Paris Police 1905

The cast--most of them anyway--from Paris Police 1900 are back, and we are satisfied that the attention to detail that marked the first series has carried forward here. Jeremie Laheurthe plays Jouin as rigidly as before--God, this man is boring--but there are fascinating characters around him. Meg Steinheil is as cold and calculating as ever, and her doomed husband Alphonse, the painter who's slowly going mad with syphilis, is both touching and repellent.

The ambience of the Bois de Boulogne is well described, men cruising for sex in the winter mist (excellent cinematography here) under the watchful eyes of the police. The morals squad is as disgusting as you would expect, given the time and the social conditions. An excellent evocation of Paris of a century ago.

This is unique in giving me the feeling that I am watching, not a period drama, but action filmed at the time. The creators must have started with actual footage from the time then built on it to give us a macabre version of actual events twisted and hacked beyond the possible. I keep on expecting to see Monsieur Proust lurking in the shadows. I might add that I am a fan of Frank Tallis's Liebermann novels set in Vienna at the same period, and I so wish the Paris Police team had had the job of bringing them to television. Will there be a Paris Police 2010? And the horrors of 1915? I am sure they would be well worth waiting for!

Undoubtedly this is a very high quality production, elegantly filmed and with careful details that transport the viewer back by over a century. Unlike a lot of dramas which try to modernise the characters to suit modern attitudes, this stays true to the morality of the era.

There are some surprisingly brutal scenes (not necessarily for the squeamish, which you'll realise from the opening scene), and a couple of slightly suggestive sexual moments.

But scratch beneath the surface and across the first 5 episodes there is no actual story development. I won't include spoilers, but many of the events that happen and which you assume will be important in the future simply aren't followed up. The acting is dry and the episodes are slow. Characters undergo trauma and then appear fully recovered shortly afterwards. Extremely unlikely friendships are formed to enable future events to happen.

The writers clearly knew this was a mess because the sixth (and final) episode includes two scenes where minor characters explain exactly what has happened in simple language. And the ridiculous thing is, half of the characters and locations mentioned in the exposition had barely been included in the previous 5 episodes.

A disappointment.

PS I did not realise this was a "sequel" to Paris Police 1900, and had not seen the original series. Many of the cast are the same, but this story appears to stand on its own. It just isn't a good story.

Not as exciting as the first series but just as engrossing. The pace is sub-glacial but something inside you forces you to keep watching. After you've sat through what seems several thousand hours you realise why you've been sucked into this world.... because you are actually in that incredibly different and pretty horrible world. This is the next best thing to a time machine

It doesn't do what so many period dramas do these days - have 21st century people with 21st century attitudes in costume. Of course we can't know for sure but the people in this behave and think like people in 1905 probably did. Violence, corruption, the acceptance of gaping inequality is not criticised like we would now, it's just normal, it's accepted.

There are a couple of reasons you might be put off by this. As I've mentioned, it's not as exciting as the first series and at times gives the impression that nothing happens - is it boring? Maybe it is but somehow fascinating at the same time. The other criticism is that nobody ever smiles - ever! This has to be one of the most miserable things I've ever watched... but there's something special about it which keeps you glued.

Paris Police 1900 was an excellent series, mixing fiction with actual history. Paris Police 1905 is equally gripping with great story and compelling performances. Don't expect fast action but the intrigue is intricate. The series is dark and uncompromising but it's not an easy viewing so be warned. There's plenty of blood and mayhem throughout. Corruption, greed and plain stupidity also plays it part. At the same time it's an exciting time in Paris with first women lawyers, motor cars craze and police reforms, which would eventually make the force as we know it today. Although it's not necessary I would strongly recommend to watch the Paris Police 1900 first.