Marc Warren (Beecham House, Hustle) stars in the title role of Van der Valk, a 3 x 90-minute crime drama which aired this spring in the U.K. on ITV.
« You like certainty, don't you? You're very black and white. I can relate to that. »
Van der Valk is based on a character created by Nicolas Freeling (1927-2003), an English novelist who spent most of his life in continental Europe and admired Belgian author Georges Simenon. Simon "Piet" Van der Valk, a cynical and intuitive Amsterdam police commissioner married to a French woman named Arlette, appeared in 11 books from 1962 to 1989. The "Dutch Maigret" was popularized by the Thames Television series Van der Valk (1972-1973, 1977, 1991-1992) starring Barry Foster. Composed by Jack Trombey (1) and played by the Simon Park Orchestra, its theme music (called Eye Level) became #1 in the UK charts in 1973.
Filmed entirely in Amsterdam last year, Van der Valk is produced by Company Pictures (Agatha Raisin) with Dutch company NL Film (Penoza), Germany's ARD Degeto (Der Donnerstags-Krimi), Masterpiece (United States) and All3Media International. Scriptwriter Chris Murray (Agatha Raisin, Midsomer Murders), who exec produces with Michele Buck and wrote the three episodes, brings back the detective for a modern and international audience. One of the notable changes of this new series is the absence of Arlette Van der Valk.
Piet Van der Valk lives on a sailing barge and holds his briefings in a café. He leads a team composed of Inspector Lucienne Hassell (played by Maimie McCoy), his second-in-command and close friend, the laid-back Sergeant Brad de Vries (Luke Allen-Gale) and the young Lieutenant Job Cloovers (Elliot Barnes-Worrell) － who's eager to impress and likes stats. Their boss is the Chief Commissaris Julia Dahlman (Emma Fielding). Hendrik Davie (Darrell D'Silva) is the hard-drinking, full-mouthed pathologist.
A young woman named Aamina Jabara is murdered in a hotel room and her wound is very peculiar. A strange notebook leads Commissaris Van der Valk and Inspecteur Hassell to a museum the victim regularly visited because of an interest for mysticism and religious erotica. Aamina worked as a nurse in a drug addiction clinic. A nun shared with her the same interest for religious erotica. The family issues of the Jabaras disrupt the investigation to an unexpected level.
Only in Amsterdam is basically an episode of Midsomer Murders or Lewis (Chris Murray worked on both) in the Dutch capital with some action, a bit of humour and nice twist and turns. The friendship between Piet and Lucienne gets developed. We learn (a bit) more about Dahlman and Brad provides the comic relief. Job is definitely the most likeable character. Of course, the locations are beautifully filmed by director Max Porcelijn and cinematographer Coen Stroeve.
With Taj Atwal (Aamina & Zafira Jabara), Juliet Aubrey (Sister Joan Pauwels), Tim Dutton (Klaas Gilbert), Taheen Modak (Zaim Jabara), Paul Tylak (Talib Jabara), Eva Marie de Waal (Femke de Haan), Teun Kuilboer (Otto Nelissen), Mike Libanon (Cliff Palache), Martijn Nieuwerf (Lionel Veith), Martijn Oversteegen (Spike), Anniek Pheifer (Janneke Paulis) and Jeroen Spitzenberger (Isaak Graaff).
Produced by Keith Thompson. David Swetman and Louise Pedersen exec produce for All3Media International. Ronald Versteeg, Kaja Wolffers and Sabine Brian co-produce for NL Film. Alexander Blaauw is the line producer. Ian Strachan is the head of production. Music composed by Matthijs Kieboom. Editing by Annelies van Woerden. Jaap Hoek is the art director. Production designed by Alfred Schaaf. Main title sequence designed by Planet X Title Design.
Production supported by the NL Film Incentive. Distributed by All3Media International, Van der Valk started this week in Germany on Das Erste as Kommissar Van der Valk. France 3 will show the series in France.
(1) A pseudonym of Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart (1927-2017).
