[FAVOURITE OF THE YEAR] An English antiques dealer becomes an amateur sleuth in the south of France after the suspicious death of her husband.
The bottom line: À savourer sans modération.
The Madame Blanc Mysteries (formerly The Reluctant Madame Blanc) is a 6 x 60-minute mystery comedy-drama which premiered last month in the U.K. on Channel 5 and started in the U.S. this week on the SVOD service Acorn TV. The series was created by actress and television presenter Sally Lindsay, whose resume includes Still Open All Hours, Mount Pleasant, Scott & Bailey and Coronation Street. In The Madame Blanc Mysteries, she also stars as Jean White, who runs a successful antiques business in England with her husband Rory. Jean's life is turned upside down when he dies in a car crash on his way home from Sainte Victoire, a little town in southern France known as an antiques hub. She learns from her sollicitor that all of their money has disappeared and their shop will be repossessed.
Luckily, Jean still owns is a cottage they bought in Sainte Victoire. Rory was supposed to bring back a very expensive ring but it wasn't in his personal effects found on the scene of the accident so she travels to France in search of explanations. André Caron, head of the Sainte Victoire gendarmerie, knows nothing about the ring. Worse, Rory was often seen with a woman and everyone thought she was his wife. Jean White suspects her husband's death wasn't accidental so she starts her own investigation amongst the colourful Franco-British denizens of Sainte Victoire. The "other woman" turns out to be a dangerous adversary but Jean is helped by Dominic "Dom" Hayes, a friendly taxi driver. What happened to Rory and the disappearance of the ring are not the only mysteries she has to solve.
Directed by Dermot Boyd (The Worst Witch), The Madame Blanc Mysteries was written by Sally Lindsay with actress Sue Vincent (Mount Pleasant). In the series Vincent plays garage owner Gloria. Dom Hayes is played by Steve Edge (Starlings). The both iconic Sue Holderness (Only Fools and Horses) and Robin Askwith (the Confessions films, The Canterbury Tales, If....) play wife and husband Judith and Jeremy Lloyd-James, who live in their family chateau. Alex Gaumond, a Canadian actor and singer who starred in several West End musicals, is Gendarme André Caron. The other regulars are Narayan Hecter as Gloria's son Xavier, Margeaux Lampley (Céline), Aonghus Weber (Niall), Alaïs Lawson (Claudette Hayes), Jacqueline Berces (Gendarme Richard), Félicité Du Jeu (Section de recherches, Waking the Dead) as Adele, Djinda Kane (Simone), Sanchia McCormack (Charlie) and Olivia Caffrey as Barbara.
In the second episode, Jean White helps an elderly woman whose mother and brother were taken by the Nazis during World War II. She has an old book containing a riddle that could lead to a treasure. Meanwhile, Sainte Victoire welcomes the producer of a TV programme called A New Life in France. Natasha Cashman (Détectives) and François-Eric Gendron (Avocats et associés, Le Proc) are in the guest cast. The 1980s themed 35th wedding anniversary party of Judith and Jeremy goes wrong in the third episode. Comedy legend Paul Chuckle guest stars as Gloria's dad Trevor. With its excellent detective stories, a riveting series arc and a cast of quality, The Madame Blanc Mysteries is a must see for fans of mystery/detective dramas.
The deliciously Vigata-esque (1) Sainte Victoire is definitely in the same alternate reality as Saint Marie (Death in Paradise) and as fictional. The Madame Blanc Mysteries was actually filmed in Malta and Gozo and the locations are truly gorgeous. The very good music is by Hague & White aka Chris Hague, Joel White and Steve White (the husband of Sally Lindsay). The beautiful title song is called Passing Through and the song heard at the beginning of the first episode is Loin by Louise Courtois. The Madame Blanc Mysteries is produced by Clapperboard Studios and Saffron Cherry Productions (2) for Channel 5 and Acorn TV. Mike Benson, Sally Lindsay and Caroline Roberts-Cherry exec produce. Produced by Andy Morgan.
Zlatina Rankova is the line producer. Vanessa Attard is the production coordinator. Cinematography by Sean Van Hales. Editing by Roy Demery. Costumes designed by John Krausa. Produced with the support of the Government of Malta via the Malta Film Commission and the support of incentives for the Film industry provided by the Governement of Ireland.
(1) Vigàta is the town of Il commissario Montalbano.
(2) Sally Lindsay is the creative director of the company.
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