Bassie & Adriaan

Once again, the Van Toor brothers deal with an important social problem in this engaging and well-written TV series. Far from capitalising on the traditional portrayal of the 'mad professor', they show a retired scientist continually unable to face the world and reality, forcing him to resort to crime. This is a detour from the traditional Van Toor films, where the chief protagonists Bassie and Adriaan take up the egregious Baron. It tones down the traditional dialectism of the series in favour of a far more subtle approach. In the process, we see how the tortured figure of the crying professor slowly falls to pieces and succumbs to his own delusions. But there are many more sides to the story, making this the most sincere of the Van Toor productions.