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.
as Mads Andersen-Skjern
as Ingeborg Skjern
as Hans Christian Varnæs
as Maude Varnæs
as Kristen Andersen-Skjern
as Elisabeth Friis
as Grisehandler Oluf Larsen
as Katrine Larsen
as Agnes Jensen
as Laura Larsine Sørensen
as Misse Møhge
as Dr. Louis Hansen
as Oberst Ditlev Hachel
as Vicki Hachel
as Konsulinde Holm
as Severin Boldt
as Lauritz 'Røde' Jensen
as Frede 'Fede' Hansen
as Arnold Vinter
as Violet Vinter
as Ulla Jacobsen
as Hr Stein
as Jørgen Varnæs
as Gudrun
as Inger Jørgensen
as Marie Hansen
as Frk. Mortensen
as Tjener Olsen
as Iben Skjold Hansen / Iben Skjern
as Viggo Skjold-Hansen
as Musse Skjold-Hansen
as Bogholder Christiansen, Omegnsbanken
as Baron Carl von Rytger
as Baronesse Arense von Rytger
as Esther
as Birgitte 'Gitte' Graa
as Fortæller
as Ulrik Varnæs
as Daniel Skjern
as Ellen Skjern Lamborg
as Regitze Varnæs
as Mogens Lamborg
as Fru Rum, ansat hos Agnes
as Knud Jensen
as Helle Varnæs
as Aksel Jensen
as Murermester Jacob Jessen
as Fru Murermester Jessen
as Maja Ebbesen / Maja Varnæs
