I see yet another ill-informed comment from Sir-Oblong about this Maigret series, about "Simenon, laughing to the bank, rubbish" -- which ignores the countless tributes to the author from other acclaimed crime writers, and reviewers?! This one was aired in Jan 61, a time when BBC had been going for a few yrs, ITV not that long, there was really not that much drama on TV, and the schedules only ran in the evenings, for adults.
'Classic' shows like Z Cars from that era had shaky sets and some occasionally dodgy acting, and yes some occasionally weird stunt scenes.
This Maigret episode had a few comedy touches in it, as such series sometimes do have a few lighter moments. Hence the bits about Lognon's (awful) wife, and Torrence doing some unusually close surveillance with an 'actress' who'd been involved with the baddies. Even shows like Morse, Hill St Blues (& many more) had the occasional joke.
And yes, this Maigret was done on a low budget (like most things back then!) and the hour runtime was plenty short enough for many Simenon stories, hence the rushed explanation at the end of this one. Maybe people are unfamiliar with Agatha Christie (pretty well known in the genre?!!!) who specialised in giant coincidences, many suspects, and usually a gigantic explanation at the end!! Perhaps our 'crime' expert Sir Ob should have a look at those for his pet hates?!
As for the "I don't think many 1961 licence payers did" (for foreign readers, the UK pays for TV via a licence fee) in fact Maigret was ENORMOUSLY popular back then, pretty much a must-see show every week. So that's more ill-informed tosh!
'Classic' shows like Z Cars from that era had shaky sets and some occasionally dodgy acting, and yes some occasionally weird stunt scenes.
This Maigret episode had a few comedy touches in it, as such series sometimes do have a few lighter moments. Hence the bits about Lognon's (awful) wife, and Torrence doing some unusually close surveillance with an 'actress' who'd been involved with the baddies. Even shows like Morse, Hill St Blues (& many more) had the occasional joke.
And yes, this Maigret was done on a low budget (like most things back then!) and the hour runtime was plenty short enough for many Simenon stories, hence the rushed explanation at the end of this one. Maybe people are unfamiliar with Agatha Christie (pretty well known in the genre?!!!) who specialised in giant coincidences, many suspects, and usually a gigantic explanation at the end!! Perhaps our 'crime' expert Sir Ob should have a look at those for his pet hates?!
As for the "I don't think many 1961 licence payers did" (for foreign readers, the UK pays for TV via a licence fee) in fact Maigret was ENORMOUSLY popular back then, pretty much a must-see show every week. So that's more ill-informed tosh!
