Dolmen (TV miniseries)

Dolmen is a French TV miniseries, consisting of six 90 minutes-long episodes, and starring Ingrid Chauvin. It was written by Nicole Jamet and Marie-Anne Le Pezennec, and broadcast for the first time between June 13 and July 18, 2005 on TF1.

Synopsis

The story is set in the island of Ty Kern (which is, in real life, Belle-Île-en-Mer), an island off the coast of Brittany. Marie, a young police lieutenant, returns to her home island to marry her childhood love, Christian Bréhat. In Ty Kern, four families are connected by ancient rivalries and secrets: the Kersaint, the Le Bihan, the Pérec and the Kermeur. But on the day before the wedding of Marie and Christian, strange events begin to happen. The bloody corpse of a seagull is brought in by the tide, Marie is assaulted by strange nightmares during the night, her brother Gildas is found dead, and the town's menhirs begin to bleed.

Aided by an inspector from the mainland, Lucas Fersen, Marie decides to clarify these strange phenomena. It is now that a series of deaths begin.

Cast and characters

Family tree

vieux Pérec

Yves

?

Aude

Chantal

?

Anne

?

Christian

Marie

Gildas

Millic

?

Jeanne

Nicolas

Loïc

Yvon

Yannick

Hervé

Pierric

Yvonne

Gwenaëlle

Ronan

Philippe

unborn

Armelle

Juliette

Arthus

Pierre-Marie

?

Erwan

Mary

Sean

Tom

Kermeur family

• Ingrid Chauvin : Marie, police lieutenant at Brest
• Jean-Louis Foulquier : Millic, Marie's father (later known not to be so)
• Martine Sarcey : Jeanne, Marie's the mother (later known not to be so)
• Manuel Gélin : Loïc, Marie's brother
• Luc Thuiller : Gildas, Marie's other brother
• Tom Hygreck : Nicolas, Loïc's son

Pérec family

• Marc Rioufol : Yves, medical doctor and mayor
• Catherine Wilkening : Chantal, Yves' wife
• Lizzie Brocheré : Aude, their daughter

Kersaint family

• Georges Wilson : Arthus, castellan
• Hippolyte Girardot : Pierre-Marie (often shortened PM), Arthus' son
• Yves Rénier : Erwan de Kersaint, his other son and Marie's real father (both secrets later to be revealed)
• Laure Killing : Armelle, Pierre-Marie's wife
• Emilie de Preissac : Juliette, the daughter of Pierre-Marie and Armelle

Le Bihan family

• Nicole Croisille : Yvonne, business owner (a faïencerie)
• Micky Sébastian : Gwenaëlle (often shortened Gwen), her daughter
• Didier Bienaimé : Philippe, Gwenaëlle's husband
• Thomas de Sambi : Ronan, the son of Gwenaëlle and Philippe
• Chick Ortega : Pierric, Yvonne's haindicapped son

Other characters

• Xavier Deluc : Christian Bréhat, famous skipper, Marie Kermeur's fiancé
• Brigitte Froment : Anne Bréhat, Christian's sister, owns a café at Ty Kern
• Bruno Madinier : Lucas Fersen, police commandant
• Yves Rénier : Patrick Ryan (fake identity adopted by Erwan de Kersaint), Irish novelist
• Richaud Valls : Stéphane Morineau, chief-marshall of Informatics of the Gendarmerie

Technical details

• Directed by : Didier Albert
• Screenplay : Marianne Le Pezennec and Nicole Jamet
• Production : TF1 and Marathon Productions

Filming places

• Port of Ty Kern : port of Sauzon, Belle-Île-en-Mer.^[1]
• Faïencerie Le Bihan : the faïencerie HB-Henriot, Quimper.
• The lighthouse : the lighthouse of the Kermorvan peninsula, at Le Conquet.
• Site de Guénoc (English: Guénoc place—the bleeding menhirs) : built with concrete on a metallic structure, on the Kermorvan peninsula, near the lighthouse, at Le Conquet.
• Château des Kersaint (the castle of the Kersaint family) : Château de Kerouartz, in Lannilis. It is an early 17th century mansion, where a woman was, in fact, murdered.

Broadcast information

• The first episode was viewed by approximately 12.1 million viewers (48.8% share)
• The second episode was viewed by approximately 11.4 million viewers (48.7% share)
• The third episode was viewed by approximately 11.6 million viewers (50.5% share)
• The fourth episode was viewed by approximately 12.1 million viewers (49.1% share) — the best French audience in 2005
• The fifth episode was viewed by approximately 11.9 million viewers (51.1% share)
• The sixth and final episode was viewed by 12.88 million viewers (53.1% share)^{[citation needed]}

International broadcast

• Basque Country: ETB2, October 2006- November 2006
• Belgium: RTL TVI, June 2005–July 2005
• Germany: RTL 2, November 2006
• Hungary: RTL Klub, 2006 summer
• Italy: Rete 4, August 2006–September 2006
• Portugal: RTP1, August 2006
• Switzerland: TSR, June 2005–July 2005
• Poland: TVP 1, February 2006
• Russia: TV3, May 2007
• Finland: MTV3, June 2007 - August 2007
• Slovenia: POP TV, July 2007 - August 2007
• Portugal: RTP1, December 2007
• Czech Republic: TV Nova, January 2008
• Catalunya: TV3, January 2008
• Netherlands: Misdaatnet (Dutch commercial crime TV network), May 2011

References

1. ^ Maps and locations are available on Les Elfes de Bretagne website, in English and French.