Heer & Meester (the first series) is a contemporaneous Dutch tongue- in-cheek nod to the detective/spy series of the 60's. It mixes elements from The Avengers, The Saint, The Persuaders and others from those halcyon TV days.
Valentijn Rixtus Bentinck (Daan Schuurmans) was orphaned and left in the care of an Abbey in south Holland. Orphaned, but not poor, thanks to a mysterious and hefty trust fund financing an education that produced an urbane man of leisure with an eclectic mix of sword fighting and other skills. From his residential hotel suite in the Hague, attended by a butler reminiscent of Alfred, Valentijn sets out to correct wrongs in society that happen to drop onto his lap - wrongs often committed by old well-to-do acquaintances and school buddies gone seedy. While bringing old friends to justice, Valentijn also goes in search of his roots.
Schuurmans plays Bentinck with a great sense of dry, understated humour. But that is only half the show; his acting companion Sytske van der Ster delivers a wonderful performance as the Public Prosecutor Suze. Sytske deftly manages to avoid being the dumb blonde - well, Sytske's a redhead - by playing the able prosecutor who is nevertheless always one step behind Bentinck. A hint of something between Valentijn and Suze keeps the viewer guessing.
As an antidote to a heavy day at work, I found this series to be great entertainment. As of this writing, the second second season is being aired.
