Well said@sydmccreath4554

Madame Maigret cooked chicken for her husband. She was terribly middle class in an English way.

And in the books its obvious he loved and valued her as well.

A miracle indeed!!

Well, there was a 1959 pilot episode apparently that is now lost, but the core series of 52 episodes is preserved. That, for a BBC series is still utterly incredible.

@@PitchSkullBlack - True, although I'm not all that bothered about the missing pilot - it doesn't have Rupert Davies!

Greed, unfair,unforgivable

I miss them so much 😢😢

Very well said. And the second "bait" was an Inspector Maigret (as Simenon repeatedly said to RUPERT DAVIES: "you do not only play Maigret, you ARE Maigret", which speaks for itself), who would lead the path to what Simenon wanted to draw his readers' and viewers' attention to: the complex fabric of human destinies. Whenever film producers (or directors) came to choose an actor for the role of Maigret who used to kind of 'dominate' the film set and to play his role as leading personality, the whole project was doomed to failure. There were lots of 'movie icons' who just ruined everything pure and simple: Jean Gabin played Jean Gabin (three movies) and that was it. Humourless Jean Richard in his own TV series didn't do any better. Maigret's sense of humour is a literary means applied by Simenon to let co-actors and colleagues "breathe" and develop their share of personality in the whole plot. On the other hand, Forshaw mentions the "Mr. Bean" - Maigret series, where we have a "Maigret" that sadly walks right into all traps you could possibly think of. I can't remember one second in that unfortunate series when the egocentric "Mr Bean" (Rowan Atkinson I guess was too much attached to the role of his former great success) actually DID get anything right without turning even the smallest cut into a disaster. Thank God it's vanished from TV screens now. Long live RUPERT DAVIES in the role of Maigret. He is immortal. So, Rupert Davies the incomparable Maigret without serious competitors? Not quite, I'd say. Let me put it that way: supporters of Simenon and his 'Balzac' style will also remember Gino Cervi in the 1960's successful Italian version of Maigret, a true Maigret miles away from his great appearance as Peppone in 'Don Camillo and Peppone'. Rupert Davies couldn't put him to shade.

@@monoecumsemper Gratias ago pro verbis tuae! So true about that second bait I dare to call it Maigret the catalyst. It is a pity and a shame to think that the only way so many people could have theirs history told aright - bits and pieces glued togheter in the whole of a picture - is to have Inspector Maigret on theirs tail. He is secular, not religious; relentless as a inquisitor, but not as cold and cruel; and even if he cannot possibly impose absolution of sins upon confession, he never takes anyone´s hope away. Gosh, I feel we sorely need more of those guys these days. Now it is my turn: I feel myself quite embarassed in having to confess that I hardly saw another cinematographical Maigret but that of Bruno Cremmer´s french acting subtitled into broken portuguese I happened to have bought a couple of years ago. Best wishes!

Very well sad

Congratulations on your command of French.

I found Rowan Atkinson surprisingly good and very convincing. Try his potrayal

I too watched the Maigret series with my parents back in the early 60s. While Michael Gambon and others played the character well, Rupert Davies set the Bar.

Snap!

Amen to that. It was a weekly viewing highlight in the mid sixties.

It's not real sir, just television, we all know that he's still alive.

The Italian actor Gino Servi was, as I recall, even larger

@@ausbrum Cervi

I agree

Loved Cremer too.

Jean Richard for TV and Jean Gabin for cinema were great in the part too.

Ewen Solon who played one of the team was a NZ actor, Ron Grainer, an Australian, wrote the theme music

His appearance towards the end of his life suggested that he may have had alcohol dependency issues, which is sad. He was made for this role, and he lent Maigret a patient humanity that was largely missing in the performances of both Atkinson and Gambon, as good as they were.

Why did people of that era always look 10+ years older than they really were?

@@sandraelder1101 Or maybe they had it right, and it's simply that we look ten years _younger_ than we are? Fashions that oldsters like me wear today, such as T-shirts and jeans, would pretty much have been the preserve of the young in the sixties. When you got older, you were supposed to look the part. Now, we desperately hang on to any vestige we can of what Shakespeare called our 'lusty days', even if our aches and pains remind us that, sadly, we're just kidding ourselves.

@@sandraelder1101 as I have read elsewhere: RDavies for e.g. had a few years in a POW/ war-prisioner-camp. When this series was filmed, WW II had ended less than 15 yrs earlier. - The harrowing war-time experience and hardships can be attributed to a more mature/worn demeanour. Deprivations leave their traces in faces & bodies. Plus: People wore 'grown up' clothing, instead of the current inistance of wearing 'short trousers' fore-evahh ...no matter what. Adding to a more age-appropriate look. Saluti -

I have read a lot of Maigret and never realized this point, even though it’s exactly why I like the books. I’d add that this approach also allows him (us) to explore more people and places, which also keeps it interesting. Thanks!

It keeps from becoming a television serial format by changing up so that one never knows what to expect!

@Syd McCreath 'The Avengers' liebe ich heute noch, besonders Emma Peel! Mein Vater konnte mit dem engl. Humor nichts anfangen.

5 was very young to be watching murders. 😱

I was 4 in 1962 and though I don't remember the stories themselves I have a vivid memory of Rupert Davis striking the match on the wall.

@@ellenthorne8222 It was the highlight of Monday night viewing.

