Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie
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 (Marius Colucci). Series Two is set in the mid-1950s through early 1960s with Commissaire Swan Laurence (Samuel Labarthe), 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 MHz Choice, 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.
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 Marius Colucci Series Two: Samuel Labarthe Blandine Bellavoir Élodie Frenck |
Country of origin | France |
Original language(s) | French |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 11 | 27 |
Production | |
Production location(s) | France |
Running time | 100 minutes |
Production company(s) | 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 |
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, only two of the planned episodes in the third series will be adaptations of Christie books, with the rest being original stories “in the spirit of Christie's works” because the producer felt that the remaining books would be “too difficult to adapt.” [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)
- Marius Colucci as Inspecteur Émile Lampion (11 episodes)
Support
- Serge Dubois as police officer (policier) Ménard (9 episodes)
- Olivier Carré as medical examiner (médecin légiste) Dr Verdure (5 episodes)
No. in Series | Actor (character) |
1 | |
2 | |
3 | |
4 | |
5 | |
6 | |
7 | |
8 | |
9 | |
10 | |
11 |
Episodes
No. in series | Title | Christie adaptation | Directed by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Les meurtres ABC" | The A.B.C. Murders | Eric Woreth | 2009 | |
2 | "Am stram gram" | Ordeal by Innocence | Stéphane Kappes | 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 | Renaud Bertrand | 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
- Samuel Labarthe 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
- Dominique Thomas as Commissaire Divisionnaire Ernest Tricard (27 episodes)
- Marie Berto as secretary then police officer Arlette Carmouille (5 episodes)
- Cyril Gueï as medical examiner (médecin légiste) Dr Timothée Glissant (13 episodes)
- Christophe Piret / François Godart as newspaper editor (rédacteur en chef) Robert Jourdeuil (2 / 15 episodes)
- Natacha Lindinger as medical examiner Dr Euphrasie Maillol (4 episodes)
- Éric Beauchamp as police "cop" (flic) Martin (16 episodes)
- Bubulle as Marlène's goldfish Bubulle (27 episodes)
No. in Series | Actor (character) |
1 | Catherine Mouchet (Rose-Marie Bousquet), Olivier Rabourdin (Etienne Bousquet), Stéphane Caillard (Juliette), Solveig Maupu (Jaqueline Cassard), Shane Woodward (Jimmy White), Guillaume Bienvenu (Antonin Lambert), Vincent Londez (Léonard Jandel) |
2 | Élodie Navarre (Elvire Morenkova), Jean-Philippe Écoffey (Georges Leroy), Claude Perron (Claude Kerrigan), Antoine Oppenheim (Daniel Kerrigan), Hélène Médigue (Babette), Valentine Alaqui (Violette), Alexis Michalik (Jules Lavigne), Luis Inacio (Victor Lebrun) |
3 | Françoise Fabian (Alexina Laurence), Nathalie Richard (Geneviève Ranson), Jacqueline Bir (Émilie Longuet), Anne Azoulay (Charlotte Ségur), Olivier Chantreau (Louis Segur), Vincent Schmitt (Georges Siatidis), Isabelle de Hertogh (Bella Siatidis), Alexie Ribes (Daisy) |
4 | Alix Poisson (Suzanne Delavallée), Charlie Dupont (Roland Delavallée), Didier Vinson (André Delavallée), Arly Jover (Alma Sarrazin), Eric Caruso (Philippe Sarrazin), Luc Samaille (Alain Langevin), Laurence Flahault (Paulette Torbier) |
5 | |
6 | |
7 | |
8 | Élodie Frenck (Solange Vanilos), Nancy Tate (Mary Patterson), Blanche Cluzet (Marguerite Richard), Edouard Giard (Jean-Baptiste Millet), Lucile Marquis (Rose), Sandrine Salyères (N'Daye Sissoko), Charles Templon (Pierre), Charlotte Talpaert (Louise) |
9 | Philippe Nahon (Émile Deboucke), Anne Benoît (Annick Devassène), Marcelle Fontaine (Josiane Lallin), Alexandre Steiger (Jean Castor), Emilie Wiest (Sabine Toulemonde), Pierre Kiebbe (Baptiste) |
10 | Arnaud Perron (Robert Vasseur), Gilian Petrovski (Michael Doutremont), Eléonore Joncquez (Régine Molon), Serge Riaboukine (Dr. Léopold Santini), Mélissandre Fortumeau (Béatrice Santini), Jeanne Bournaud (Hélène Schmit) |
11 | Valeria Cavalli (Leticia Salvan/Charlotte Salvan), Juliette Plumecocq-Mech (Linda Greenblat), Christine Bonnard (Henriette), Blandine Pélissier (Odette), Annabelle Hettmann (Philippine Leroy), Clovis Fouin (Marcel Combet/Eugène Perrier), Honorine Magnier (Antoinette Combet/Emma Zontag) |
12 | |
13 | |
14 | |
15 | |
16 | Frédéric Pellegeay (Grégoire Vidal), Pierre Khorsand (Paul Courelle), Mona Walravens (Dany Courelle), Beatrice Rosen (Lucette Vidal), Christian Joubert (Albert Major) |
