The English DTS-HD Master Audio (2.0 mono) is acceptable, and supported by optional English subtitles. The main extra this time is the BBC Play of the Month episode Maigret at Bay from 1969, running 92 minutes. Unlike the original series, the film elements here did survive, and look pristine, while technological advances in video production make the videotaped interiors look a bit better than the original show. Impressively, the program once again maintains remarkable consistency; though actor Ewen Solon is absent, otherwise it plays very much like an extended final episode of the show. I’ve always struggled a bit with this British convention of video studio interiors intercut with shot-on-film exteriors, but this release smooths out those transitions more than usual. It also tones down the harsh video quality of the in-studio photography, not exactly giving episodes a film-like look, but maybe settling on a middle-ground, somewhere between the looks of video and film.

Unlike most BBC series produced in the 1960s, all episodes (bar the pilot) have survived intact, and are available as a complete set on DVD and Blu-ray. This review largely repurposes material from my review of Maigret—Season 2, reflecting the program’s consistent high quality. Select random episodes from seasons 2-4 and you’ll be hard-pressed to identify which of those seasons they’re from. The first season (or, in British parlance, “series”) did not go to France for exterior shooting as did all the later seasons did, but otherwise Maigret is essentially unchanging throughout its run—no cast changes, no budget fluctuations, no drop in quality. Maigret is a British television series from ITV. It is an adaptation of the books by Georges Simenon featuring his fictional French detective Jules Maigret, played by Rowan Atkinson. [3] The series is set in France in the mid-1950s. [4] Its first episode aired on 28 March 2016 and the second on Christmas Day, 2016. A second series (also of two episodes) aired during 2017. It was reported in 2018 that the series had been cancelled. [1] [2] a b Howard, Kirsten (30 May 2018). "Maigret has been cancelled". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019 . Retrieved 20 January 2019. The DVD set of 14 discs does not include the booklet found in the Blu-Ray edition. Sleeve notes inform that the series has been "remastered from original film elements", most likely meaning Kinescope films as distributed world-wide, "original fullscreen TV format".Based on the Maigret stories of Georges Simenon, the series starred Rupert Davies in the title role. The moment Simenon saw me he shouted: " C'est Maigret, c'est Maigret. You are the flesh and bones of Maigret!" Davies later remembered. "That was a wonderful beginning. Then he drove us to his lovely château in the village of Échandens, where I met his wife. Later he began to coach me in Maigret's idiosyncrasies." [4] a b "ITV Press Centre - "ITV commissions further Maigret films starring Rowan Atkinson" ". ITV Press Centre. 17 June 2016 . Retrieved 17 June 2016. Series 2 [ edit ] These buildings on Alkotmány Street, Szentendre became the Picratt for Maigret in Montmartre. [9] Maigret is a British television series made by the BBC and which – following a pilot episode broadcast in 1959 – ran for 52 episodes from 1960 to 1963. [1]

Production [ edit ] Series 1 [ edit ] The Jezsuita Stairs in Budapest doubled as stairs in Montmartre. [8] The perfunctory episode guide booklet offers titles, airdates, short synopses of each episode, writer and director but does not list guest stars, nor does it indicate on which disc each episode can be found. Although staying largely true to the storyline of the books, the series featured only three of Maigret's team of detectives (the "faithful four" [3]), omitting any casting for Janvier, although the character is mentioned in several episodes. On Sunday, February 9, 1969, BBC One London aired Maigret at Bay as part of its series BBC Play of the Month. [8] This feature-length movie was based on the 1964 novel Maigret Defends Himself ( Maigret se défend), and featured Rupert Davies, Helen Shingler, and Neville Jason reprising their series roles of Commissaire Maigret, Madame Maigret, and Lapointe, respectively. [9] Episodes [ edit ]Rowan Atkinson starts filming ITV drama Maigret". ITV. 8 September 2015 . Retrieved 25 December 2015. Directing was similarly shared by sixteen directors, with Gerard Glaister and Terence Williams responsible for eight each, Andrew Osborn seven, and Eric Tayler six. [2] Ismét Magyarországon forgat Mr. Bean, Szentendréből francia kisváros lett". szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu. 16 April 2017 . Retrieved 29 July 2018. So, January 2022, but I see the review just posted by 'Sir-Oblong' (?!) makes no allowances for the usual production standards of that distant era. Maybe he hasn't seen perhaps 'Z Cars' - much loved but with similar creaky scenery!! Or the infamous Crossroads, with wobbly sets and even more wobbly acting, of necessity as doing many shows in an extreme hurry, on a tiny budget! Of course the Gambon series looks better, they had a vastly better budget, and the technical advances greatly helped with the picture quality. That series had shows that ran for longer (90 mins or 2 hours, from fading memory) so the stories could be developed in a better way, but the Davies version was actually shot in Paris (for the externals) so has that extra benefit.

