|
|
|
The Madame Blanc Mysteries: Series 1
R2 - United Kingdom - Acorn Media Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (26th January 2022). |
|
The Show
 After her husband Rory (The Tudors' Peter Gaynor) dies in a strange crash during one of his buying trips to French antiques haven Sainte-Victoire, London antiques dealer Jean White (Scott & Bailey's Sally Lindsay) discovers that all of their business assets are owed to creditors and the only things left of value are a cottage they bought years ago in the village and a Burmese Blood Ruby ring that was not found among his personal effects. Jean travels to Saint-Victoire and begins to suspect that her husband's death was no accident when it turns out that another rarely-seen woman mistaken by the locals for Rory's wife has trafficked forgeries – including a Rolex watch purchased by local head of police Andre Caron (Hampstead's Alex Gaumond) – but may have murdered her husband when he chose Jean over her. Local handyman/ridesharing driver Dominic Hayes (Starlings' Steve Edge) seems to be the only one who believes her suspicions until she discovers the unusual murder weapon; however, by that time, Rory's "other woman" is fully aware of her deductions and puts Jean in her crosshairs when her antiques and keen eye for forgeries lands her a consultant job with Caron since Saint-Victoire has an inordinate amount of art and antique-related crimes. Case include an old woman (Vicious Circles' Natasha Cashman) whose birthright may be a treasure horde hidden by her mother during the Nazi occupation, a priceless broach that disappears after its wearer (Janet Behan) is murdered at an anniversary party, an aged arts collector viciously attacked by the robbers of a painting by surrealist precursor Hilma Af Klimt, an old priest (In Bruges' Eric Godon) murdered and a holy relic stolen, and a final (or is it?) showdown with "the other woman." The collection of odd locals who have their own skeletons in the closet include wealthy (and tacky) expatriate British aristocrats Jeremy and Judith Lloyd James (Tower of Evil's Robin Askwith and Only Fools and Horses' Sue Holderness), Judith's long-suffering social secretary Adele (Enduring Love's Félicité Du Jeu), pub owner Niall (Aonghus Weber) and his former Eurovision song contest winner wife Celine (Margeaux Lampley), brash mechanic Gloria (Sue Vincent) and her trouble-attracting teenage son Xavier (Narayan David Hecter), Dominic's moody teenage daughter Claudette (Alaïs Lawson), cheery-yet-condescending real estate agent Barbara (Love & Rage's Olivia Caffrey), and bickering high end pawn shop dealing couple Charlie and Simone (Sanchia McCormack and Djinda Kane). Lauded by The Telegraph as "Midsomer with a Eurostar ticket…", The Madame Blanc Mysteries – created, co-written, and executive produced by star Lindsay and co-star Vincent – is barely that in Acorn Media's attempted facsimile of the genteel British (or South of France) village mystery. The cases long on setup and interpersonal drama with little actual time spend on investigation and less in the way of suspense – even the ongoing mystery of Rory's other woman feels more like a reminder of continuity between episodes rather than an actual plot thread – and in network TV land it would be very unlikely that the open ending would be followed up with a second series, but "who knows" when it comes to Acorn's streaming demographic for light mystery and even lighter comedy. The other woman's identity is easily guessed as soon as she enters the frame, so her master criminal antics are sillier than clever, and Jean never seems to be actually imperiled by her even at gunpoint. Characters are largely unmemorable – even less so the episode-specific victims and suspects – unless they are in your face with their eccentricities, and only Lindsay, Edge, and Vincent make much of an impression while Askwith and Holderness seem like they occasionally sticking their heads in while otherwise on holiday. With a little actual humor and charm, the show could have been something along the harmless if pleasant lines of Agatha Raisin or Mr. and Mrs. Murder, but its ultimately just streaming filler with the buzzwords of British mystery and South of France to get noticed.
Video
Six episodes totalling four-and-a-half hours - plus another forty-nine minutes of extras - are split between two dual-layer discs, and the bright, sunny, warm, and saturated HD video image is adequately-encoded and probably looks better with HDR.
Audio
A Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack is all that is included with dialogue and occasional foley effects front-oriented while atmosphere is sparse and only the scoring and source music gets much spread. English HoH subtiles are are included and only make one noticeable blunder.
Extras
Extras include the longer-than-usual "From Script to Screen" (47:23) behind the scenes piece in which Lindsay emphasizes that the show is "not a gritty drama" while Edge calls it a "crime drama with heart" and a couple of the participants inlcluding Lindsay acknowledge the show's debt to the eighties Ian McShane comic thriller series Lovejoy. A photo gallery (1:27) is also included.
Overall
With a little actual humor and charm, The Madame Blanc Mysteries could have been harmless if pleasant, but its ultimately just streaming filler.
|
|||||
|