As reality TV relaxed its hold on our Saturday nights, sofa-dwellers found a new weekend obsession: BBC4's crime drama The Killing. The intricately plotted Danish import has fast become cult viewing. But there is a second question gripping fans as tightly as whodunnit: what is going on with Sarah Lund's jumper?
Lund, our heroine, is a detective in Copenhagen's homicide department and is devoted to a classic Scandi cream and navy chunky-knit that is rarely off screen. Slim fitting enough to be feminine and warm enough to be practical, it's worn over a variety of coloured thermals, where it provides a brief flash of light in a very dark series.
Knitwear specialists Gudrun & Gudrun, where the jumper is still available online for an eye- watering €280 (£236), promise that the natural oils in the organic wool make it water resistant and self-cleaning. But these are far from the greatest of the jumper's admirable qualities: it also appears to be self-mending.
After a couple of days' solid wear in episodes one and two, a terrifiying incident with a knife ends up gashing the jumper's right shoulder. Lund's mother later picks it up, reprimanding her for messiness, and it is not seen until episode five. It has been worn – apparently unblemished – every day since.
This Saturday saw the midpoint of the series and a major plot twist, just as Lund swapped her jumper for a navy roll neck. Did the continuity team realise their mistake . . . or is the jumper now part of the plot itself?
• This article was amended on 2 March 2011. The original headline referred to Sarah Lund's Danish jumper. This has been corrected.
