Inside the Gozo filming locations of The Madame Blanc Mysteries

To find a French crime-solver, head to Malta. After taking a flight to the small Mediterranean island, I hop on a 25-minute ferry ride to its sister-island of Gozo, embarking on the same journey that the cast and crew of The Madame Blanc Mysteries make when they film there for three months of the year, ever since its debut in 2021. While the show is set in the fictional Sainte Victoire in the south of France, it became clear in early production that real French locations weren’t working out. So when Sally Lindsay and Sue Vincent, co-creators and writers of the series, first checked out Gozo, they looked at each other and agreed: “This could be France, couldn’t it?”

The island has been the base for 5’s cosy crime drama ever since. And I’m not alone in my pilgrimage to the island. Many others take the same trip to visit the locations where antiques dealer Jean White (Lindsay) helps Police Chief André Caron (Alex Gaumond) solve murders using her specialist knowledge. The cast affectionally call them “Blanc-heads” and they travel from as far afield as Tanzania and New York.

In fact, during my two-day stay and sneaky peak at series five filming, one of these groups of fans stops to take pictures and view the main village square in Gharb along with the baroque church – the Basilica of the Visitation.

A stone’s throw away is the pub La Couronne, owned by Judith and Jeremy Lloyd James (Sue Holderness and Robin Askwith, who has lived in Gozo since the 1980s) as well as the outside of the Gendarmerie, the police station. In reality, the exterior is a local woman’s house, which she casually strolls in and out of during filming, whereas the inside of the police station is shot at a real one in Gozo. “A few times over the years, the phone rings and the real police on standby will answer it, and we have to stop a scene,” explains Gaumond. “But there’s not much crime in Gozo, so it’s not very common.”

Other “rings,” as I experience first-hand, are more disruptive. There’s a lot of stopping and starting during filming due to church bells – the Maltese islands have more than 500. But when the cameras roll, the historic fountain that’s been built for the show in the middle of the square takes centre stage when Mayor Stephanie Arquette’s body is found in it. And yes, the mayor is a woman on purpose. “If naturally you think it’s a man, we always put them as a female,” says Linsday – whether that’s a builder, security guard or a car mechanic like Gloria Beauchamp (played by Vincent).

“We unashamedly write for the over-40s and for women,” adds Vincent. Lindsay agrees, “If I have a hot flush, I leave it in, so you can see it. We want to do female stories as normal as possible to real life.” Holderness adds of Judith and Jeremy’s relationship, “It’s good to see older people still making the most of every aspect of life. Robin and I think the most important thing is to let people know that sex doesn’t stop at 70!”

And of course, older romance is a key theme in these new episodes. In the series four finale, taxi driver Dom Hayes (Steve Edge) asked Jean to marry him after a romance they had kept quiet for a long time (although everyone in the town knew anyway). “When you get to that age, and you fall in love with someone, you can take your time over it. On television, you don’t see it very often. There’s always an issue, or somebody’s dying, or you’re a widower, all that b***ocks,” says Lindsay. “The fireworks are just different, they’re more like sparklers,” adds Edge.

Dom’s daughter Claudie (Ella Dale, previously played by Alaïs Lawson and last seen in series one) also shows up at Jean and Dom’s door, heavily pregnant. “Jean is child-free and she knows she’s going to be second-in-command. When I met my husband [musician Steve White], he had two children, who were seven and 10, and I knew I was number three. That was a big thing I had to get my head around, but quite rightly. What kind of an idiot would I be falling in love with, if I wasn’t?” says Lindsay. “So I knew that with Dom. Jean’s got a good heart, but there’s times where she goes, ‘Hang on a minute, are we still getting married here?’”

Whether they tie the knot will be a big plotline of the series, which includes guest stars like Jason Manford, Lesley Joseph (who reached out about being on the show), Brian Capron, Su Pollard, Debbie Lyons, and David Gower for a cricket episode.

It’s an undeniably charming location for a show about murders – “nice ones though”, Lindsay adds – and despite it being “work,” it very much feels like a holiday. In fact, people visiting Gozo while the show is filming have often ended up being asked to star in background scenes. So, Sally and Sue, count me in next time – I’m ready for my close-up.