Why does the series "Engrenages" stop in full success?

This is one of the most anticipated series of this new school year, well known to police investigation enthusiasts and Canal + subscribers.

returns Monday night on the encrypted channel for an eighth season, which will also be the last.

However, the adventures of Captain Laure Berthaud, lieutenants "Gilou" and "Tintin", lawyer Joséphine Karlsson or judge Roban have gathered up to a million viewers in front of certain episodes.

And this original production was one of the flagships of Canal +.

If the series stops, it is above all for reasons of scenario.

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It was Marine Francou, the artistic and writing director of seasons 7 and 8, who had the difficult task of making this decision.

"Quite quickly, we realized with the authors that we were going to an end point. Once we had brought this season 8 to the characters, we saw that it would be very complicated to make an additional one. . "

The chain is then made aware.

"I had discussions with Canal + because we do not take the decision alone to stop this series," says Marine Francou.

"I told them that as a screenwriter I felt like we were coming to the end of something for the historical figures in

."

"The characters grow up slowly, then die in fiction"

At the end of what?

“When we arrive at season 8 of a series, we feel that we have explored the characters a lot, from several angles. And we see that we will no longer manage to draw the salt from their interiority to go further. The principle of the characters in the series is to explore their neuroses. After a while, we feel that they arrive in a form of maturity. We will no longer be able to put them in contact with their neuroses and that will become artificial to re-stage them in a new story. The characters grow up slowly but grow taller. Once they have explored a certain number of things, they die in fiction. "

An observation shared by the actors themselves.

"They did not want to have too much of a season," says Marine Francou.

"They agreed, even wished to close the series. However, actors have a very instinctive knowledge of their characters, we build common works. This therefore confirmed to me that I had the right diagnosis."

Difficult decision to make for Canal +

The decision was not necessarily easy for Canal +, which said goodbye to a real windfall.

In addition to the success of audiences in France,

exported very well to more than 105 countries, even breaking audience records in the United Kingdom, where the BBC4 channel broadcast it.

"Canal was obviously very keen to make a successful season 8 and not to do one season too long," explains Marine Francou.

"So we talked, they agreed."

The question of replacing the showrunner did not even arise, although the series has already changed it several times.

"The stake was much more essential", summarizes the artistic director.

"You shouldn't miss this final point."

Let the fans be reassured, the succession is already planned.

No less than eight original creations will be broadcast in the fall on Canal +.

On the niche of the police series, the channel will notably offer "Paris Police 1900", which features the work of the prefecture during the Belle Epoque.

And Marine Francou, meanwhile, is already working on her next project, still for Canal +.

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