17 | |
18 | |
19 | |
20 | |
21 | |
22 | |
23 | |
24 | Bérénice Baoo (Clarisse Rodier), Arnaud Binard (Dr. Rodier), Maïra Schmitt (Adèle Rodier), Kevin Garnichat (Dr Nathan Steiner), Chloé Chaudoye (Marie Steiner), Barbara Monin (Dominique Lebrun), Emmanuel Bordier (Félix Jacquel) |
25 | |
26 | |
27 | Antoine Duléry (Commissaire Larosière), Anouchka Vingtier (Isabelle Grignan), Alain Duclos (Arthur Grignan), Claudine Vigreux (Madame Léotard), Ulrich Vanacker (Simon Wurtz) |
Episodes
No. in series | Title | Christie adaptation | Directed by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Jeux de glaces" | They Do It With Mirrors | Eric Woreth | 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 | Marc Angelo | 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 | Didier Bivel, Eric Woreth | 2015 | |
(Arnaud Perron, 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 | Olivier Panchot | 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 | |
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 | Rodolphe Tissot | 2017 | |
18 | "Le miroir se brisa" | The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side | Rodolphe Tissot | 2017 | |
19 | "Crimes haute couture" | Third Girl | Nicolas Picard-Dreyfuss | 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 | Didier Bivel | 2018 | |
(Alexandre Labarthe, who plays Laurence's son, is Samuel Labarthe's son.[10] This adaptation has no Christmas theme.) | |||||
23 | "Mélodie Mortelle" | The Sittaford Mystery | Christophe Campos | 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 Zero" | 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 | 2019/2020 | |
The Series One 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 expected late 2020.[12][13][1]) |
Series Three: 1970s France (announced 2019)
A third series, with a new cast and set in France in the 1970s, was announced in 2019.[1][14]
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.[15][16][17]
Complete cast
Actor | Character | Episodes | Year |
Antoine Duléry | Jean Larosière Larosière's nephew |
11 1 |
2009–2012 2020 |
Marius Colucci | Émile Lampion | 11 | 2009–2012 |
Blandine Bellavoir | Albertine Alice Avril |
1 27 |
2011 2013–2020 |
Samuel Labarthe | Swan Laurence | 27 | 2013–2020 |
Élodie Frenck | Marlène Leroy | 27 | 2013–2020 |
Dominique Thomas | Ernest Tricard | 27 | 2013–2020 |
Christophe Piret | Guillaume Parisot Robert Jourdeuil |
1 2 |
2012 2013 |
François Godart | Robert Jourdeuil | 15 | 2013–2019 |
Éric Beauchamp | Martin | 16 | 2013–2018 |
Serge Dubois | Ménard | 9 | 2009–2012 |
Olivier Carré | Verdure Roger Bessan |
5 1 |
2010–2012 2019 |
Bubulle | Marlène's goldfish Bubulle | 27 | 2013–2020 |
Flore Bonaventura Alice Isaaz |
Juliette Larosière | 1 1 |
2010 2012 |
Anne Benoît | Madame Daste Annick Devassene |
1 1 |
2009 2015 |
Hélène Vincent | Kristin | 1 | 2009 |
Pascal Elso | Léopold Vallabrègues | 1 | 2009 |
Corinne Masiero | Angélique | 1 | 2009 |
Denis Lavant | André Custe | 1 | 2009 |
Frédéric Pierrot | Jean Villiers | 1 | 2009 |
Robinson Stévenin | Jean | 1 | 2009 |
Françoise Bertin | Emilie Dubreuil | 1 | 2009 |
Lannick Gautry | Mathieu Vidal | 1 | 2010 |
Isabelle Candelier | Christine Boisseau | 1 | 2010 |
Guilaine Londez | Mademoiselle Thuleau | 1 | 2010 |
Mata Gabin | Esméralda | 1 | 2011 |
Jean-Marie Winling | Pierre Fougères | 1 | 2012 |
Patrick Descamps | Chesnais | 1 | 2012 |
Françoise Fabian | Alexina Laurence | 1 | 2013 |
Claude Perron | Claude Kerrigan | 1 | 2013 |
Charlie Dupont | Roland Delavallée | 1 | 2013 |
Isabelle de Hertogh | Bella Siatidis | 1 | 2013 |
Dominique Pinon | Hubert Petitpont | 1 | 2014 |
Natacha Lindinger | Euphrasie Maillol | 4 | 2014 |
Nicolas Vaude | Stanislas | 1 | 2014 |
Alban Lenoir | Paul Coupet | 1 | 2014 |
Philippe Nahon | Emile Deboucke | 1 | 2015 |
Serge Riaboukine | Léopold Santini | 1 | 2015 |
Cyril Guei | Dr Timothée Glissant | 13 | 2016–2020 |
Sophie Cattani | Eve Constantin | 1 | 2016 |
Philippe Rebbot | Dr Locart | 1 | 2018 |
Marie Berto | Arlette Carmouille | 5 | 2016–2020 |
Barbara Schulz | Audrey Fontaine | 1 | 2019 |
Nuno Lopes | Maxime Beaumont | 1 | 2019 |
Mireille Herbstmeyer | Clémence Berg | 1 | 2019 |
See also
References
- 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.
- https://lespetitsfans.wixsite.com/lpmac/interview-sophie-revil
- "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.
- "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 on IMDb
- Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie on "The Home of Agatha Christie"
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