French television series
Spiral (French: Engrenages, lit. 'Gears', pronounced [ɑ̃ɡʁəˈnaʒ]) is a French television police procedural and legal drama series following the work and the private lives of Paris police officers and lawyers and judges at the Palais de Justice, Paris. It was created by Alexandra Clert for the TV production company Son et Lumière. The first series of eight episodes started broadcast on Canal+ in France in December 2005.[1]
The first series was shown in the UK on BBC Four during the summer of 2006. It was the channel's first French language drama series, attracting firm critical approval and a loyal audience of around 200,000. The second series, also eight episodes, was broadcast in France starting in May 2008, and in the UK on BBC Four starting in September 2009.[2] The third series consisted of 12 episodes and was shown from April 2011. The fourth series was broadcast in February 2013.[3][4][5] The fifth was broadcast in France in late 2014 and in the UK on BBC Four from January 2015. The sixth series was broadcast in 2017. The seventh series was broadcast in France in February 2019.[6] Series four, five, six, and seven each consisted of 12 episodes.[7][8]
The eighth and final series of ten episodes was broadcast on BBC Four in the UK during January 2021.
Spiral has been an export success, with sales to broadcasters in more than 70 countries including Australia, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain and the United Kingdom. In Australia, the first series was broadcast in 2008 on SBS One, the second series on SBS Two from September 2009 and the third series on SBS Two from mid-2012. Spiral debuted in North America via Netflix in September 2012,[9] but is no longer available on the service.
Spiral has received wide-ranging critical acclaim throughout its run, and has been nominated for and won several awards.
Title
The original French title is Engrenages. This word carries various meanings in French. Although it literally translates as either "gears" or "gearing", it is also used in various idioms and the official translation of the title picks up the phrase "a spiral of violence" (un engrenage de violence), though it also carries overtones of "getting caught up in the works" (mettre un doigt dans l'engrenage), "getting some grit in the works" (un grain de sable dans l'engrenage) and even "the cycle of drug abuse" (l'engrenage de la drogue), or "gearing" in the sense of "intensification".[10]
Premise
Series 1 (2005–2006)
The body of a young Romanian woman is discovered on a Parisian rubbish dump, her face eradicated. As her identity and past life are gradually revealed by the investigating French justice system, it becomes apparent that her story ties to a network of corruption that may touch the people uncovering the truth about her. In the United Kingdom, series 1 was broadcast on BBC Four during May and June 2006, and repeated on BBC Four in 2009 in the lead-up to the broadcast of series 2.[11]
Series 2 (2008)
The story begins with a man burnt to death in the boot of a car on a housing estate.
Series 3 (2010)
When the mutilated body of a young woman is found on a disused railway track in the North of Paris, near La Villette, Captain Laure Berthaud takes the opportunity to restore her image after her involvement in the death of Mustapha Larbi. She quickly thinks the murderer could be a serial killer, and her intuition is confirmed a few days later by the disappearance of a second young woman with the same physical appearance in the same neighbourhood. Time is running out to avoid new victims but the investigation goes badly: Berthaud and her men make mistakes, losing the confidence of their hierarchy, whilst newspaper articles on the so-called "Butcher of la Villette" increase. Moreover, the prestigious Criminal Brigade, led by Commissioner Vincent Brémont, Berthaud's former supervisor when she was a young police intern, now wants to get back the case.
In the meantime at the Palais de Justice, while investigating an ordinary case of a child attacked by a dog in the wealthy suburb of Villedieu, Judge Roban discovers that the mayor might be involved in a bribery scandal. Prosecutor Machard immediately asks Pierre Clément to use his friendship with the judge to spy on him discreetly, in order to prevent a political scandal: the mayor of Villedieu is a personal friend of the President of France. Upon Clément's refusal, Machard is determined to get rid of this uncooperative subordinate. Meanwhile, Joséphine Karlsson and Szabo continue with their shady transactions.
Series 4 (2012)
Police Captain Laure Berthaud and her lieutenants, Gilou and Tintin, investigate when, after his homemade bomb accidentally went off, a mortally wounded student is dumped by his accomplices in a Paris wood. Lawyer Joséphine Karlsson is getting herself into dangerous waters defending undocumented immigrants; her colleague, Pierre Clément, surprisingly finds himself representing crime boss, Johnny Jorkal; while Judge Roban returns to the Palais de Justice, sidelined and on the warpath.
As the story unfolds to reveal a group of extremists intent on waging a war against the Parisian Gendarmerie and a dangerous arms trafficking operation, the police and the lawyers begin to turn on each other. Tintin is slightly grazed in the head by a bullet during a raid, is in a coma for a short period and later suffers from PTSD. Roban releases a man accused of rape because Roban believes the man was the victim of a plot to falsely accuse him; one alleged victim of the rapist commits suicide as a result of the release.
Series 4, consisting of 12 episodes, was shot between 22 August and 9 December 2011 and between January and April 2012. It was broadcast in France on Canal+ from 3 September to 8 October 2012. BBC Four screened the series, subtitled "State of Terror," in its Saturday primetime foreign language drama slot from 9 February 2013 with two hour-long episodes a week, broadcast one after the other on Saturday nights.[12]
Series 5 (2014)
The filming of Season 5 of "Spiral" began on 2 December 2013, and lasted about eight months, producing twelve 52-minute episodes.[13] The series was premièred on Canal+ in France on 10 November 2014, with two episodes shown each evening, though those with a subscription to the on-demand service had access to all twelve episodes at once.[14]
Series 5 began airing on BBC Four in the UK on 10 January 2015.[7] The final two episodes were broadcast on 14 February 2015.[15]
Series 6 (2017)
The series was filmed from May to December 2016[16][17] and was broadcast in France on Canal+ from 18 September 2017[18] and in the UK on BBC Four from 30 December 2017 to 3 February 2018.[19][20]
Series 7 (2019)
Filming the twelve episodes began in January 2018 directed by Frédéric Jardin (episodes 1–6) and Jean-Philippe Amar (episodes 7–12). A double homicide in a Chinese restaurant in the 13th arrondissement leads to a wider story of money-laundering networks and governmental corruption. Broadcast commenced in France on 4 February 2019 on Canal+,[21] and in the UK on 12 October 2019 on BBC Four.[22]
Series 8 (2021)
This series has ten episodes. The examining magistrate Roban (Philippe Duclos) has retired. Lucie Bourdieu (Clara Bonnet) is less experienced and has strained relations with the police. Ali (Tewfik Jallab) takes a regular role. Scenes are set in the new Paris courts in the Batignolles district. Broadcast on BBC Four began in the UK on 2 January 2021.
Reception and accolades
Spiral has received wide-ranging critical acclaim throughout its run, and has been nominated for and won several awards. It was nominated at the Globes de Cristal Awards four times, winning once. It was also nominated for Best Drama at the BAFTA Awards, and it won the 2015 International Emmy Award for Best Series.[citation needed]
| Year
|
Awards
|
Category
|
Recipient
|
Result
|
| 2007
|
Globes de Cristal Award
|
Best TV Movie / TV Series
|
Alexandra Clert & Guy-Patrick Sainderichin
|
Nominated
|
| 2015
|
International Emmy Awards
|
Best Drama Series
|
Engrenages (Spiral)
|
Won
|
