Baptiste: Hang on, is this spin-off from The Missing turning into an absolute stinker?
The six-part drama stars Tchéky Karyo, Tom Hollander and Jessica Raines and had its second episode tonight
Phil NorrisBreaking News Editor
Julien Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo) (Image: BBC)
It may have got some mixed reviews, but we were still looking forward to episode two of Baptiste, shown on BBC One tonight at 9pm.
The first episode definitely had its moments - the chainsaw, the head in the basement, and a couple of decent twists.
But this second episode was like a very bad episode of 24 (remember Kim and the puma?!)
Things seemingly happening randomly with twists and turns having no really dramatic impact.
Alan Partridge has just written to every person at the BBC and it's as glorious as you'd imagine
Worse, it was all a bit hammy and unengaging as if the writers were throwing things at us to keep us interested.
Hide under water! Hold on to the ropes under the water! Don't get tangled in the ropes under the water! Oh, no, you've drowned.
Ludicrous.
MasterChef 2019: How this Gloucestershire mum reached the quarter-finals and what inspires her
Throw in bags of money, a child being taken from hospital, and more Romanian gang guff, it was all a bit exhausting.
The twitter reaction was pretty mixed, but people seem to be very worried about the old man's German Shepherd....
Top Gloucestershire news stories today
M5 and traffic updates on Tuesday
Coronavirus updates on Tuesday
Aquajardin owner in tears
Cheltenham Festival day one LIVE
This prime-time BBC stars Tchéky Karyo as French detective Julien Baptiste, Tom Hollander as the mysterious 'uncle' Edward and Jessica Raine as Genevieve.
It centred around the disappearance of Natalie in Amsterdam with Baptiste brought into by Edward to find his 'niece'.
But all was not as it appeared. And even the things that were not as they appeared, weren't even what they then appeared to be. We think.
DIY SOS' Nick Knowles' dramatically ups the stakes in his twitter war against Gloucester car parks
The official mini-synopsis from the BBC said simply for episode two: "Natalie reveals the full shocking truth about Edward and Julien has to tread carefully.
"When tragedy strikes, Julien becomes determined to uncover Edward's true motives."
We could add: "For viewers, it leaves them on a cliff-hanger: should I continue to invest my time in this?"
Find out if we'll still be here next week at 9pm.
The drama continues at 9pm next Sunday and you can read interviews with the cast, in the blog below.
This is terrible 21:40
Is it better than The Missing? 22:21
Interview with Tom Hollander 20:28
Interview with Jessica Raine 20:26
Interview with Tchéky Karyo 20:06
Extremely disappointing
Are people out there caring?
It should be a a real cliff-hanger, but it's a bit hard to be bothered.
Edward and Baptiste in the basement, Baptiste's wife about to get a visit from the 'gas meter man'.... what could go wrong....
People really care about the dog
People may not know exactly what's going on, but they really want the dog to be okay...
So unconvincing...
The Missing was great at building up atmosphere through character, the twists and turns seemed integral to the development of the plot.
This seems like a randomly-generated thriller - let's make this person transgender, let's kill this character, let's cut a head off....
There's no flow, no build-up... people seem to be talking in functional sentences an nothing is organic.
We're sticking with it, but this is a huge disappointment
21:40 KEY EVENT
This is terrible
The episode isn't over yet, but it's pretty dire.
Poor old Natalie, deciding to hide under water from the Romanians at her house boat, seemingly trying to grab hold of ropes and then getting her foot stuck.
A bit of an early twist, but so contrived.
And poor old Baptiste, falling for the old 'steal the car keys and check on the sat-nav' routine from Edward that lead to her death.
It's like when 24 was bad, really bad....
This person agrees..
Is it better than The Missing?
The great thing about the first two series of The Missing (one starring James Nesbitt, the other David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes), was the way we were drawn into the families who were missing their loved ones.
You had the mystery of the disappearance, the impact on the family, as well as the detective work by Baptiste.
All written beautifully by brothers Jack and Harry Williams, who also penned Baptiste.
Baptiste on BBC One
In Baptiste, we have the detective, we have the missing girl, but we haven't got 'the family' - because, as we now know, Edward Stratton is not the missing girl's uncle.
The 'missing girl' isn't missing and there is a sister we didn't know anything about.
And as we are used to the formula of this type of series, we know nothing is really as it initially appears.
But the violence was shocking, the acting was great, and we know the Williams brothers don't do neat, simple happy endings.
