MAIGRET (2016 - 2017)

 THE RECENT 'NOTHER-GO-ROUND FOR THE GREAT FRENCH DETECTIVE. 

 After such notables as Jean Gabin and Michael Gambon, Rowan Atkinson plows his non-comedy furrow with this recent ITV series of MAIGRET.  I've never read Georges Simenon's mysery novels featuring the pipe-smoking French detective Jules Maigret, nor have I seen the Gambon TV series; yet I have seen a couple of the Gabin movies.  Therefore, I'm not completely ignorant of the character and would like to read a novel or two someday.  The recent ITV series takes place in Paris of the 1950's and, though shot in Budapest instead of France, has top drawer scenery and production values.  Rowan Atkinson is perfectly OK as the low-key Chief Inspector who is not a human computer like, say, Sherlock Holmes but instead is just a intelligent guy who is great at reading people and their psychological quirks.  As I say, Atkinson is perfectly fine if a little one note in his buttoned-down performance and heads a superb cast of regulars and guest stars in the 4 episodes of the two series ; ITV apparently cancelled the programme in 2018 so it looks like there will be no more. And this is a pity because, while the series didn't break any new ground, it was a very enjoyable mystery programme.

Each of the two series of MAIGRET consists of two episodes of approximately an hour and a half in length; so they're really 4 movies.  Episode 1 is MAIGRET SETS A TRAP in which our Chief Inspector is saddled with trying to stop a serial killer of women with apparently nothing in common other than their hair colour.  Episode 2 is MAIGRET'S DEAD MAN in which a frantic fella calls Maigret saying that someone is trying to kill him and each attempt to see the Chief Inspector is being thwarted by the thugs.  I don't think it's a spoiler (owing to the title of the episode) that the frantic man ends up dead.  The first episode of Series 2 is entitled MAIGRET AT THE CROSSROADS involving stolen jewels and murder.  The final episode is MAIGRET IN MONTMARTRE in which Maigret attempts to solve the murders of a showgirl and a countess.  

The cast headed by Atkinson's solid performance is fantastic.  Mrs. Maigret is marvelously played (if under utilized a bit) by Lucy Cohu (TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH, POIROT).  Then there are Maigret's faithful sidekicks Inspectors Janvier and Lapointe played by Shaun Dingwall (best known around these parts for playing Rose Tyler's Dad in DOCTOR WHO) and Leo Staar (CALL THE MIDWIFE) respectively.  Mark Heap (from British comedies BIG TRAIN, SPACED and GREEN WING) is wonderfully wicked as basically the police pathologist Dr. Moers.  I wouldn't say we have a classic here but, for fans of murder mysteries and British detective shows, MAIGRET gets my recommendation as a solidly enjoyable, above-average programme.