Goodbye Commissioner Laurence (Samuel Labarthe), his secretary Marlène (Élodie Frenck) and the journalist Alice Avril (Blandine Bellavoir)! After seven years of service, the trio of "Little Murders of Agatha Christie" which raged in the 1960s will bow out in a final episode like a musical in October on France 2. It will then pass the baton to three new heroes immersed in the post-sixty-eight period and who will begin filming in the North of France on March 16.
“In 27 episodes, we had brought our beloved characters to life. With the actors, we were afraid to repeat ourselves, to purr when the objective is to surprise by the audacity of the stories, justifies Sophie Révil, the producer and writing director of the series of the Two. So we made a decision together to stop. But, we have adapted 38 novels out of 66. There is still plenty to do, especially since the heirs of Agatha Christie adore the series and have granted us the right to invent plots based on his work. "
With its 5.5 million followers, including replay, fiction changes era with an imperative: "Keep the DNA, namely quirky comedy and madness, visual ambition and care taken in writing with chiseled dialogues. "
A stripper trio
After investing in the 1930s when it was launched in 2009 and 50-60, head for the 1970s. "These are the ones where we dared everything: hypersexy or hipster fashion, very colorful decor," emphasizes the producer. And what this era tells is interesting: there was a wind of freedom, sexual liberation and at the same time a triumphant machismo. The 1970s made it possible to put a magnifying glass on the relationships between men and women and to stigmatize machismo with humor. In the previous season, Avril was already a feminist and had managed to get Marlene out of her role as a poodle. We are in continuity. "
Two women and a man will investigate. The first, Annie Gréco, will be performed by Émilie Gavois-Kahn, 41, well known to the followers of "Clem", "Bracelets rouges" and "Cassandre". Her character has a first name "in homage to Annie Girardot in the film" Tender Chicken "", reveals Sophie Révil.
Leather coat but able to pull up her stockings in front of her inspectors, this “female, very rock and taboo-free” policewoman is parachuted in the North. "We will be in 1971 and the Ministry of the Interior has decided to make an experiment by appointing the best inspector of France commissioner in Lille while, in reality, the commissioner's competition was only opened to women in 1974 “, Specifies the producer.
Bickering galore
The officer will be assisted by Max Beretta, a good cop but a hothead, big mouth who does not hesitate to get out of the nails or draw his weapon. Arthur Dupont, 34, seen in particular in the series "Osmosis" on Netflix and in the guise of Jérôme Kerviel in the film "Outsider" will become this explosive rebel, "a mixture between Patrick Dewaere and Gérard Depardieu," laughs Sophie Révil. Our Beretta has a dominant male side but he is tender, very funny and who suffers because his wife left him to go with his lover to an ashram! "
A boy so unmanageable that his superior will advise him to undergo therapy: a psychologist, Rose Bellecour, completes the fine team. To camp this young girl from a wealthy Northern family, very stylish in her Courrèges outfits topped with XL glasses and passionate about crimes, the production chose Chloé Chaudoye, a 30-year-old actress.
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Fans of the spat between Laurence and Avril will be served: small disputes will also punctuate the relationships of the three heroes who ensure the succession, solitary like their predecessors. They will conduct their first investigations behind the scenes of the cinema during an episode adapted from the novel "The night that never ends" then in the universe of a fashion magazine in a section called "The dark room" inspired by several books by Agatha Christie.
As for the filming, the “Little Murders” will reinvest Lille from March 16 but also a new place: a disused wing of the hospital of Lens (Pas-de-Calais) where a studio will welcome the decorations of the police station, the apartment in social housing for Max and the hotel where the curator lives. Four episodes will be filmed this year.