Paul Gerardi
Main character: Chief police inspector Paul Gerardi
Country of origin: Belgium
Main location: Brussels
Creator: Ward Hulselmans
Born in: Beerse, Belgium
Born on: 1950
Nationality: Belgian
Novel title: Salamander – Schot in het donker (Eng. transl.: Salamander – Shot in the dark), 2013
Author: Bavo Dhooge
Original language: Dutch
Publisher: Borgerhoff & Lamberigts (Gent, Belgium)
Transnational distribution: No
Television series title: Salamander
Television series started in: 2012
Producer: VRT, Brussel & Skyline Entertainment
Number of seasons: 2 (1°: Salamander; 2°: Salamander – Blood Diamonds)
Latest season broadcast: 2018
Transnational distribution: Yes
Case study rationale:
Broadcast on the Flemish public channel Eén, the TV Series Salamander appears for the first time in 2012. Labelled as a conspiracy thriller, the series is set in the city of Brussels, where Police Inspector Paul Gerardi is called to solve an important case of robbery at the expense of some Belgian prominent figures. The focus of the whole series revolves around the total disrupt of the state, and brings out the most subtle discrepancies, secrets, and failure of the social and political system, from which also the “good characters” are not exempted. Even the main character, Inspector Paul Gerardi, who is called to solve the case that triggers the whole plot, is not totally uninvolved from the corruption mechanism of the system. As described by director Frank van Mechelen, he certainly fights against the establishment, but he is part of it too.
Besides its success in Belgium, Salamander distinguished itself for being one of the first attempts of the Flemish film industry to expand transnationally. Following the success of the first season (2012-2013), the tv series was not only adapted one year later into a book – written by the crime fiction writer Bavo Dhooge – but also successfully broadcast in 2014 and in 2018 in the United Kingdom on BBC Four. In 2018, a second series, Salamander – Blood Diamonds, appeared on the television screen.
Online research resources
Watch
Salamander Official UK Trailer:
Read
- Van Steenkiste, Matthieu. “Filip Peeters over het succes van Salamander: ‘Of het nu de Westhoek is of Canada: iedereen ziet wat goed is en wat niet”. Deze week, 9 Jan. 2018. Web.
- Pangloss, Maître. “Salamander (2012), or what Belgians really think of their State”. Belgianhistory. Jan. 29, 2016. Web.
- Bondejerg, Ib, et al. “The Darker Sides of Society: Crime Drama”. Transnational European Television Drama. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. 223-255.
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