Monsignor Renard

I found the miniseries heart touching and an exceptionally humane.The priest monsignor Renard was shown not just as a God servant, but as a brother, friend and before all a man. The atmosphere felt realistic - the Germans are not all bad and the french are not all good. It seem that they all are trapped in the war, and have somehow to survive and continue with their lives.

John Thaw was just superb in the role of Monsignor Renard. I simply loved how without saying much, he managed to show through his eyes, the complexity of his character.

There for I would suggest to anyone that likes the actor to watch it.

This film shows most of the horrors of war without being too graphic. The actors portray their characters wonderfully, whether you hate the character or love them. Every character has a depth that seems to be hard to find. You can't help but become emotionally involved.

This is a very well written drama, beautifully acted with a fantastic cast set in authentic settings and must have been very expensive to produce. Why then did it fail to attract viewers and only run to four episodes. To my mind, the main failure was in allowing the English actors, playing French men and women, to speak with (presumably their own) English regional accents. While this was common in earlier films and series, here it jars with the otherwise laudable visual and plot-driven attempts at authenticity. Quite why this is so much of an issue is difficult to pinpoint, but it is very much akin to colour-blind casting and strains the credibility for viewers, particularly with only the Germans characters using their native language. It's other failing is it's music, which makes scenes of high drama overly mawkish. It is well worth watching, but deserved a far longer run.

This unsung series went almost unnoticed when first broadcast. Like Foyle's War, it stares right in the face of some of the unpalatable truths about WW2. It's a gem. Sadly only four episodes exist, I think.

French and British people on the Home Front didn't all behave stoically. There was more collaboration than Resistance in France and very little Resistance at all for the first two years. Monsignor Renard is set in The Forbidden Zone, in the fictional village of St Jos-sur-Mer, close to Calais and focuses entirely on the life of the village, rather than the war, which comes to an abrupt halt halfway through the first episode. The excellent portrayal of everyday life under occupation tops everything recent and contains some great performances from Thaw, Cheryl Campbell, Andrew McCulloch and a very classy crew of native German actors.

Unfortunately, it was just getting into its stride when the plug was pulled and John Thaw, who was never better, tragically passed away. But what there is, is good enough. If you felt short changed by Charlotte Gray, or even if you liked it, you'll enjoy this more.

Of all the TV series dealing with WW2 this one stands out as being very different. For a change Monsignor Renard deals with the everyday lives of a small Northern French village seen through the eyes of it's priest. The Germans are not all seen as the Nazi brutes of common perception, neither are the all the French brave resistance fighters. These are human stories showing how the conquering Germans learned to live with the conquered French and visa verse.

The acting is spot on, I've read that John Thaw was considered wrong for the part, no way, he shines throughout. Spot a young Dominic Monahagn who has gone on to Hollywood stardom in the Lord of the Rings saga amongst others.

It's a shame a second series was not commissioned, IMDb says it was because of low ratings for the first but I think it was more due to John Thaw's declining health, he died in 2002 less than two years after the series was screened.

The premise is still a good one and could be revived for a remake with more than one series. Come on, there must be a production company out there willing to take it on.