Subtext about Danish-Swedish rivalry/contrasts/envy

The two seasons of this unique series were co-produced by Danish and Swedish public-service tv of course, and became a big success at home in both countries. To us natives it's plain that the conflicts and tribulations of Helmer, the Swedish doctor, and the Danish hospital staff etc are poking fun at some of the gulf between the two countries, but I figure that side is less clear to people watching it in a faraway country, so I'll just repost some lines I posted a few years ago when a guy asked for some input on the native culture references and the humour in the series. Those posts landed on the board for Riket II which has since been deleted, so the original thread is pretty much impossible to find; that's why I'll add it in here.

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There's a running subtext of cultural conflict relating to Sweden vs Denmark all through Riket 1-2, not least on-the-job culture. The two countries are old neighbours, once bitter enemies, in the last 150 years they have become friends - but old enmity and banter die hard! Although they are alike in some ways and the languages are mutually fairly easy to understand, at least in the areas close to the watery border, which includes Copenhagen, there are lurking, more or less obvious differences. Swedes tend to view Danes as more easy-going and old-style bourgeoisie or bohemic people, charming and cheeky, but also as less well organized and sometimes trippy: the "crazy boys". Danes often claim Swedes are too correct and willing to step in line, and overbearing towards other nations.

The attitudes to liquor and narcotics are emblematic of this: Sweden has a long-standing state monopoly of the sale and import of alcoholic beverages (beyond mid-percentage beer) and strict laws on drunk driving etc; narcotics are heavily disapproved of in law and in mainstream culture. Having narcotics on your person, at home or in public is outlawed. Denmark has free sale of alcohol in ordinary shops and, in reality, more free access to pot and coke although these are still criminalized: the attitudes to both beer, liquor and narcotics in Denmark are much more easy-going than in Sweden (seen with envy by not a few Swedes). Those differences have been watered down a little in recent years, but they were still very pronounced at the time when Riket was made.

Sweden is a rather more politicized kind of society than Denmark (and more industrial than the largely agrarian economy of the Danes: Denmark exports pork and butter, Sweden makes - or used to make till recently - cars, steel and phones), which doesn't make it oppressive as such, but public debate, legislation and culture tend to be more uptight about politics in Sweden. If justice and (shared/negotiated) "society" are positive watchwords in Sweden, the "nation" and "free speech" (seen as the right to say anything without bothering to explain or take charge of it) are much more loaded words with her neighbour. Helmer is a man who didn't fit in with his native Sweden - likely too assured of being right all the time and too inflexible - but who at the same time despises some Danish qualities or feels he has to subjugate these hobbits ("Danish scum!") and the Danish staff are ironic or respectful towards him, knowing that he's a highly professional doctor.