A Very Secret Service
A Very Secret Service is a French comedy-drama series created by and produced by Gilles de Verdière.
Premise
In 1960, young André Merlaux eagerly accepts a cryptic summons to take a position as a trainee officer with the French Secret Services. He will be watched over by the operations director Moïse, and reluctantly mentored by senior colleagues Moulinier, Jacquard, and Calot. It is the height of the Cold War and the position of France as a Great Power is in crisis, faced with independence challenges from the colonies of French West Africa, above all the fight over the independence of Algeria. French society is changing at home as well, with a rising counterculture exemplified by growing feminism and New Wave cinema.Cast and characters
Main cast
- Hugo Becker as André Merlaux
- as Colonel Maurice Mercaillon
- Christophe Kourotchkine as Georges Préjean "Moïse"
- Mathilde Warnier as Sophie Mercaillon
- as Jacky Jacquard
- Bruno Paviot as Roger Moulinier
- as Jean-René Calot
- Marie-Julie Baup as Marie-Jo Cotin
Secondary characters
- Joséphine de La Baume as Miss Clayborn
- Antoine Gouy as Henri Lechiot / Hervé Gomez / Schmid
- as Father Jean
- Julie Farenc as Nathalie
- as Moktar
- Stéphanie Fatout as Irène Mercaillon
- Axelle Simon as Marthe
- as Planton, reception desk employee
Development
Principal photography for the first series took place between October 2014 and February 2015 in Île-de-France and Morocco.The series recalls OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies in style and tone, although it is slightly more serious. The show uses historical events as background or foreground for its action, similar to Mad Men.
Arte's president of fiction, Olivier Wotling, confirmed a second season to Le Figaros TV Magazine on July 3, 2016.
In a March 2019 interview with the French language outlet PureMédias, Hugo Becker expressed doubt regarding the likelihood of a third season, stating that the series had reached "the end of the arc," and adding that while "there might be material... the story is complete and I think that's fine." As an aside, however, several characters as well as the SDECE office sets from the television show are vividly featured in OSS 117: From Africa with Love, indirectly creating a shared universe between the two franchises.