TV Series Witnesses - New French TV Series

[Pauline]

In the UK on Channel 4 a new French detective series has started. Witnesses is set in northern France (Normandy, Picardy and the city of Lille).

The Guardian, Witnesses recap: episode one – things could get a little weird, July 22 2015

The series is set in Le Treport, a coast town in northern Normandy on the border with Picardy. We visited this area in September 2012. In the series Le Treport looks atmospheric but dreary with ugly modern houses. From the article "It bodes ... rather less well for the tourist board of Le Tréport (new suggested slogan: “where the sun never shines”), which looks thoroughly dreary and unwelcoming throughout."

It was sunny and packed with people the day we visited.

Le Treport, a coast town in northern Normandy

Le Treport, a coast town in northern Normandy

Le Treport, a coast town in northern Normandy

The opening sequence looked familiar to me and when I went back over my photos from that trip, I found the town with the beach huts. It is further up the coast in Cayeux-sur-Mer, Picardy. We spent the day at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, an historic town on the river, near the sea. This town is popular with French tourists, with lots of restaurants, lovely areas to walk and a pretty historic center. After exploring the town we drove out to the seaside and saw those beach huts.

Beach huts at Cayeux-sur-Mer, Picardy, used in the opening sequence.

Beach huts at Cayeux-sur-Mer, Picardy, used in the opening sequence.

Photo from the TV showing the opening sequence.

Here is the Google Map showing the place where I took the photos, but the beach huts are not there: https://goo.gl/maps/PZQ3K

The funicular in Le Treport is featured in the TV series, but we did not see it when we were there. Looking on Google Maps it is behind the main street where we had lunch and it goes up to a modern housing development, not the interesting forested lane they use in the TV series.

A few years ago I had the same experience watching the UK TV series Broadchurch when I realized it was filmed in West Bay, Dorset, a place we had visited a few times.

 

[Chris]

I thought this sounded familiar, so I just went to Netflix to check -- I watched this series a few months ago. It was pretty good!

 

[Roz]

Chris, I can't find this on Netflix. Can you provide a link?

 

[Chris]

http://www.netflix.com/search/witnesses?jbv=80044906&jbp=0&jbr=0

This is streaming. I have no idea if disks are available. It's also available on Amazon Prime if you have that.

 

[Roz]

Thanks, Chris. I do have streaming, but it's strange that it didn't come up when I searched. I was on the DVD side, but usually if they have it on streaming, it will show up anyway.

When I was trying to find it by googling, I saw that the Mhz network, which used to make a lot of European TV shows available on public TV in the US, is going totally to a subscription model. That made me wonder if they had taken it off Netflix, but I'm glad to know it's still there. They did have a good assortment of videos, but I wouldn't pay $8 a month to get access.

 

[Pauline]

Here is a New York Times article about it. I think you had access to it in the US before we did here in the UK.
New York Times - Review: ‘Witnesses,’ Now Streaming, Unpeels an Eerie Mystery, By NEIL GENZLINGER MAY 11, 2015

It is six episodes and we have two more to go. It is a bit creepy.

 

[Roz]

Thanks, Chris and Pauline. We watched two episodes last night, and I think we are hooked. It is a little creepy, but that doesn't bother me as much as graphic violence, which so far isn't bad. I like the actress playing the lead.

The landscape in the region looked familiar because two years ago we visited Ault, which is not far from Tréport, along the same stretch of coast and cliffs. The only reason we went there was out of curiosity because we share a name with the town. There wasn't really much else to detain us.

 

[SusanSeattle]

Looks like a fun show. Just fyi, I couldn't find it on Amazon by searching for "Witnesses." It only appeared when I searched for "Witnesses Season 1"

 

[Roz]

If you are ever confused about what was going on after watching an episode, the link to the Guardian from Pauline's first post above will take you to a page where you can see a recap of each episode, as they are broadcast in the UK. One thing I learned there is that "avoir vu le loup" (to have seen the wolf) is French for a girl losing her virginity. I have no idea if there's supposed to be any relationship between that meaning and the wolf theme in the show, but it was an interesting bit of vocabulary.

 

[Pauline]

One thing I learned there is that "avoir vu le loup" (to have seen the wolf) is French for a girl losing her virginity. I have no idea if there's supposed to be any relationship between that meaning and the wolf theme in the show, but it was an interesting bit of vocabulary.

Interesting!! We have one more episode, next week.

 

[Pauline]

Season 2 of this series was on BBC recently. We’ve just started watching it.

 

[Pauline]

Season 2 was an odd one. I loved the scenes filmed in Mont St Michel, and the beach scenes in Normandy. But the plot was one of those very detailed, kind of not believeable, ones. Still, we watched it all and enjoyed it.