Continuing with last week’s French theme, two bits of news about Anglo-French (or Belgian French-language) collaborations:

1. New crime drama The Tunnel, inspired by the Swedish-Danish Bron/Broen (The Bridge), premieres on Sky Atlantic tomorrow,  Wednesday 16th October, at 9pm.

Introducing Elise and Karl…

Here’s the series blurb from the channel’s website:

>> The Tunnel is a gripping new thriller from the makers of Broadchurch, set against the backdrop of Europe in crisis.

When a prominent French politician is found dead at the mid point of the Channel Tunnel, on the border between the UK and France, detectives Karl Roebuck (Stephen Dillane) and Elise Wassermann (Clémence Poésy) are sent to investigate on behalf of their respective countries. The case takes a surreal turn when a shocking discovery is made at the crime scene, forcing the French and British police into an uneasy partnership.

As the serial killer uses ever more elaborate and ingenious methods to highlight the moral bankruptcy of modern society, Karl and Elise are drawn deeper into his increasingly personal agenda. <<

The 10-part series boasts an Anglo-French writing team, and is ‘the result of an entente cordiale with France’s CANAL+’. You can watch the first five minutes on the Sky Atlantic website here. Having had a peek, I think they’ve caught the tone of the original very well – gritty and atmospheric, but with a sharp sense of humour – and it looks like the dynamic between the Saga-like French cop and her rather more dour British counterpart is going to be good.

As I don’t happen to have access to the channel in question, I will be relying on UK viewers for some reviews…

2. Starting in November, Penguin Classics will be publishing all 75 of acclaimed Belgian writer Georges Simenon’s Inspector Maigret novels. They will appear in shiny new translations at the rate of one per month, with Pietr the Latvian first off the presses.

I’ve not read nearly enough Simenon, and have always felt a little guilty about this lack given the breadth of his work and its influence (his novels have been translated into over 50 languages and adapted into more than 90 films).

And how to resist writing like this (courtesy of a little booklet Penguin sent me)?

‘It was a ridiculous situation. The inspector knew there wasn’t one chance in ten that his surveillance would be of any use.

Yet he stuck it out – just because of a vague feeling that didn’t even deserve to be called an intuition. In fact it was a pet theory of his that he’d never worked out in full and remained vague in his mind… What he sought, what he waited and watched out for, was the crack in the wall. In other words, the instant when the human being comes out from behind the opponent.’