SEARCH AND RESCUE
TCHÉKY KARYO RETURNS AS THE MISSING ’S DEDICATED DETECTIVE IN A NEW SPIN-OFF…
Series two of BBC1’S The Missing was an emotionally exhausting experience for all fans of detective Julien Baptiste, and not just because of the incredibly fraught case he was trying to solve. That series also saw the revelation that Baptiste was suffering from a potentially fatal brain tumour, and ended with him undergoing surgery – with no indication of whether he would survive the operation. And if you were worried that he might not – well, so was actor Tchéky Karyo…
“I was like the audience, left hanging there!” chuckles the star as Inside TV joins him on the set of spin-off series Baptiste in Belgium. “When the doctor asked me to count ‘one, two, three…’ I thought, ‘Are they suggesting we might go for a third series?’ I felt like the brothers [writers Harry and Jack Williams] didn’t want to, yet they – and the audience and the BBC – didn’t want to say goodbye to this character, so they said they’d rather give him a spin-off from The Missing to see what will happen.”
As you’ve likely worked out, Baptiste pulled through. And he’s now trying to enjoy his retirement in Amsterdam when he receives a request from Police Commissioner Martha Horchner – who happens to be his ex-girlfriend – to assist with a missing-person case.
“He doesn’t want to go for it,” explains Tchéky. “For him, it’s over – he wants to dedicate himself to his family, and help his daughter and son-in-law to raise their grandchild. But eventually [his wife] Celia realises that there is something missing for him. And Martha knows Baptiste has the skill to handle the case – but then there are some situations and twists that make their relationship become confused and complicated.”
The case involves helping Edward Stratton (The Night Manager’s Tom Hollander), who has been desperately hunting for his niece, Natalie Rose, in Amsterdam. Their search takes them right into the Dutch capital’s red-light district, and the investigation soon becomes much more consuming than Baptiste could ever have expected…
“What makes him obsessed is that the family ends up in real danger,” reveals Tchéky. “There’s an urgency in going for it – he really has to face possible risks to his life.”
While he knows that viewers loved his character in The Missing, Tchéky admits he was
THE CHARACTER REALLY HAS TO FACE POSSIBLE RISKS TO HIS LIFE”
nervous about Baptiste taking centre stage in his own series.
“I felt really stretched, to tell you the truth!” he shares. “I have to say, yes, it’s a new series, it’s a spin-off, but the DNA of The
Missing very much remains. We still experience the story through this man’s eyes – the audience goes on that journey with him. And I’m really proud of that.”