in the show were loosely based upon actual incidents of sensational crimes such as murders, kidnappings, cross-border sex traffic and child pornography. Rejseholdet won the 2002 International Emmy Award for best drama series.

  • When the Dust Settles
    When the Dust Settles (2020)7.0

    The equally important and heartbreaking story of eight strangers whose lives and fates intertwine after a tragic terrorist attack shocks Copenhagen.

  • The Eagle: A Crime Odyssey
    The Eagle: A Crime Odyssey (2004)6.9

    The Eagle: A Crime Odyssey is a Danish police procedural television series produced by Danmarks Radio, created and written by Peter Thorsboe and Mai Brostrøm. The series debuted on 10 October 2004 in Denmark. It won an International Emmy Award from the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for best non-American television drama series in 2005. There were three seasons; the second season premiered in Denmark on 9 October 2005 and the third on 8 October 2006. The last episode originally aired in Denmark on 26 November 2006. The series was filmed on location in various parts of northern Europe, from Berlin and Copenhagen to Oslo and other locations including Iceland. The series has enjoyed particular success in Australia, where it airs on SBS and is available on DVD with English subtitles.

  • Follow the Money
    Follow the Money (2016)6.7

    'Follow the Money' is a crime drama that explores what happens to people who are corrupted by greed and ambition. The series shows viewers the complex world of economic crime that takes place in banks, the stock exchange, and in boardrooms.

  • The Team
    The Team (2015)6.5

    After a number of murders of prostitutes at a motorway stop near Berlin, in a rear courtyard in Antwerp, and in a brothel in Copenhagen, Europol decides to form a taskforce to tackle the case. Harald, a Dane, Jackie, a German, and Alice from Belgium embark on the hunt for the killer. As the case unfolds, the killings prove to be just the tip of the iceberg, the iceberg itself being a large, pan-European criminal organization involved in everything from drugs and financial crime to corruption, hired killings and not least people trafficking , illegal labor and prostitution.

  • History Of The World
    History Of The World (2020)6.5

    It's about human history, how humans shaped the world we live in. A history through cultures and civilizations - from early Mesopotamia to the industrial revolution. Documentary series from various european production company’s like BBC, SVT, NRK, DR, ARTE, Covering serveral topics of war, Persons Like Cleopatra, Hitler, George Washington, etc

  • Den store bagedyst
    Den store bagedyst (2012)5.0

  • X Factor (DK)
    X Factor (DK) (2008)4.3

    X Factor is the Danish version of The X Factor, a show originating in the United Kingdom and is created by talent show judge and record and TV producer Simon Cowell.