Well, after a bit of investigation, I've tracked down what's happening with season three of Engrenages (Spiral), which has just finished its BBC4 run.
So season three is going to be 12 episodes long and it's been shot in and around Paris (particularly the 19th arrondissement, and inside the Palais de Justice and the Hôtel Dieu) in two blocks: 25th June to the 2nd October this year was the first block, with the second block running from 12th October to the 29th January next year.
As for the plot, it's going to "delve into the deranged mind" of a serial killer, the Butcher of Villette, who kills and mutilates young girls. The show will look at the difficulty of dealing with a high-profile media crime, where even the slightest mistake can have terrible consequences (I'm translating here, in case you couldn't guess).
Interestingly, the BBC is assisting with the show, at least financially, so that should mean BBC4 should be picking up the third season at some point. As for who's coming back from the cast, we have Caroline Proust (Laure), Audrey Fleurot (Karlsson), Grégory Fitoussi (Clement), Philippe Duclos (Roban), Thierry Godard (Gilou) and Fred Bianconi (Fromentin), at least. No word on Samy, I'm afraid.
I've dropped a line to the Beeb about air dates and whether they're going to show it and I'll let you know if/when they get back to me.
Related entries
- February 25, 2010: Some Engrenages/Spiral season three news, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage
Some interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of Engrenages
November 11, 2009 | Reply
La Villette was, appropriately enough, the site of Paris's abbatoirs in times past, and is now the location of a rather good Science museum. I saw that article too on the Canal+ website, mainly because I finally got round to finding out what that mysterious "avec la participation de JIMMY" meant in the credits. Apparently JIMMY ( www.jimmy.fr ) is a French cable channel, sort of somewhere between Alibi and FX - they have Dexter, Spooks, Prime Suspect ("Suspect numéro 1") and Inspector Lynley ("Meurtres a l'anglaise").
November 11, 2009 | Reply
It would certainly good if your spoiler character was also coming back, but I can understand the difficulties with that. Still, either way it's nice to think we'll have this on the Beeb at some point. Hurrah for Spiral!
November 11, 2009 | Reply
This is great news Rob. I really hope they can keep the quality over a longer series. I'll be counting down the days really now!
November 12, 2009 | Reply
Still nothing from the Beeb, but I'm guessing a 2011 slot or Autumn 2010 at a push.
November 12, 2009 | Reply
Definitely worth waiting for... not sure if character x (you know who I mean) will return from series 1. Probably not... but... that would be good!