French exchange
Endeavour’s Roger Allam is solving crimes again – but he’s swapped grey old Oxford for sun-soaked Provence
Bsetting.
ased on the Verlaque And Bonnet series of detective novels by ML Longworth, this three-part drama is sure to please with its gripping plots and spectacular
Roger Allam plays Antoine Verlaque, a debonair investigating judge who enjoys wine, food and art when he isn’t cracking cases. Along with his criminal psychology professor girlfriend, Marine Bonnet (Nancy Carroll), and Deputy Police Commissioner Hélène Paulik (The Greatest Showman’s Keala Settle), Antoine helps investigate suspicious deaths, beginning in the first episode with a murder at a university. It’s a crime that opens up a web of mysteries.
Here, Roger tells us about his new role and saying goodbye to Endeavour…
What was it about Murder In Provence that most appealed to you?
The screenwriter, Shelagh [Stephenson], is one of my oldest friends and she told me all about her plans for the
MURDER IN PROVENCE Sunday, 8pm, STV
show early on. She said she wanted to create something that was witty and amusing, as well as dealing with serious crimes. That really appealed to me and also, of course, the idea of going to Provence.
Your character loves good food and wine, so did you get to try a lot of French food while filming?
Well, the last thing you should do as an actor is to actually eat anything while filming because you’re stuffed a few takes in and the wine is some sort of diluted prune juice. But I have quite a lot of food preparation to do during scenes, so you’ll see me shucking the odd oyster and chopping vegetables, things like that. I couldn’t actually cook as Antoine, the kitchen on set in his house just wasn’t practical and I might have burned something!
What sort of man is Antoine?
He’s a man who is very serious about his job and he’s very
proud of being an investigating judge in the French system, it’s a great passion for him. He’s had something of a tragic past, so he has been very guarded about relationships up until now, but he and Marine have found each other – two older people who have had problems in the past.
They’re hesitant about moving in with each other or getting married but they’ve found a way of being together that’s perfect for them and isn’t suffocating, it just works.
You’re now filming the final season of Endeavour [Roger plays DCI Fred Thursday in the series]. Do you feel sad to say goodbye?
I’ve never done any job as long as Endeavour. I only agreed to do it for two years but I’ve stayed longer because there have always been great reasons to do it and it has been great developing one character over a long period of time. I’ll be very sad to say goodbye to Endeavour and that family – I’ve worked with Shaun [Evans] so closely and Anton Lesser, who I’ve known for years. But it’s right that it should end, it can’t go on forever and it will hopefully free up time to do other things.