Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie
Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie | |
---|---|
Also known as | The Little Murders of Agatha Christie; Agatha Christie's Criminal Games |
Genre | Comédie policière (comedic police crime drama) |
Created by | Anne Giafferi Murielle Magellan |
Based on | Agatha Christie's detective fiction |
Starring | Series One: Antoine Duléry Series Two: Blandine Bellavoir Élodie Frenck |
Country of origin | France |
Original language | French |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 11 | 27 |
Production | |
Production location | France |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Production company | Escazai Films |
Distributor | FranceTv, RLJ-Acorn (DVD), MHZ (USTV) (DVD) |
Release | |
Original network | France 2 |
Picture format | 480i (SDTV), 720p (HDTV) |
Original release | 9 January 2009 present[1] | –
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Petits Meurtres en Famille 2006 (4-part mini-series) |
External links | |
france•tv |
Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie is a French comédie policière (comedic police crime drama) television program consisting of two series based loosely on Agatha Christie's works of detective fiction, first broadcast on France 2 on 9 January 2009.[2] In English-speaking countries, Series One is titled “The Little Murders of Agatha Christie” and Series Two is titled “Agatha Christie's Criminal Games.” Series One takes place in the 1930s with Commissaire (approximately DCI) Larosière (Antoine Duléry) and Inspecteur Lampion (). Series Two is set in the mid-1950s through early 1960s with Commissaire Swan Laurence (), journalist Alice Avril (Blandine Bellavoir), and Laurence's secretary, Marlène Leroy (Élodie Frenck). Series One streams with English subtitles in the United States on Acorn TV and , Series Two streams with English subtitles in the United States on MHz Choice and in Australia on SBS.[3][4] The thirty-eight episodes to the end of Series Two include adaptations of thirty-six of Christie's works.
A third series, with a new cast and set in 1970s France, was announced in 2019.[1] Although the title bearing Christie's name will remain, most of the planned episodes will be original stories “in the spirit of Christie's works” because the producer felt that the remaining books would be “too difficult to adapt”, or because of rights issues in some cases. [5]
Series One: 1930s France (2009–2012)[]
Overview[]
Set in northern France in the 1930s, womanising and bombastic Commissaire Jean Larosière and his hapless junior officer Inspecteur Émile Lampion unravel a series of complicated murder cases to reveal the killers.
Cast and characters[]
Main[]
- Antoine Duléry as Commissaire Jean Larosière (11 episodes)
- as Inspecteur Émile Lampion (11 episodes)
Support[]
- Serge Dubois as police officer (policier) Ménard (9 episodes)
- as medical examiner (médecin légiste) Dr Verdure (5 episodes)
Episodes[]
No. | Title | Christie adaptation | Directed by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Les meurtres ABC" | The A.B.C. Murders | 2009 | ||
2 | "Am stram gram" | Ordeal by Innocence | 2009 | ||
3 | "La plume empoisonnée" | The Moving Finger | Eric Woreth | 2009 | |
4 | "La maison du péril" | Peril at End House | Eric Woreth | 2009 | |
5 | "Le chat et les souris" | Cat Among the Pigeons | Eric Woreth | 2010 | |
6 | "Je ne suis pas coupable" | Sad Cypress | Eric Woreth | 2010 | |
7 | "Cinq petits cochons" | Five Little Pigs | Eric Woreth | 2011 | |
8 | "Le flux et le reflux" | Taken at the Flood | Eric Woreth | 2011 | |
(Blandine Bellavoir, who plays Albertine, appears as a main character in the second series.) | |||||
9 | "Un cadavre sur l'oreiller" | The Body in the Library | Eric Woreth | 2011 | |
10 | "Un meurtre en sommeil" | Sleeping Murder | Eric Woreth | 2012 | |
11 | "Le couteau sur la nuque" | Lord Edgware Dies | 2012 |
Series Two: mid-1950s to 1960s France (2013–2020)[]
Overview[]
The action has moved to mid-1950s to 1960s Lille, France. Suave, razor-sharp, arrogant, and intolerant – Commissaire Swan Laurence investigates murders with the often unappreciated assistance of reporter Alice Avril and police secretary Marlène Leroy.
