frenchaucoeur

Has anyone watched any of this new Britbox series, based on the Antoine Verlaque murder mysteries? We caught the first episode last night and were pleasantly surprised.

We started watching with very low expectations but in fact wound up rather enjoying the show. No one will mistake it for great art, but the leads, the reliable Roger Allam, Nancy Carroll, and Patricia Hodge, were all fun, the dialogue occasionally clever even if no one really talks that way, and the settings, Aix and Cassis, not surprisingly, beautiful. Some of the reviews I've seen focus on the accents and worry that Provence has been invaded by Brits (obvious jokes aside), but that didn't bother us. The supporting cast was adequate, the plot was perhaps not Christie but okay, and the overall lightness and lack of blood and guts very welcome. I spent a lot of time playing Name That Street in the Quartier Mazarin.

If you need a diversion from the horror du jour, you could do worse

Britbox offers a free seven-day trial, so you can even watch for free and then cancel if you wish. A lot of the content overlaps with Acorn (e.g., Midsomer Murders) but not all.