Do you know who wrote The Madame Blanc Mysteries, on Acorn TV and Channel 5?
It may surprise you to know it was created by two very familiar faces.
Two of the show’s penned The Madam Blanc Mysteries!
Here’s who they are and how it came about.
Who creates and writes The Madam Blanc Mysteries?
Sally Lindsay, who stars as Jean in the show, came up with the concept for The Madame Blanc Mystery series while behind the scenes on Still Open All Hours.
She says: “Me and Johnny Vegas set up an office to work in at Pinewood Studios. I came up with The Madame Blanc Mysteries while waiting for my scenes!”
Sally was also inspired by the bigamy storyline she was involved with in Coronation Street, which she’d always wanted to explore further.
“I did a bigamy storyline on Coronation Street and was fascinated by it, the idea that all of a sudden everything you thought was real just isn’t.
“I’ve always been fascinated by that concept, but had never really explored it since then.”
She also wondered if she could channel her love of antiques into the project.
She created Jean White, a widowed antiques dealer who travels to the French village of Sainte Victoire to sort out her husband’s affairs.
Who co-writes the show with Sally Lindsay?
Once Sally and the production company got the green light for the series from Channel 5, she enlisted writing partner Sue Vincent to co-write the scripts together.
Sally says “I called my writing partner Sue, after it had been given the nod, and we got the first script together when I was still on holiday!
“We have a very different system of writing; it’s based on us performing every line before we commit to it. It’s a bit crazy but it works for us.”
Sue Vincent also stars in the show as Gloria Beauchamp.
“When Sally told me the idea for the show, it was complete, utter, instant love!” says Sue.
“I wrote the first 20 pages straight away – we had such a vision of the world we wanted to create. It was the biggest blessing to be able to write such a bright, warm show during extraordinary times [lockdown].”
Sue and Sally have also written the second season of The Madame Blanc Mysteries, which will begin later this year.
Sally Lindsay shares the inspiration for the show…
Sally Lindsay is full of admiration for her character, explaining: “Jean’s not a flamboyant, Sherlock-type character, but she’s a down-to-earth woman who is just as clever!
“She is exceedingly confident in her knowledge of antiques and she sees things other people don’t see.”
The sunny setting was inspired by Sally’s days filming another show, Cold Call: “I remember sitting in my caravan in rainy Manchester filming Cold Call thinking it would be nice to be somewhere sunnier, and that was a big influence on where The Madame Blanc Mysteries would be set.”
Sally also shares that she wanted an easy, cosy crime. “I want the show to be an hour of TV that lets you make a cup of tea and escape.
“I hope you love all the people there, you love the world, and there’s sunshine too!”
The Madame Blanc Mysteries will return this December with a Christmas special on Channel 5.
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