Every Rowan Atkinson Film & TV Project Ranked From Worst To Best

An unusually serious dramatic role for Atkinson, the ITV detective series based on the works of French author Georges Simenon had some respectable viewing figures, but was cancelled in 2018 after only four instalments.

Atkinson explained his departure from comedic work, noting he was a huge fan of the books, based in 1950s Paris, so found the opportunity very hard to turn down.

To be fair to the lead, he absolutely nails it, with his version of Jules Maigret comparing favourably with previous adaptations from acting luminaries such as Michael Gambon. He is blessed with a kind of facial expressiveness which, whilst traditionally used in the pursuit of comedy, also works just as well for the suave, intellectual, Euro detective kind of role.

Essentially television movies in their own right, the 90 minute run times would allow some complex plots the time to breathe, including multi-layered serial killer investigations, and the uncovering of mysterious identities.

The lack of longevity in the show was not helped by very large gaps between releases, with just a springtime and Christmas edition released in both 2016 and 2017. This has left countless, already written Maigret stories unexplored in this format, and it looks increasingly unlikely the series will ever be picked back up.