Van der Valk is based on a character created by Nicolas Freeling (1927-2003), an English novelist who spent most of his life in continental Europe and admired Belgian author Georges Simenon. Simon "Piet" Van der Valk, a cynical and intuitive Amsterdam police commissioner married to a French woman named Arlette, appeared in 11 books from 1962 to 1989. The "Dutch Maigret" was popularized by the Thames Television series Van der Valk (1972-1973, 1977, 1991-1992) starring Barry Foster. Composed by Jack Trombey (1) and played by the Simon Park Orchestra, its theme music (called Eye Level) became #1 in the UK charts in 1973.
Filmed entirely in Amsterdam last year, Van der Valk is produced by Company Pictures (Agatha Raisin) with Dutch company NL Film (Penoza), Germany's ARD Degeto (Der Donnerstags-Krimi), Masterpiece (United States) and All3Media International. Scriptwriter Chris Murray (Agatha Raisin, Midsomer Murders), who exec produces with Michele Buck and wrote the three episodes, brings back the detective for a modern and international audience. One of the notable changes of this new series is the absence of Arlette Van der Valk.
Piet Van der Valk lives on a sailing barge and holds his briefings in a café. He leads a team composed of Inspector Lucienne Hassell (played by Maimie McCoy), his second-in-command and close friend, the laid-back Sergeant Brad de Vries (Luke Allen-Gale) and the young Lieutenant Job Cloovers (Elliot Barnes-Worrell) － who's eager to impress and likes stats. Their boss is the Chief Commissaris Julia Dahlman (Emma Fielding). Hendrik Davie (Darrell D'Silva) is the hard-drinking, full-mouthed pathologist.
A young woman named Aamina Jabara is murdered in a hotel room and her wound is very peculiar. A strange notebook leads Commissaris Van der Valk and Inspecteur Hassell to a museum the victim regularly visited because of an interest for mysticism and religious erotica. Aamina worked as a nurse in a drug addiction clinic. A nun shared with her the same interest for religious erotica. The family issues of the Jabaras disrupt the investigation to an unexpected level.
Only in Amsterdam is basically an episode of Midsomer Murders or Lewis (Chris Murray worked on both) in the Dutch capital with some action, a bit of humour and nice twist and turns. The friendship between Piet and Lucienne gets developed. We learn (a bit) more about Dahlman and Brad provides the comic relief. Job is definitely the most likeable character. Of course, the locations are beautifully filmed by director Max Porcelijn and cinematographer Coen Stroeve.
With Taj Atwal (Aamina & Zafira Jabara), Juliet Aubrey (Sister Joan Pauwels), Tim Dutton (Klaas Gilbert), Taheen Modak (Zaim Jabara), Paul Tylak (Talib Jabara), Eva Marie de Waal (Femke de Haan), Teun Kuilboer (Otto Nelissen), Mike Libanon (Cliff Palache), Martijn Nieuwerf (Lionel Veith), Martijn Oversteegen (Spike), Anniek Pheifer (Janneke Paulis) and Jeroen Spitzenberger (Isaak Graaff).
Produced by Keith Thompson. David Swetman and Louise Pedersen exec produce for All3Media International. Ronald Versteeg, Kaja Wolffers and Sabine Brian co-produce for NL Film. Alexander Blaauw is the line producer. Ian Strachan is the head of production. Music composed by Matthijs Kieboom. Editing by Annelies van Woerden. Jaap Hoek is the art director. Production designed by Alfred Schaaf. Main title sequence designed by Planet X Title Design.
Production supported by the NL Film Incentive. Distributed by All3Media International, Van der Valk started this week in Germany on Das Erste as Kommissar Van der Valk. France 3 will show the series in France.
(1) A pseudonym of Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart (1927-2017).
[Update - October 6, 2020] Aired by pubcaster France 3 as Les enquêtes du commissaire Van der Valk, this contemporary adaptation of the character created by English author Nicolas Freeling is available here on DVD from this week thanks to L'Atelier d'images (https://www.latelierdimages.fr/produit/les-enquetes-du-commissaire-van-der-valk-saison-1/).
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-04-24/van-der-valk-itv-locations-amsterdam/
https://www.matthijskieboom.com/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1436726/Nicolas-Freeling.html
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-04-24/van-der-valk-itv-locations-amsterdam/
https://www.matthijskieboom.com/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1436726/Nicolas-Freeling.html
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