Yes - I haven't seen Atkinson in anything but comedy, and was agreeably surprised by the subtlety of his acting in this.

I do hope ITV make more.

Sorry, don't agree with that at all. It's an English language production, so there wouldn't be any point in trying to do the accents. Clearly, the characters wouldn't actually have been speaking English in that time and place, so it's effectively a translation convention, by dint of the fact that it's made for English-speaking viewers.


That would be perfectly reasonable, in my view. It would be a French production, aimed at French audiences, so naturally it would be a French language programme.

I don't know if Morse has been shown in France, but if it has, it's most likely been shown in dubbed form anyway - although subtitles may also be possible admittedly - for much the same sort of reasons. So effectively there may already be versions of it in existence where they're speaking French. We know Morse and the others wouldn't actually be speaking French in their own reality, just as Maigret wouldn't be speaking English, but the dialogue is basically being translated for the benefit of the audience that it's designed for.

As such, I think that attempting French accents in this while retaining scripts in English would be both pointless and distracting and risk looking parodic. It certainly wouldn't make it any more realistic. 'Allo 'Allo was a comedy and a parody by its very nature, so it could get away with playing up the accents for comic effect.

I agree. It clearly wasn't made as an action film (so may have have fallen short of some people's expectations) but can't be criticised for that.


My thoughts too.

I couldn't disagree more and 100% support Maq_Qam in his reply to your post.

By your reckoning, the actors in "War and Peace" (shown earlier this year) should have had Russian accents, Kenneth Branagh in "Wallander" should have had a Swedish accent and Derek Jacobi in "I Claudius" should have had a 1st Century Latin accent!

Exactly. Secret Army, which Allo Allo sends up didn't use accents nor indeed the original Maigret series with Rupert Davis.

I have watched Endeavour in Japan, dubbed in Japanese....

Nor the excellent Michael Gambon version.

It was a ridiculous comment.

It would be fair to complain if you had a mix of French and English characters in a programme and they all had an English accent, but, of course, that isn't the case here.

Regarding the accents... I think it works so long as they are consistent, either all English or all French accents. I found it weird when they would use an obvious French word, like cinq instead of five when referring to a hotel or restaurant known as George V. There were a few other instances that caught my ear, didn't really fit IMO. The problem with them doing French accents is that not all actors can pull them off, and when they don't it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Morse, Lewis and Endeavour have been shown on French TV in dubbed form

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspec...%A9vis%C3%A9e)

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspecteur_Lewis

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_En...AAtes_de_Morse

Characters speaking with cod French accents would make it seem like a comedy - shades of Inspector Clouseau

I think Atkinson plays Maigret well. There isn't any hint of his previous incarnations. The 'Frenchness' of Maigret is captured by the location and attention to period detail (except when they show shots of contemporary Paris all cleaned up and drop dead gorgeous).

I think it would be weirder to used an anglicised version of the name of such a famous institution. Do you think they should refer to Notre Dame as The Church of Our Lady or Gare du Nord as Paris North to give other examples?

Been looking forward to this since November and finally watched it this afternoon - didn't disappoint. Rowan Atkinson is brilliant as Maigret (got me wondering why so many comedians act detectives so well?). Bugged me the whole way through where I had seen the villain before, and for once it came to me without resorting to googling it - Flambeau!

I've never heard of George V as a hotel or whatever it was. I have heard of Notre Dame so that wouldn't be odd. Same with Arc de Triomphe or Champs-Elysees, those I've heard of. I suppose based on your comment George V is a famous place, just saying I'm not aware of it.

Another word that stuck out for me was arrondissement, which I think is like a district or something. Some will feel that it keeps with the French authenticity, but to me it didn't quite work.

Enjoyed it very much, and good to see Ian Puleston-Davies (he used to be in Coronation Street),

I only heard of the hotel years ago as part of the Beatles story. They stayed at the George V hotel their first visit to France in 1963!

I couldn't get into the first Maigret they showed previously but I recorded this one and started watching it earlier today just to see what it was like - and watched the whole thing! Really enjoyed it.

It does feel a bit odd, though, with everyone seeming very English, to hear the French place names. It reminds me a bit of a darker (in terms of lighting!) Morse from an earlier time.

Love Rowan Atkinson as Maigret.

Though I still feel that this is a role made for Roger Allam I found Roman Atkinson seemed much more comfortable as Maigret in this outing and did not detract from the story.

Having spent so much time getting the cars, the signs and the clothes just right one anachronism was when it came to flash photography. We saw flash pictures of the corpse being taken in quick succession and without the photographer stopping to change flash bulbs. Electronic flash - now on every smartphone and all amateur cameras - wasn't around until the late 1960s.

BTW I believe it was filmed in Hungary, is that right?

I think my point (see my previous post) about the lack of French accents is reasonable because the show makes an effort to set it in France and have French signs and posters. I noticed the background stuff was in French but everyone spoke in English. A weird mix. And the other big issue about everyone speaking in English - English has a certain cadence - a flow to it which is not the same as someone saying the same lines in French. French people do not talk like English people! Perhaps a few characters could have spoken with a French accent just to remind people we're in France and not in France occupied by the British!

Roger Allam's wonderful, (with a wonderful voice!) but as he's in Endeavour as Morse's boss, from a similar era, that would confuse far too many people!

Specially as Endeavour's back next week.

Nor do they speak like English people speaking with French accents!

I agree with this - and his dogged determination as he focused on the details that pulled the case together (why he chose that drink, why the jacket didn't match the trousers etc)

Although I was surprised at how many winning race tickets were supposedly dropped!

They are pretty much like London boroughs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrondissements_of_Paris

The dialogue isn't there to imitate the intonation or speech patterns of the French language though, it's simply translating the words for the benefit of an audience for whom it isn't their native tongue, so any lack of similarity between the languages is quite irrelevant. Were the French actors who dubbed Inspector Morse asked to deliver their lines in English accents? Would anyone have considered it reasonable to expect them to do that? No and no to both questions and for the same reason.

I'd love to watch French actors doing Morse in French with English accents. It would be hilarious!

I wonder if they would have Lewis buying Morse a pint at L'aigle et l'enfant?

I like Georges Simenon in particular the non Maigret stories but felt this became lost half way through.