Cast and characters[]
Main[]
- as Commissaire Swan Laurence (27 episodes)[6]
- Blandine Bellavoir as La Voix du Nord journalist and feminist Alice Avril (27 episodes)[7]
- Élodie Frenck as Laurence's Marilyn Monroe-esque police secretary Marlène Leroy (27 episodes)[8]
Support[]
- as Commissaire Divisionnaire Ernest Tricard (27 episodes)
- as secretary then police officer Arlette Carmouille (5 episodes)
- as medical examiner (médecin légiste) Dr Timothée Glissant (13 episodes)
- / as newspaper editor (rédacteur en chef) Robert Jourdeuil (2 / 15 episodes)
- Natacha Lindinger as medical examiner Dr Euphrasie Maillol (4 episodes)
- as police "cop" (flic) Martin (16 episodes)
- Bubulle as Marlène's goldfish Bubulle (27 episodes)
Episodes[]
No. in series | Title | Christie adaptation | Directed by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Jeux de glaces" | They Do It With Mirrors | 2013 | ||
2 | "Meurtre au champagne" | Sparkling Cyanide | Eric Woreth | 2013 | |
A movie star appears to commit suicide by poisoning her drink at a dinner party, but Laurence suspects that someone else put the poison there. Avril replaces her on the set while Laurence investigates. | |||||
3 | "Témoin Muet" | Dumb Witness | 2013 | ||
Laurence receives a letter dated months earlier from Émilie Longuet fearing that she will be murdered. On learning that the wealthy old woman is already dead, he orders an exhumation and autopsy which prove she had been poisoned. He and Avril both encounter ghosts who, despite his disbelief, help uncover secrets that are possible motives for all the resident family members, Mrs. Longuet's live-in personal assistant and, to Laurence's horror, his own mother whom he arrests before discovering that the weapon used in a second murder was planted in her room. | |||||
4 | "Pourquoi pas Martin?" | Why Didn't They Ask Evans? | Marc Angelo | 2013 | |
5 | "Meurtre à la kermesse" | Hallowe'en Party | Eric Woreth | 2014 | |
6 | "Cartes sur table" | Cards on the Table | Eric Woreth | 2014 | |
A strange, wealthy man induces a dubious Laurence and Avril to attend a dinner party he is hosting with four other guests whom he suggests got away with murder, plus a self-proclaimed former member of France's secret service. When the host is murdered at the party, Laurence investigates. Two guests are subsequently murdered and Laurence himself becomes a suspect before determining the culprit. | |||||
7 | "Le crime ne paie pas" | Murder on the Links | Marc Angelo | 2014 | |
8 | "Pension Vanilos" | Hickory Dickory Dock | Eric Woreth | 2015 | |
(Élodie Frenck appears in a dual role as Marlène's sister Solange.) | |||||
9 | "Un meurtre est-il facile?" | Murder is Easy | Marc Angelo | 2015 | |
Tired of living in poverty and being disrespected as a female journalist, Avril accepts a marriage proposal from Émile Deboucke, a much older man and very rich factory owner whom she barely knows. Avril moves into Deboucke's mansion and is given an executive position at his factory. After a series of murders at the factory and the attempted murders of herself and Marlène, Avril helps Laurence solve the crimes from within. Avril and Deboucke end their engagement amicably. | |||||
10 | "Madame Mac Ginty est morte" | Mrs McGinty's Dead | , Eric Woreth | 2015 | |
(, Blandine Bellavoir's partner, plays Alice's ex-husband.[9]) | |||||
11 | "Murder Party" | A Murder is Announced | Eric Woreth | 2015 | |
12 | "L'étrange enlèvement du petit Bruno" | The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly | Eric Woreth | 2016 | |
A famous author and her husband receive anonymous letters threatening that their son will be kidnapped for ransom from their home at a specific time. Despite deploying heavy security, Laurence fails to prevent the kidnapping and is shot in the aftermath. He feigns death to pursue the case without the culprit's knowledge and, with major assistance from Avril, Marlène, and Dr. Maillol, is able to reveal all at his own fake funeral. | |||||
13 | "Le cheval pâle" | The Pale Horse | 2016 | ||
14 | "L'affaire Protheroe" | The Murder at the Vicarage | Olivier Panchot | 2016 | |
After a young secretary is found dead by hanging, Laurence quickly determines it was murder intended to look like suicide. Avril goes undercover as the secretary's replacement to help investigate. | |||||
