Another eccentric/flawed sleuth joins TF1's French fiction line-up. After the android cop (Emma) and the irreverent lawyer (Munch) here comes Prof T., an asocial and phobic criminology professor.
Starring Mathieu Bisson, this 6 x 52-minute crime drama premiered on Belgian channel La Une last week, ahead of its French broadcast.
Produced by
Vema Production with
TF1,
Stromboli Pictures,
RTBF and
RTS,
Prof T. is actually based on
Professor T., a Flemish series created by
Paul Piedfort (
Aspe) and launched in 2015 on Belgian channel
Eén. The talented
Koen De Bouw (
Salamander,
The Memory of a Killer) stars as
Jasper Teerlinck, a brilliant but dysfunctional professor in criminal psychology at the University of Antwerp. Human relationships are a challenge for the acerbic lecturer, who fears dirt (similarly to
Monk) and proximity with people. Jasper despairs faculty secretary
Ingrid Sneyers (
Goele Derick)
by never fulfilling his administrative duties. Only
Walter De Paepe (
Carry Goosens), dean of the university, considers his eccentricity with benevolence.
Police Inspector
Annelies Donckers (
Ella Leyers), an ex-student of Jasper Teerlinck, investigates the rape of a female student on the
Campus Drie Eiken with her colleague
Inspector Daan De Winter (
Bart Hollanders). When they hit a brick wall, Annelies tries to convince Teerlinck to assist them.
Chief Inspector Paul Rabet (
Herwig Ilegems), who has personal issues, doesn't take it well.
Christina Flamant (
Tania Oostvogels), head of the detectives, already knows Jasper. Following the arrest of the campus rapist, Professor T. is hired by Christina as an advisor. His rich mother,
Adelinde Van Marcke (
Viviane De Muynck), is not enthusiastic. Maybe it has something to do with her son's frequent hallucinations?
Professor T. (two
13 x one-hour seasons) rapidly goes beyond the "flawed sleuth" tropes of its premise to find its style with a certain melancholy and a bit of humour. The strong characterization is served by a great cast. The soundtrack is amazing, with a superb original music composed by
Gregory Caron & Hannes De Maeyer and cool standards sung by Luigi Tenco or Will Ferdy (amongst others). Professor T. is produced by
Skyline Entertainment (
Salamander, Aspe) and distributed by
Beta Film, which sells the format too. Novelist and scriptwriter
Elsa Marpeau (
Capitaine Marleau,
Le secret d'Élise,
Blood on the Docks) is behind the French adaptation,
Prof T., set in Nantes with
Mathieu Bisson as
Pr. Julien Tardieu.
The Gaulic Professor T. is surrounded by
Lieutenant Lise Doumère (
Fleur Geffrier) and
Dan Levasseur (
Amir El Kacem).
Christina Flamand (with a "D") and
Paul Rabet are now played by
Zoé Félix and
Pierre Berriau. The excellent
Mariamne Merlo plays
Astrid Lestringent, the French
Mrs Sneyers. The legendary character actor
Jean Benguigui is
Valéry D'Ormont, the local counterpart of De Paepe. Past the inevitable changes,
Prof T. obliterates all the subtlety of its Flemish model right through the second episode with some (unnecessary) new material and an insistence on comedy. On the plus side, Mathieu Bisson convincingly composes his own version of the main character.
TF1 seems very confident as they commissioned a full season of
Prof T. instead of a 2 x 52-minute pilot (
Emma,
Instinct,
Contact). Just like
Munch, which caught more than
6m viewers (
24.5%) in September. If you don't already know the original please try to have a look at
Professor T., a gem which makes you want to visit Antwerp and even learn Flemish.
Prof T. is produced by
Véronique Marchat. Original music composed by
Christophe La Pinta. Filmed with the support of
Région des Pays de la Loire. Directed by
Nicolas Cuche. There's also a German adaptation called
Professor T., produced by
Rowboat Film- und Fernsehproduktion GmbH for
ZDF and starring
Matthias Matschke as
Professor Jasper Thalheim.
http://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de-la-loire/nantes-44000/tournage-de-la-nouvelle-serie-tf1-nantes-4404299
Another eccentric/flawed sleuth joins TF1's French fiction line-up. After the android cop (Emma) and the irreverent lawyer (Munch) here comes Prof T., an asocial and phobic criminology professor.
Police Inspector Annelies Donckers (Ella Leyers), an ex-student of Jasper Teerlinck, investigates the rape of a female student on the Campus Drie Eiken with her colleague Inspector Daan De Winter (Bart Hollanders). When they hit a brick wall, Annelies tries to convince Teerlinck to assist them. Chief Inspector Paul Rabet (Herwig Ilegems), who has personal issues, doesn't take it well. Christina Flamant (Tania Oostvogels), head of the detectives, already knows Jasper. Following the arrest of the campus rapist, Professor T. is hired by Christina as an advisor. His rich mother, Adelinde Van Marcke (Viviane De Muynck), is not enthusiastic. Maybe it has something to do with her son's frequent hallucinations? 