The Madame Blanc Mysteries is set in the south of France but you may be surprised by where the show is filmed.
It’s certainly not France! So, where are the show’s filming locations? And is Sainte Victoire a real place?
Here’s all you’ll want to know…
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Is Saint Victoire a real place?
The Madame Blanc Mysteries is set in the fictional village of Sainte Victoire.
While Montagne Sainte Victoire is a limestone mountain ridge in the south of France extending over 18 kilometres, no real Sainte Victoire village exists.
Real villages such as Vauvenargues provide inspiration for the show’s setting.
Sally Lindsay, who stars in and created the show, says: “I remember sitting in my caravan in rainy Manchester filming Cold Call thinking it would be nice to somewhere sunnier.
“That was a big influence on where The Madame Blanc Mysteries would be set!”
Where is The Madame Blanc Mysteries filmed?
Although mainly set in France the series was actually filmed on the islands of Malta and Gozo.
Sally admits she was initially sceptical about filming on Malta: “We were going to film in France, but it proved so complicated to do that.
“Channel 5 suggested Gozo, but I wasn’t really sure… I’d been to Malta a couple of years ago when my father was passing because it was on his bucket list, and the bit we went to looked more like Spain than the South of France.
“We got the ferry to Gozo, but it was unbelievable – literally just a tiny drive in and it was like we were in the South of France. Even our French actors thought it looked like France!
Producer Andy Morgan shares this about turning Malta into the South of France: “I was always confident that we could create Sainte Victoire on Gozo. Once I set foot in the square there, it just felt absolutely right.
“We had our church, our police station and our pub – create some shop signs, dot some French cars around and you’re there if you use clever framing.
“When shooting we would close the square so that we could drive cars on the other side of the road, and simple things like that work really well.”
What is the filming location for Judith and Jeremy’s manor?
The Prime Minister of Malta’s secondary residence was used for Judith and Jeremy’s chateau!
Producer Andy Morgan shares: “We used the Prime Minister’s wife’s secondary residence for Jeremy and Judith’s chateau. It was basically like filming at Chequers.
“We turned their dining room into a lounge – it was being wasted as a dining room as it looked out onto the beautiful gardens. I feel like we made the place even more homely.
“I really wanted the PM and his wife to visit the set and get some ideas from us, but we didn’t see them during filming.”
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The Madame Blanc Mysteries filmed under COVID…
Producer Andy Morgan shares: “We had our first meeting in March 2020 to discuss the show together. I said, “Have you heard about this Covid thing, apparently quite bad in Italy.”
“Two weeks later production shut down! I was very keen to still be involved when they were finally able to shoot.”
The cast and crew had to work around a lot of logistical issues around Covid, with Andy explaing: “Sourcing props was really tricky in general, because the pandemic meant there were no shops open.
“So, there were some clandestine trips to the back doors of shops, trying to source the basics!”
The Madame Blanc Mysteries will return this December with a Christmas special on Channel 5.
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