The series starred Rupert Davies as the Police Judiciaire detective Commissaire Jules Maigret, who took up the role in 1960 after Basil Sydney, who had played Maigret in the pilot episode, was unable to continue. [1] Nicola Methven (8 September 2015). "Rowan Atkinson to get serious as filming for ITV remake of Maigret begins". Daily Mirror . Retrieved 25 December 2015. Kino’s release of Maigret—Season 4 offers 13 episodes spread across four Region “A” discs, some 715 minutes of show. (See above for comments about the video quality.) In May 2021, Network Distributing announced the Blu-Ray release of the series (to be released August 2021), with a DVD release soon to follow. [12] I've just seen the first of this long 'lost' (not shown anyway) series, which was hugely popular when it appeared in the 60s, and is just being revived by the UK's Talking Pictures channel (old films and TV).

Cast & Crew

Theme music and various incidental music was composed by Ron Grainer [6] for which he won an Ivor Novello award. [6] Apart from the pilot, all 52 episodes remain within the BBC's archives. [7] The choice of Davies to play Maigret was enthusiastically approved by Simenon himself. Remembering the role in a 1964 interview Davies said "When Andrew Osborn, the producer of the show, offered me the part on Good Friday in 1960, I knew very little about Maigret. I knew he was a famous French fictional detective, but that was all." Rather than read the books to get the feel for the character, Davies thought it would be better to meet Maigret's creator and hear from him how he saw the character. The BBC agreed and a meeting was arranged between Davies and Simenon in Lausanne. [4] The episodes were mainly filmed on location in Budapest and Szentendre, Hungary, which stood in for 1950s Paris. Georges Simenon’s Parisian police detective Jules Maigret (pronounced “may-gray”) is the antithesis of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. Where Poirot is flamboyant and fastidious, a gourmand and world traveler in high society, highly excitable and irritable, Maigret is the lowest of low-key sleuths, working class, a doting husband, calm and methodical, not uncultured nor rough around the edges like Lt. Columbo (really part of that detective’s act) but similarly ordinary yet highly observant and intelligent.

A few episodes I found more than a little dull, but most are excellent, and Rupert Davies is so wonderful as Maigret that mystery fans should find the series a delight. Highly recommended. Episodes included such well-known faces as Stratford Johns, Leon Cortez, Terence Alexander, Roger Delgado, William Franklyn, Michael Goodliffe, and Barry Foster, among others. [2] Follow in the footsteps of Rowan Atkinson's Maigret… in Budapest". radiotimes.com. 16 April 2017 . Retrieved 19 July 2018. Holding everything together is, of course, the shrewd underplaying of Rupert Davies, a delight as Maigret. American viewers will recognize him for his scattered film work, in British movies such as The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (as George Smiley), Witchfinder General, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave and TV shows like Danger Man and Man in a Suitcase. Ewen Solon, probably best-remembered as the grouchy Stapleton in the Peter Cushing Hound of the Baskervilles, plays Sgt. Lucas, while long-lived Helen Shingler is Madame Maigret.

a b "Maigret • Rowan Atkinson kann auch ernst (und Krimi!)". Hörzu (in German). 5 June 2018 . Retrieved 20 January 2019. What has changed since my Season 2 review is the sudden demise of Network Distributing, the much-loved British physical media label that first released the series there, followed by a licensing arrangement with Kino. The deal suggested other Network titles—scads of lesser-known British features and major and minor British television programs—might eventually find their way to Region “A” Blu-ray releases in the United States and Canada. As I write this, the future of Network’s huge library remains up in the air but, at least, Maigret remains widely available through Kino. The series was written by a set of ten writers, each contributing individual episodes; the most prolific being Giles Cooper, credited with nineteen episodes, and Roger East, with twelve. [2]