It's been a while since the UK got excited about anything to come out of Denmark. In fact the last time was probably over something that had 'Danish' stamped on the back of it.

Last year however, a Danish cop drama sizzled onto our screens. Over twenty episodes, Detective Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl) tracked down the killer of a young teenage girl in The Killing (or Forbrydelsen to give it its original title).

Perhaps it was slow-burning dramas like Wallander (both Branagh's and the original Swedish version) and the French police series Spiral that helped pave the way for this show's success; whatever it was, it became cult viewing. It caused so much of a stir that the US did that thing it often does when it takes someone else's idea and gives it a Yankee spin.

It was inevitable then that Lund would return with her now trademarked woolly winter wear for a second series.

This series is markedly different from the first in a number of ways. The most noticeable is that the series is only half the length of the original, with only ten episodes in full.

The next major difference is the storyline. Where Lund was only concentrating on one murder case before, she is now dealing with multiple murders. This time around there is a connection with the army as well as the Danish government.

When a lawyer is discovered murdered, the police aren't quite prepared for what's to come. Her death turns out to be just the tip of the iceberg, as a number of other deaths soon follow; one by one members of one particular army division that served in Afghanistan are taken out. When it gets all too much for the police to handle, Detective Chief Inspector Brix (Morten Suurballe) feels he has no other choice than to bring Lund back from the back of beyond to help work the case.

Meanwhile, the newly appointed Justice Minister Thomas Buch (Nicolas Bro) has little time to settle into his new position when it all kicks off within the government. Evidence soon surfaces that the current government has direct links to these current spate of murders, and Buch decides he's going to keep digging until he gets to the bottom of it.

Can you believe that this woman is playing me in the US show? She looks like a sleep deprived tramp in those jumpers.

With Lund's now increased caseload, this second series soon becomes far busier than its predecessor. But with so much going on, it does become a little difficult to follow. So much so that even watching over half the series, don't be surprised if you're still not sure what's going on, because you won't be alone.

It doesn't help that the series is shorter either. The size of the first allowed both story and character development at a leisurely pace. Here though, it feels pretty cramped on both counts. Its biggest crime however is that there just feels like your getting less Lund for your Krone. At times Lund feels like an awkward bystander as opposed to the leading protagonist.

It's not helped by the sub story that involves Justice Minister Buch. Despite being a more interesting and well –round character than the wishy washy Troels Hartmann from the first series, the conspiracy he chases just takes up two much valuable time; it has relevance to the main case for sure, but it features too heavily for its own good. And as it acts almost completely independently from the main story arc, it also means that Lund hardly ever features in it. So really, what's the point?

After the fifth episode however, the story as a whole begins to gel, leading to a finale that thankfully delivers some of the magic that could be often found in the first series. It's as if it suddenly remembers that it has a heroine that its audience is fascinated with, so decides to bring her back into the limelight.

Compared to the first series, this one has to be considered a disappointment overall. Its overly frequent dalliances with the government storyline simply detracts from what made the series such a joy to watch in the first place: Lund. And let's face it, that's just a criminal oversight. That said, it's worth watching alone for her further misadventures with the opposite of sex.

It may not be on par with the first, but The Killing II still manages to be a superior crime drama to many of our more limp home grown efforts in the police department.