They always lost me after the striking match. I kept waiting for this Margaret character to turn up whose name they did not spell properly.

@@Sootaroot😂😂, I must admit I have to hear names several times or more because how the names are pronounced but spelled differently

Barry is a gem

Hmm. My parents didn’t allow my older brother and me to watch these shows… we were packed off to bed… of course we would creep downstairs and here the music which we found enchantingly mysterious.

And with any luck, gentle sleep will soon follow.

@@Sootaroot Thank you for your kimndness. I did. Thank you so much. ❤️😘

Me too in dublin

@@jamessmith530 glad to hear it. I was all the way up North, in Derry.

Big smile! 😊

😀

I was six and I only saw the start. It was my bedtime. Now, I can watch them. 😀

with sadly no original copy surviving, the complete series of 52 early copies have been rescued from being lost for ever...: to put the crucial question, are you happy about the quality of the set they released on bluray?? If you ask me, network didn't exactly overspend on top quality digital remastering, which, as needs to be said to their credit, they frankly admit in the accompanying book....

I loved it and so wanted more episodes!

Yes. I didn’t like him but when I saw him portray Maigret my opinion changed. He was great.

I agree. It was an original take and had powerful storylines. The series suffered from people who couldn't unsee Atkinson as Blackadder and Mr Bean.

@@fredneecher1746 Mr. Bean absolutely DREADFUL.

I liked him in Black Adder. He was at his best then He later had a police officer roleI think if memory serves me at all, it was called The Thin Blue Line. But I could be wrong. After I watched a few episodes I lost my desire to watch him in anything more.

Off to look for Welsh versions. Diolch.

How wonderful ! I recently was able to pick up a volume in french to assist me in learning the language. If you ever tire of storing yours, let me know...I'm jealous ! (Only 20 years to master the language, before I'm dead!)

the audio books/dramas are pretty good too

Why did the BBC never repeat them?

@@Sootaroot I don't know why they were never repeated the B.B.C wouldn't say.

@@Sootaroot Possibly copyright problems. Additionally, I have just found this on the Wikipedia note on the series: Simenon's wife, who managed his affairs, had put into the BBC contract that the series could only be shown once and the films must then be destroyed. Simenon was aghast when he heard of this but it was too late to change the contract. The series was long considered lost, although the British Film Institute held copies, and a few individual episodes have circulated on DVD.

@@BackwardFinesse I heard something around this but Simenon himself was very shrewd, I'd assumed it was he who'd played for further royalties off additional screenings, I never heard that they were supposed to be destroyed, indeed its obvious they weren't because they were sold to Germany and shown in other commonwealth countries, and weren't 4 repeated specially on the Beeb as well?

Well done!

I totally agree. Great job.

@@john-paulderosa7217 I usually find introductions tacked onto uploads tiresome. Not this time! The info added by Barry Forshaw is so interesting!

You're welcome Roger, glad to hear that you enjoyed it

Helene Shinger

please check the Bruno Cremer version too!

For me, Rowan Atkinson is too dark. Michael Gambon is better but Rupert Davies takes the gold medal.

Yes Gambon's portrayal puts across Maigret's humanity.

Glad you enjoyed it

Gambon is Maigret for me & I saw them all

I'm always shocked whwn people talk about Maigret TV series and don't even mention Bruno Cremer. He puts everyone else who's ever played Maigret firmly in second place or worse. Even without Cremer, Gambon is terrible. He plays Maigret as a buffoon. If you've ever read Simenon, there was one thing that Maigret never was- a buffoon.

@@swerne01 interesting take on it, I took it that what he did was give a great impression of someone who isn't thinking very deeply on the surface - perhaps portraying himself like that to put others off guard. As a young teen it was my introduction to Simenon and I eagerly awaited it each week.

@@mattgibbs73 That's interesting also. I'm curious to know if you've ever read any of the original Simenon stories

@@swerne01 certainly, since then I've acquired all the green Maigret penguins, plus a lot of the crine noir novels, 60 odd of the new translations and around 60 odd first editions. I particularly like The Stain on the Snow and Cecile is Dead amongst many others. Cheers 😉

You’re welcome 😊

I liked Michael Gambon too. I also love the audio books read by Gareth Armstrong.

@@jenniferpierno6108 : Greetings from Bucharest....Still, I prefer the movie instead of audiobook....☺👍👏

Did you see Michael Gambon in The Singing Detective? It was wonderful.

Likewise.However, if you are patient enough join Talking Pictures, it's free and the Rupert Davies episodes currently appear on Saturday evenings at 8 O'clock. There are also a number of back editions on 'encore' on the same channel.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Hammett, Cain, Chandler.

@@Cryptonymicus And many other just as great so-called pulp fiction writers, most of whom survived on pennies per written page.

Thank you!!

@@Mutasis_Mutandis My pleasure! Kind regards!

Those happy days when there was only 405 line tv and one channel.

I was always fascinated by Lucas's hat. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else wear a hat quite like that. :-)))

Unfortunately Rowan Atkins never got his career back on track after people kept confusing him with that gormless fellow who played Mister Bean.

Agreed

What a liberty. I would like to be the first to say you were left holding the baby, but I bet I'm not.

How are you finding it?

@@NetworkDistributing it’s Sky channel 328

@@NetworkDistributing it’s excellent quality too and has subtitles