French detective Maigret returns
ITV has commissioned a further two films of Maigret, starring Rowan Atkinson as the legendary French fictional detective.
Set in 1950’s Paris, Atkinson will return as Detective Jules Maigret in two, single 120’ films: ‘Night At The Crossroads’ and ‘Maigret in Montmartre’ – based on Georges Simenon’s novels, adapted by writer Stewart Harcourt (Treasure Island, Marple).
Simenon wrote seventy-five Maigret novels and is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century selling around a billion books worldwide, including Maigret Sets a Trap which aired on ITV earlier this year and achieved consolidated ratings of 7.2m.
Maigret is produced by Thompson & Thompson Productions Ltd and Georges Simenon Limited. Simenon’s son, John, returns as an executive producer of the new films.
ITV by Controller of Drama, Victoria Fea, said: “It’s an absolute privilege to commission two further stand alone Maigret films for ITV. We were thrilled to welcome Rowan Atkinson to the channel as Maigret. His superb performance, and the filmic execution from the production team ensured the audience greatly appreciated the first Maigret film which aired earlier this year.”
The new films will go into production in November 2016 until February 2017. ‘Maigret’s Dead Man’ based on ‘Maigret et son mort’ has already been filmed and will air on ITV later this year.
