It's a new era, with new faces and new talents but the spirit remains the same. After the glorious (musical) departure of its previous regular cast, France 2's period crime drama Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie jumps from the 1960s to the 1970s with the brilliant La nuit qui ne finit pas.
1972. Annie Gréco, the first woman appointed commissaire de police in France, arrives at the brand new Commissariat de Lille. She has to cope with the lack of enthusiasm of Commissaire divisionnaire Servan Legoff, a team of machos and the too impulsive Inspector Max Beretta. But Beretta is surprisingly intuitive and he turns out to be an unexpected ally to Commissaire Gréco for her first case: the murder of actor Richard Duval during the filming of the latest movie of French superstar Anna Miller. Gréco is annoyed by Rose Bellecour, a young woman who is the therapist of Anna Miller and whose profession is disapproved by her rich parents.
When Beretta loses his nerve, the commissaire forces him to follow a therapy with Rose. Based on the Agatha Christie's novel Endless Night, La nuit qui ne finit pas was penned by Flore Kosinetz (Demain nous appartient, Coeur Océan) and Hélène Lombard. Both wrote L'heure zéro for the previous era of Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie and created the new characters with Éliane Montane (Dix pour cent), Gabor Rassov and producer Sophie Révil. The dialogues of La nuit qui ne finit pas are very effective, which is one of the
series trademarks. The characterization is particularly well-crafted.
Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie was launched 12 years ago in the wake of the miniseries Petits meurtres en famille (2006). Its popularity actually started to grow globally from 2013 onward after the departure of its two stars (Antoine Duléry and Marius Colucci as the duo Larosière and Lampion) prompted a first cast change and a move from the 1930s to the 1950s-1960s. The beloved trio Laurence/Avril/Marlène (Samuel Labarthe, Blandine Bellavoir and Elodie Frenck) gradually became a family (1) celebrated by a sympathetic fandom and left after 27 episodes.
The series is sold in 80 countries and each episode costs 2,5m euros. Introducing new sleuths in Les petits meurtres is a task comparable to the regeneration of the Doctor in Doctor Who or the arrival of a detective in Death in Paradise. Once again Sophie Révil and her team did wonders at all levels, starting with a great casting. Émilie Gavois-Kahn (Les Bracelets rouges, Cassandre) plays the clever and uncompromising Commissaire Annie Gréco. Max Beretta, who epitomizes the 1970s TV or movie cop right from his name, is played by Arthur Dupont.
Chloé Chaudoye plays Rose Bellecour after guest starring in another role three years ago. The indispensable pathologist is Jacques Blum and he's portrayed by Benoît Moret. Alexandra Ehle's regular Quentin Baillot is Divisionnaire Legoff. Also with Romane Portail (Sense8) as Anna Miller, Christèle Tual (Barbara Bellecour), Grégoire Oestermann (Arnaud Bellecour), Lionel Erdogan (Tom Marsan), Camille Dupond (Solange Beck), Jean-Paul Bordes (Georges Daday), Nicolas Lumbreras as hippie hotel owner Bob, Saverio Maligno (De Gaulle, l'éclat et le secret) as Rateau, David Alexandre Berthier (Cassard), etc.
The much talked-about sets of the revamped Petits meurtres, an incredible fantasized vision of these years, are designed by Moundji Couture. As usual there's an impressive number of vintage vehicles and objects. Series composer Stéphane Moucha did the music and composed a few songs for the occasion, including the catchy Let's talk about love (sung by Sébastien Demeaux). Co-produced by Escazal Films and France Télévisions, with the support of Pictanovo and Région Hauts-de-France. Produced with the participation of TV5 Monde and RTS Radio Télévision Suisse.
Laurent Chiomento exec produces. Sophie Révil and Denis Carot are the line producers. Cinematography by Bertrand Mouly. Edited by Céline Cloarec. Costumes by Céline Guignard. Casting by Michaël Laguens. Main title sequence designed by Romain Segaud. Filmed in Lens, Tourcoing, Lille and Croix. Directed by Nicolas Picard-Dreyfuss, La nuit qui ne finit pas caught 5 692 000 viewers (24.6%) on January 29.
(1) With Commissaire divisionnaire Tricard (Dominique Thomas), pathologist Timothée Glissant (Cyril Gueï) and Agent Arlette Carmouille (Marie Berto). Natacha Lindinger (Sam) played Commissaire Laurence's love interest Dr Euphrasie Maillol in 4 episodes.
