Maigret (1960 TV series)

Lore & Background

The series was written by ten writers, with Giles Cooper contributing nineteen episodes and Roger East twelve. Sixteen directors shared duties, with Gerard Glaister and Terence Williams each directing eight episodes. Each episode was shot in black-and-white, lasted 50 minutes, and was intended for broadcast without commercial breaks. Exteriors were filmed on location in London and other UK locations, while interior sets were designed by Eileen Diss, who sourced French items for authenticity. Theme music by Ron Grainer won an Ivor Novello award. Rupert Davies won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 1962, and Eileen Diss was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Design in 1963.

Reader's Guide

The series remains a significant adaptation of Simenon's work, largely faithful to the storylines of the books, though it featured only three of Maigret's team of detectives, omitting Janvier. Rupert Davies's portrayal was enthusiastically approved by Simenon, who said, 'At last, I have found the perfect Maigret!' Davies met Simenon in Lausanne before taking the role. The series has survived intact in the BBC archives, apart from the pilot, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2021. In 2022, it was broadcast by UK television channel Talking Pictures TV and is periodically repeated. Davies reprised the role in introductions to episodes of the 1964 crime anthology series Detective, and in a 1969 feature-length movie, Maigret at Bay, part of BBC Play of the Month.

Did You Know?

• All 52 episodes (bar the pilot) have survived intact and are available on DVD and Blu-ray.
• Ewen Solon broke his leg in a stunt while jumping from a wall, forcing script rewrites.