Kenneth Branagh took a break from the editing room for the “Thor” film he is directing to talk to reporters at the TV critics’ press tour about another couple of chapters of “Wallander,” the angst-filled detective coming to “Masterpiece Mystery” on PBS.

How did those two characters compare? “Both Scandinavian. Both have family
problems.

“Frankly,” he added, “Kurt Wallander could occasionally do
with a hammer and a cape. I don’t think that the
Norwegian, if you like, or the Viking, has the same
issues with introspection as Kurt Wallander.

“There’s
something about coming from those northern lands, you
know. It’s a big country, small population, the seasons
and the weather are extreme, and the possibility for looking inward into the interior life is great. So I
think one of us certainly has that.”

“Wallander” runs on “Masterpiece Mystery” Oct. 3, 10 and 17 on PBS.