[Liverpool] Belgian series on BBC4 - and corresponding Italian one

[Sebastian Arcus]

It took some searching on the interwebs (not in the least because I was 
somewhat wrong in my recollection of the name) - but I found that 
Italian series we were talking about tonight. The name (in translation) 
is actually "The Octopus" - so it isn't the same as the Belgian one, 
which is "Salamander". It turns out that it has had 10 seasons and it 
apparently was quite popular in the Eastern Block even before the fall 
of the communism. Link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_piovra

Just to add to the general sense of cinematic conspiracy, though, there 
has also been a 1981 Hollywood film (with Franco Nero and Anthony Quinn, 
no less), called "The Salamander", set in Italy about a high level 
conspiracy to overthrow the Italian government. I can't find anywhere if 
the current Belgian series is based on the same novel as the 1981 film 
though. The names are more than similar, and the plots certainly have 
quite a bit in common.

All of the above stuff is extremely Linuxy, in case anybody wonders :-)