It's going to be a ride and we think the nation will stay for the duration.
And fade to black...
A few twists, but a tad predictable.
We'll look forward to seeing your reactions...
Buzzing flies....
Not keen on the buzzing flies - that doesn't bode well....
Is that a head?!
Presumably that's the head of the shell-collecting guy from the opening scene
There's a little sister?
One of the girls who have been captured says she had been visiting her big sister, who is called Natalie.
And then, in thte next scene, Baptiste meets Natalie: "I'm not what you're expecting?"
And she says, Stratton is not her uncle and is not what Baptiste thinks he is: "Not at all."
The fan is well and truly on...
The dog's found something on the tulip farm
Dogs never find nice things in detective dramas....
Big twisty twist
Hang on. We'll need to rewind this.
It seems as if Dragomir Zelincu is now Kim Vogel after she transitioned.
Women being trafficked
We're now seeing a lot of trafficked girls. Very distressing scenes
A little bit of uncertainty on twitter
People seem to be giving it a muted reaction so far - maybe they should be watching rather than tweeting, though?
Baptiste and Stratton meets Kim Vogel
Kim Vogel says she knows about Natalie, who was a junkie who made enemies and was unable to finance her habit, taking to stealing and she was in debt to the Romanians.
Kim runs a successful Amsterdam cafe, alongside running an organisation helping women working in the city's sex industry take control of their lives and rent their own windows.
We know we're in Amsterdam....
Bicycles, prostitutes and now tulips. All the Amsterdam cliches here - soon we'll be in a cannabis cafe.
Got him!
After nabbing the youth, they are given the name Walta Da Louw, who runs The Dream Room brothel.... they've found a trail. Where will it lead them?
Who's watching the detective?
A young man has been taking a keen interest in the investigations - Stratton and Baptiste give chase through the bike-laden streets of Amsterdam.
Baptiste is running well for the 'geriatric' he has been described as....
LIna is now fearing for her life, saying that they will come after her next...
Now we meet Natlalie's room-mate - briefly
Now we meet Lina, Natalie's room-mate and Baptiste asks her about her drug addition and mentions Dragomir Zelincu, prompting Lina to slam the door as she has to work.
And while Baptiste is investigating the missing girl, his wife bumps into one of the gangster we saw earlier - it's not a 'meet cute' and there are sinister overtones when he says her grandchild's cuteness 'runs in the family.
Where is Natalie and has she been taken?
We find out that his niece, Natalie, lost her dad (his brother) and his wife when she was just 14.
Edward Stratton has been visiting her every couple of months, making sure she was okay.
He believes a Romanania gang leader, Dragomir Zelincu, has taken her - because she knew too much.
Baptiste promises to do what he can to find his niece, but warns him: I'm not the man I was.
Juien's back doing what he does best
Baptiste tells the uncle: "I'm someone who can help find who you are looking for" - a motto that should be on his business card
Enter Edward (Tom Hollander) - who soon collapses
He's in a state of anguish, looking for his niece - the missing girl - and he collapses.
This prompts a call from Commissioner Martha to help them.
Will you help them, his wife, Celia, asks.
I will try, he says
'People fade, Martha'
Meeting the Commissioner now - and it seems there's a bit of a history between them.
He's told them that he needs checks on his tumour, which has left him feeling more tired.
And he's back in the game - there's a missing person, a sex worker that's linked to a Romania gang
But he doubts his ability: "People fade, Martha' he tells the commissioner
Julien is here!
Clearly recovered from his brain tumour (see series two of The Missing), He's now in Amsterdam with his wife, daughter and grandchild.
He seems happy, which is nice.
It won't last
Oh great, a chainsaw...
The warning from the BBC announcer about disturbing scenes from the start was spot on...
It's started....
I think we all knew he wasn't there to read the meter at the seaside cottage in Deal....
It's about to start
As if we needed reminding
KEY EVENT
Interview with Tom Hollander
Tom Hollander
Tell us about Edward's character? What is his background story?
Edward is quite a sad chap. He doesn't have a very good job in logistics which he is barely holding on to. When we first meet him in episode one, he is a desperate man. His niece, who is a prostitute in the Red Light District in Amsterdam, has gone missing and he is trying to find her. She's been gone for two days and he is running around the Red Light District showing her picture to anyone who will look at it, including the police, none of which have anything to say. He is in a state of extreme distress.
