Maigret

The Michael Gambon Maigrets are very good realisations of the Simenon novels. If you haven't read the books you should know they are less 'whodunnit' than 'whydunnit'. This is what, for my money, gives Simenon the edge over other crime writers. Uncovering the criminal is almost an aside to stories of envy, greed, fraud, petty criminality and the hatreds and resentments in the everyday lives of ordinary people. "Maigret sets a Trap" is an excellent example of this and it makes a great final episode for the first series.

The series was filmed in Budapest which makes a very good 1950's Paris (although Maigret worked from 1930 to 1972 in the novels, by which time he would have been about 88) and spares us establishing shots of the Eiffel Tower every two minutes.

My only criticism is that the episodes would have worked better with a slightly longer running time, maybe 80 minutes. This would have given more time for the development of the characters (we need to know their motivations for Simenon's stories to work) and the atmosphere in which Maigret has to work. In 'Maigret Goes to School', for example, everyone in the village is against him. All we get in the film is a few minutes of abuse and antagonism from a couple of characters in the local bar.

Otherwise this is good, enjoyable TV detective work.

We used to watch this in French in high school! I absolutely loved the days when we'd walk in and be told we got to watch Maigret. They're kinda old, but way interesting, and we almost never knew what was going to happen. The episodes aren't predictable, which makes it all the more interesting. I hate when you know what's going to happen before it does, but I don't recall an instance where that was the case. It's totally worth checking out if you like a good mystery. And they really are great for French classes. I don't think we watched them in French with English subtitles like we did with other movies, but he's a French detective and there are a lot of French words and sites that are helpful to the students. We also used to write summaries of the stories entirely in French, so if you're a teacher, it's a great combination of comprehension and writing. If you decide you like these, or are looking for something similar, try watching Poirot. It's a series based on the stories by Agatha Christie. Same type of thing, but I'm partial to Maigret myself!

Reat mystery series set in Paris before the guillotine was reitred. It's compelling fun to see Maigret slice through the layers of lies he's told to nail the villain. The theme music is fabulous and it sets the mood. You really feel. As if you were back in '50s Paris.

This has a Colomboesque feel; the interest is in seeing how he garners the evidence to obtain the conviction.

I have seen two of these and am will binge the rest. I lok forward to seeing him mount oleaginous malefactors on the skewer of evidence and send them to the guillotine for their misdeeds.

Regrettably, not nearly enough of these were made.

I'd never heard of this series until last month. It's currently being shown on a British TV channel.

It's absolutely excellent, a real tonic.

We have been having our daily dose of watching Maigret over the past month. We started with the Rowan Atkinson version which is very good but this Micheal Gambon version is far more approachable and likeable. He is intense but caring. The stories are a bit transparent but when taken as a "who dunnit" it is a good watch. I am looking to reading some of the books now that we have exhausted the series and seeing if they are equally as good as an escape.

If you like the British mysteries then I think you would enjoy Maigret and would recommend it. It is very British and make no attempt to embody French mannerisms, accents, or style. It does nicely capture the style of what we expect 1950's Paris.