15 | "La mystérieuse affaire de Styles" | The Mysterious Affair at Styles | Eric Woreth | 2016 | |
A lady comes to see Laurence in distress because the owner of the popular beauty spa she manages is seeing a much younger man. Laurence is unwilling to get involved, but Marlène persuades Avril to visit the spa; they do so, but are mistaken for a lesbian couple. While there, Marlène finds a man's body at the bottom of the swimming pool, murdered. Laurence arrives at the spa to investigate. During the investigation, Avril discovers that the spa's owner, Emilie, is actually Avril's own mother. Shortly afterwards, Emilie also dies, which is clearly a second murder. Laurence's investigation into both murders turns up strange happenings, such as Emilie's habit of drinking the blood of children, a surrogate pregnancy of one of the spa staff who Emilie recently adopted and wrote into her will, and the alluring wife of a government minister who sedated Emilie to cover up her own affair with Emilie's husband. | |||||
16 | "Albert Major parlait trop" | A Caribbean Mystery | Eric Woreth | 2016 | |
While in hospital for injuries incurred in an accident, Avril encounters famous crime author Albert Major but fails to interest Laurence in the author's claim to be writing a book exposing a "perfect murder" that he witnessed years ago. Major becomes the first of several victims murdered grotesquely in the hospital. Avril discovers a secret hospital area with strange goings-on possibly related to the murders, but when Laurence finds no evidence in the room he decides it was just her head injuries causing her imagination to run wild. Laurence eventually realises that everything is indeed connected, catches the culprit, and reaches Avril, the next intended victim, just as she is about to succumb to a poisoned intravenous drip. | |||||
17 | "L'Homme au complet marron" | The Man in the Brown Suit | 2017 | ||
18 | "Le miroir se brisa" | The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side | Rodolphe Tissot | 2017 | |
19 | "Crimes haute couture" | Third Girl | 2017 | ||
20 | "Crime de Noël" | not adapted from a Christie story | Rodolphe Tissot | 2017 | |
21 | "Drame en trois actes" | Three Act Tragedy | Nicolas Picard-Dreyfuss | 2018 | |
(Samuel Labarthe appears in a dual role as acting teacher Herbert Michel.) | |||||
22 | "Meurtres en solde" | Hercule Poirot's Christmas | 2018 | ||
(, who plays Laurence's son, is Samuel Labarthe's son.[10] This adaptation has no Christmas theme.) | |||||
23 | "Mélodie mortelle" | The Sittaford Mystery | 2018 | ||
24 | "Ding Dingue Dong" | Evil Under the Sun | Christophe Campos | 2019 | |
When Marlène stumbles into Laurence's office disheveled, disoriented, and deemed to be suffering from depression, he has her admitted to a private psychiatric clinic where he is investigating a murder. But Laurence is arrested as the prime suspect of a second murder at the clinic because he has been having an affair with the victim, the wife of the head of the clinic, and is believed to have been on the premises at the time. Avril goes undercover as a nurse to investigate while Laurence is in jail but he soon joins her by feigning insanity to get himself admitted to the clinic. Marlène's sharp eye for fashion provides the critical clue that puts Laurence on the right track to reveal the murderers. | |||||
25 | "L'Heure zéro" | Towards Zero | Nicolas Picard-Dreyfuss | 2019 | |
26 | "Rendez-vous avec la mort" | Appointment with Death | Nicolas Picard-Dreyfuss | 2019 | |
27 | "Un Cadavre au petit déjeuner" | not adapted from a Christie story | Nicolas Picard-Dreyfuss | 2020 | |
The Series Two Finale is a musical self-parody, with all the cast breaking out into song and dance throughout. After a night of drunken revelry that she cannot recall, Avril awakens in bed next to the corpse of young man with a knife in his chest. Laurence has resigned as Commissaire and is about to leave for Washington to work for the FBI but, joined by Marlène, Glissant, and Tricard, he goes to extraordinary lengths, including illegalities, to figure out who is trying to frame Avril for murder and to keep her out of the clutches of her chief antagonists: Laurence's replacement, the psychotic nephew of former Commissaire Larosière, and Carmouille, although she eventually saves the day. (Antoine Duléry appears as the nephew of Series One's Commissaire Larosière. Original musical-comedy episode;[11] first aired in Italy in 2019, Australia in 2020, and in France in October 2020.[12][13][1]) |
