When the BBC entered into a new relationship with Agatha Christie Limited to produce new versions of the late author’s work, many wondered aloud what its rival, ITV, was going to do to fill the Golden Age-sizedhole the likes of Miss Marple and Poirot.
It filled it with a new, ongoing adaptation of Georges Simenon’s Maigret novels and hired Rowan Atkinson as the titular, Paris-based detective.
Now, only after four episodes, ITV has cancelled the show.
According to TV Wise:
A representative for the channel confirmed that they have “no current plans” for more Maigret. The news comes nearly six months after Maigret In Montmartre aired on ITV; managing a consolidated audience of close to six million viewers. For his part, Atkinson wont be hurting for work, he is currently committed to reprising his role as Johnny English in Johnny English Strikes Again, which is set to be released later this year.
It’s a shame because Atkinson was beginning to find his feet as Maigret and the stories were improving with each episode. But it’s au revoir to Atkinson and Maigret. But it’s still a case of plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose for ITV: what will fill the Golden Age-sized hole?
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Last year, ITV took the plunge and played out a feature-length Maigret on Christmas Day, which was a bit of a shocker actually. This year there’s another festive Maigret offering – the latest Rowan Atkinson-starring adaptation of Georges Simenon’s classics being Maigret Of Montmartre. It’s not going to Christmas Day this year, but it’s going to be pretty close. 
You know it’s holiday season in the UK when ITV wheels out another Maigret, this new adaptation quickly becoming synonymous with Christmas, Easter and all the rest. We’ve had two new Maigret films with Rowan Atkinson at the helm now, each one slowly and shakily better than the last. But still, in a modern age where the likes of Line Of Duty – on more or less at the same time on the other channel – tearing a new hole in the patchwork of crime drama, Maigret still feels like a stick-in-the-mud. Some may well argue Maigret is reassuringly Golden Age and familiar in its template, like putting on a favourite pair of slippers, and if you subscribe to that argument there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that – there’s room for all sorts of crime drama in its great panoply – I just wish there was more oomph to this adaptation. I’ve made this argument before, but there were signs in this feature-length episode of improvement.
Earlier this year, Rowan Atkinson made his debut as Georges Simenon’s classic, Golden Age(ish) French detective Jules Maigret. Eyebrows were raised when Atkinson was cast, chiefly because he’s obviously well known for his comedy acting, but Atkinson did a relatively good job in the new version. It was just that this new version wasn’t much of a revamp – it was just another straight-batted re-telling of oft-told stories. In fact, you could argue that it was too straight-batted – Atkinson’s Maigret was quiet, taciturn and sometimes difficult to engage with (exactly like the Maigret in the books, to be fair). Thankfully, Dead Man was better than Sets A Trap. 
We’ve had a bit of a rush of transmission confirmations in the past few days. In the lead-up to Christmas, channels have been publishing their final lay-downs for the festive period, which means seasonal specials aplenty. In among them are a few crime dramas. We’ve had details for Agatha Christie’s The Witness For The Prosecution confirmed by the BBC, and also Grantchester by ITV. Now the same network has confirmed when an episode of Maigret is going to go out; and it’s going to be right in the heart of the turkey-fest. 
Rowan Atkinson’s debut as Georges Simonen’s Maigret met with mixed reviews, but there wasn’t anything wrong with Atkinson himself in the part, which seemed to be the most talked-about aspect of the whole reboot. In the end it was a fairly faithful and reverential retelling of the Paris detective’s stories, and now we’re going to have more. 
The latest adaptation of Georges Simenon’s Maigret was a huge audience hit. Airing earlier this year, it snaffled a very impressive consolidated rating of 7.2m and a 28% share of the audience. Any big-name heritage age crime story is bound to get good numbers, but the real selling point was Rowan Atkinson’s casting as the glum detective. Although he was solid enough, he didn’t exactly light up the screen. The hope was that he would get another go and develop the character. That hope has now been realised. 
The Killing Times 