Baptiste spends quite a lot of time in the show trying to work out who Edward is. If you have a difficult week coming up and you are watching this show on a Sunday evening, nothing in the week that you are about to face is as bad as what Edward is put through, so paradoxically, it might make you feel better about whatever you have got to confront in the coming days.
What is Edward's relationship with Julien?
His relationship with Julien Baptiste is complicated, because he needs Baptiste's help but he also doesn't tell him the entire truth for reasons which will become clear. Ultimately Edward is on his own and the character is a very isolated, lonely figure. He has a sort of friendship with Julien but it never really becomes a proper friendship, and Julien has a lot going on in his own life which has nothing to do with Edward, which Edward has no knowledge or understanding of.
If it were a Western they would be two gunslingers working on the same job, who are sort of professional without being that close. Like Steve McQueen and Yul Brynner at the beginning of The Magnificent Seven. But there are no horses and neither of us have American accents, not in this anyway.
What is Edward's relationship with Genevieve?
Edward's relationship with Genevieve is much simpler than his relationship with Baptiste, in that he just finds her incredibly annoying. They have a pretty combative relationship and they never really resolve it. The scenes are quite funny between the two of them, they are amusing because they are so rude to each other. She traps him in a hotel when he would much rather be out trying to find what he needs to find, and find the people he needs to find and save his niece. Instead he is stuck in a hotel and forced to sit in a sauna for some amount of time.
Have any scenes been particularly challenging to film?
Playing Edward is a challenging part because he is in extreme distress for the majority of the story, because of the horrible things that are happening to him which will become clear if you watch it. Playing that is quite exhausting because you have to remind yourself of the reality of his situation, which is a reality that most people would find intolerable. It is extremely painful and distressing because he is in a really dark place. I have found all of that quite tricky because you can't really laugh it off. There are very, very few jokes in Baptiste. There really are possibly two in six episodes and you might not notice them.
How would you describe the Baptiste series in three words?
Really. Quite. Dark.
What's it been like filming in Amsterdam and Belgium?
I have loved filming in Amsterdam and Belgium. I only came to Amsterdam once before this, as a young man, and like many young men I can't really remember what happened when I was there. As an adult now, I've learnt to see how beautiful it was.
Belgium I knew nothing about, but it's marvellous. The Belgians are very cool and it is a wonderful country, very civilised, and somehow modest. Belgium's been very quietly tucked in there, not shouting from the rooftops about itself. Everyone seems to speak three languages, which is obviously hugely impressive, and they're quite laid-back.
The strange thing about filming things, however dark the story is, the experience is mostly to do with the crew and where you are, and even though the story is very unhappy the experience of making it has been a delight. That's all I would say. But hopefully you won't see any of that enjoyment on the screen.
Interview with Jessica Raine
Jessica Raine
Tell us about Genevieve's character - what is her background story?
Genevieve is an officer at Europol, heading up a team trying to get enough evidence together to nail a gang called the Brigada Serbilu, which concerns itself with human trafficking. She's quite blunt and tactless and rubs people up the wrong way when she's first introduced in the series, but she's incredibly focused and determined to get the guy she needs to get. It's a scary focus, as she doesn't care how she treats everyone else.
What is Genevieve's relationship with Julien?
When Genevieve meets Julien you feel like she's really marking her territory. She's a little bit patronising and you feel like she's definitely overriding him with the decision-making. She wants him out of the way even though she respects what he's done in the past. Genevieve doesn't have much time for Baptiste at the beginning, however, as the series progresses I think she really becomes much more respectful of him and his methods and they become quite close by the end, which is a great journey to play.
What is Genevieve's relationship with Edward?
With Edward, Genevieve is constantly trying to persuade him to do what she wants and doesn't really think about what the consequences are for him. To her, he is someone who's in way over his head - but she also sees him as an opportunity. It's an opening for her that she hasn't had before with this case, so she has to get him onside. But she is also quite irritated by him, so it is quite a fractious relationship - which has been really fun to play with Tom.
I've loved it. I've had a week in Amsterdam but didn't get to see much of it because we were working all the time. Antwerp I've become really familiar with and I love it, the people, the shops and the art as well as the food! I just absolutely adore it to be honest. I want to come back. I can understand why people come out here and live here. It's just amazing.
What's it like working with Tom and Tchéky?
Great. They're so different. Tchéky is so unbelievably French, and I mean that in a really lovely way. He's very philosophical about things. He's great to act with. He's always very present. Tom is loads of fun to work with. He's done his research, he knows what he's doing and then just sort of let's rip on a scene, which has been really positive.