Series Three: 1970s France (announced 2019, to begin in 2021)[]
A third series, with a new cast and set in France in the 1970s, was announced in 2019.[1][14]
The first and third episodes will be adaptations of, respectively, Endless Night and The Hollow. The second and fourth episodes, as well as the fifth and sixth episodes planned for 2022, will all be original stories but, according to the producer, in the “spirit of Agatha Christie.” [15] [16] [17] [18] [5]
Notes[]
- A distinct four-part mini-series, "Petits Meurtres en Famille", adapted from Hercule Poirot's Christmas, was released in 2006. Although Larosière and Lampion are the main characters (played by the same actors), this mini-series is not a prequel or sequel to the later series.
- Laurence drives a Facel Vega Facellia FA red Bordeaux coupe.[19][20][21]
Complete cast[]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Telestar.fr (28 October 2019). "EXCLU TELESTAR. Les Petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie ce n'est... - Télé Star". www.telestar.fr (in French). Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie". The Home of Agatha Christie. 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ "Agatha Christie's Criminal Games". MHz Choice. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ "Agatha Christie's Criminal Games". SBS On Demand. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Interview Sophie Revil". lpmac. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ "Samuel Labarthe". The Home of Agatha Christie. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ "Blandine Bellavoir". www.agathachristie.com. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ "Élodie Frenck". www.agathachristie.com. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Fuzeau, Stephanie (6 February 2019). "Blandine Bellavoir (Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie) poste une photo trop mignonne de son bébé sur Instagram". www.programme-tv.net (in French). Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ Charlet, Justine (4 October 2019). ""Petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie" : Alexandre Labarthe, fils de Samuel à l'écran comme à la vie | News TV Télé Z". TéléZ (in French). Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ "Agatha Christie's Criminal Games: A Body with Breakfast". SBS On Demand. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
- ^ "GUIDA TV di FoxCrime di giovedì 31 ottobre 2019". MondoFox. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "Les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie" Un cadavre au petit déjeuner (TV Episode 2019) - IMDb, retrieved 14 April 2020
- ^ "Emotion dans Grey's Anatomy, la nouvelle saison des Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie et les abdos de Loup-Denis Elion… Les tournages de la semaine (PHOTOS) - series - Télé 2 semaines". www.programme.tv/news. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ "Les petits meurtres : Découvrez la nouvelle équipe de la série". 13 March 2020.
- ^ "Les Petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie S03".
- ^ "Eliane MONTANE – Agence Lise ARIF".
- ^ "Hélène LOMBARD – Agence Lise ARIF".
- ^ "Véhicule du film "les petits meurtres d'Agatha Christie"". 8 March 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ "Facel Vega á la Télévision". 29 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ "RR Forums Australia". 15 November 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
External links[]
- Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie at IMDb
- Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie on "The Home of Agatha Christie"
- 2009 French television series debuts
- 2000s French television series
- 2010s French television series
- French crime television series
- French-language television shows
- Television shows based on works by Agatha Christie