Based on the Joe Faraday novels by English crime fiction writer Graham Hurley, the excellent French crime drama Deux flics sur les docks (Blood on the Docks) came back yesterday for a second series on pubcaster France 2.
In
Mauvaise pente, adapted by
Bernard Marié from the book
One Under,
Capitaine Richard Faraday (
Jean-Marc Barr) and
Capitaine Paul Winckler (
Bruno Solo) investigate the death of a professional activist chained on the tracks of the Havre funicular and ran over by one of its cars, but also the disappearance of a photographer. The seemingly unrelated cases lead them to an art gallery and to a "Little Princesses" child beauty pageant - which raises painful memories for
Lieutenant Julie Fabian (
Liza Manili). Paul's sense of loyalty is once again tested, not only as usual with local entrepreneur and mobster
Bazza Swaty (
Emmanuel Salinger), his childhood pal, but also with his friend the medical examiner
Brice Thorrens (
Antoine Oppenheim).
After
Les Anges brisés and
Lignes Blanches (respectively adapted from
Angels Passing and
Cut to Black) last year,
Blood On The Docks returns with absolute brilliance. Directed by
Edwin Baily,
Mauvaise pente is a superb piece of television served by a perfect cast - particularly Bruno Solo, Emmanuel Salinger and Liza Manili.
Mata Gabin plays Faraday and Winckler's boss
Lucie Dardenne,
Guillaume Viry is police computer expert
"Bill Gates" and
Jean-Marie Hallégot is
Lulu - Richard Faraday's deaf-mute son.
Filmed in
Le Havre,
Deux flics sur les docks is produced by
Gétévé (
Zodiak France) and
France Télévisions with the support of
Région Haute-Normandie. It is distributed by
Zodiak Rights (
Being Human).
Mauvaise pente caught
3.177.000 viewers (
12.6 %) and the third place against the French version of
Survivor on TF1 and
NCIS on M6. For the anecdote, Franco-German channel
Arte premiered
ITV's
DCI Banks (distributed by
BBC Worldwide) the same night for 799.000 viewers (3.2%) and TMC fared even worse with an opportunistic repeat of
Poirot's
Hallowe'en Party. Next friday
France 2 will air
Du sang et du miel, adapted from
Graham Hurley's book
Blood and Honey.
Special thanks to
Michèle Dubray.
http://geteve.fr/en/productions/series/blood-on-the-docks.html
http://www.grahamhurley.co.uk/
http://www.ozap.com/actu/audiences-retours-gagnants-pour-koh-lanta-et-qui-veut-epouser-mon-fils-m6-resiste/443852 (Ratings - In French)
See also:
http://tattard2.blogspot.fr/2011/11/blood-on-docks-deux-flics-sur-les-docks.html
We have just received news about the dubbing of Doctor Who's Series 7 from the excellent dubbing author François Dubuc (Doctor Who, Supernatural, The State Within), one of the regular writers of Doctor Who's French-speaking version.
