Maigret star on whether Rowan Atkinson ITV drama will return

The ITV adaptation of the detective series aired between 2016 and 2017 and was based on the famous detective novels by Belgian author Georges Simenon.

Rowan Atkinson took on the title role of French police detective Chief Inspector Jules Maigret, with Lucy Cohu starring as his wife, Madame Maigret.

The cast also included Doctor Who actor Shaun Dingwall as Inspector Janvier and Leo Staar as Inspector Lapointe, two of Maigret’s trusted colleagues.

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Running for four feature-length episodes, the programme was praised for its performances and atmospheric recreation of 1950s Paris.

Now, a decade after the Maigret adaption’s debut, one of its main stars has answered the question of whether it will ever return to ITV.

Shaun Dingwall spoke to the Oxford Mail last week ahead of appearing at at BFI Southbank’s special Doctor Who: 20 Years On – The Tenth Doctor on Saturday (August 15).

Talking about Maigret, the 56-year-old said: “I’m not convinced that will ever come back.

“I would love it to, as I thought it was a fantastic remake, I really did. Netflix have done one recently, but I haven’t seen it.

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“So the question is whether it will come back with Rowan or not, and I can’t speak for Rowan obviously, but I think that’s done.

“I would love for it not to be done, but maybe that’s another thing that needs a big break, but by that point I don’t know, as I’ll probably be too old to play Janvier and we’ll all be too old to play those characters, so it’ll probably be a recast.

“It’s a shame it ended, and we never know the reasons for these things a lot of the time, but it does stand the test of time as well.

“I’ve watched a bit of it recently, and the setting and the costumes are really extraordinary.

“And this is before the heavy use of CGI as well, but you are still completely transported because we filmed it all in Budapest, which is also another reason why I’d love to do it again because that’s just such a great place.”