Les rivières pourpres

The story is a well narrated crime story if bestseller author Jean-Christophe Grangé - who already wrote the book -Crimson River- which later became the movie with Jean Reno and Vincent Cassel. The mood and the characters of this film are really close to the series. The rough detective and his young unexperienced colleague.

I saw so many cop series that most of them are really close to each other - this one is quite interesting as most of story is based around religious topics. Every episode is splitted in two parts, which I really liked.

This eight part French crime drama is made up of four separate cases, two episodes each. It is centred on Pierre Niémans and his deputy Camille Delaunay who work for a specialist unit that investigates the bizarrest of crimes. These include a huntsman who is killed according to the ancient traditions of the hunting family; a murder in a cult, deaths linked to a children's home and the murder of a monk who used to be a policeman. The fact that their cases can be anywhere in France, and in the first case partly over the border in Germany, means that apart from our two protagonists the stories will have different sets of characters.

I am aware that this series is based on a character that first appeared in a film of the same name but didn't feel it was a problem that I'd never seen the film. The first story does a solid job introducing us to our two leads. Olivier Marchal and Erika Sainte do fine jobs as Pierre and Camille making them interesting characters to watch. The cases are nicely varied and enjoyably strange. They provide a good number of suspects and motives to keep the viewer guessing. There is also a good sense of danger as each approaches its conclusion. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of crime dramas involving unusual cases.

These comments are based on watching the series in French with English subtitles.

'The Crimson Rivers' is a French detective series about a pair of police officers who specialize in investigating crimes with a religious, or occult, dimension. Little explanation is provided as to their mandate, while their methods involve disregarding correct procedure, being rude to their colleagues, explaining nothing to anyone, but, almost unfailingly, being right in the end. An accurate "police procedural" this is not, and neither is it filmed or written with particular artistry. And yet I liked the programme, as its gruff hero and heroine work their way through a succession of grim cases spread out over a grey-tinged France that feels rather different from the country in the tourist guides. They each have their own motivations for carrying out their mission; their behaviour at least partly explained by their view of their work as a necessary yet Sisyphean labour. In an age where we seem overwhelmed by clean Scandi-noir or gruesome serial killer stories, 'The Crimson Rivers' offers us a refreshingly different take.

Crimson Rivers on Channel 4 (UK & RoI). French detectives investigating strange murders. Cross between Criminal Minds and The X-Files. Detective Commissaire Pierre Niemans from the crimson Rivers films is back with a young sidekick, former student Camille Delaunay. So far (four episodesin) there's Horror with ritual murder, a curse going back centuries, nazi dogs, Cults.

Pretty good, set in the dark isolated backwoods of France.

Watch in original language.

So far 2 seasons with 4 cases in each that are well pace wt 2 episodes to resolve, i think its a great format.

Like many French cop show, diaplaying physical rudeness is valorise.

I really like it is in Europe ,often in rural environnements that feel historical, older. Great locations sets.