The Madame Blanc Mysteries, Series 4 – DVD Review
By Karl Hornsey
The small fictional village of Sainte Victoire in the South of France is fast becoming a murder hotspot to rival the likes of Saint Marie in Death in Paradise and, well, pretty much the whole of the county of Midsomer. This fourth series of the hugely popular Acorn Media production features another seven episodes of sun-filled amateur sleuthing, as well as building on the plot developments that brought series three to a satisfying conclusion.
Penned by Sally Lindsay and Sue Vincent, this series has become a staple of Channel 5’s light drama catalogue, and Lindsay herself has said she’s happy to continue writing more and more episodes as long as it’s desired. Which will be music to the ears of its many fans. Given its success, that seems highly likely and the release of series four as a standalone also comes with the release of a box set of series 1-4, which makes for even more bingeworthy entertainment.
“Feast for the eyes”
Lindsay herself plays the eponymous antiques dealer, whose relationship with local taxi driver Dom (Steve Edge) has been a mainstay of the series since the start, and which took great leaps forwards at the end of series three. This time, the series begins at Christmas, when Madame Blanc investigates the murder of a puppeteer in the Christmas market, and continues with plots including the filming of a TV antiques series in Sainte Victoire, the decapitation of a precious bronze statue and the discovery of a body in a dinghy out at sea.
Essentially, if you’ve been a fan from the off, then you’ll love everything about these latest episodes, with familiar members of the supporting cast, including Robin Askwith and Tony Robinson, returning, along with fresh guest stars such as Richard Blackwood, Graeme Hawley and Lorraine Burroughs. Visually, as much as anything else, this series is a feast for the eyes, even if the village in ‘France’ is actually filmed on the Maltese island of Gozo. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”, seems to be the motto, but as Lindsay can attest to, there’s greater depth to the Madame Blanc Mysteries than may at first become apparent. Everything may seem light and fluffy and sunny, but the complexity of each murder or disappearance, as with Midsomer Murders, is actually much more nuanced and clever than one might think, and it’s important that the characters are given time to develop and not become too one-dimensional. On both of these counts, Lindsay and Vincent, who also co-stars in the series, are becoming masters of their art, and the series shows little signs of its momentum ending any time soon.
‘The Madame Blanc Mysteries’, Series 4 is released on DVD by Acorn
