As fans of The Madame Blanc Mysteries will know, nothing is ever as it seems – and that includes the show's idyllic filming locations. Set in the fictional village of Sainte Victoire, while viewers might assume that the series is shot in France, this couldn't be further from the truth. In a twist as surprising as Jean White's most puzzling cases, it turns out that the Channel 5 series is actually filmed across Malta and Gozo.
WATCH: The Madame Blanc Mysteries cast rave about 'magical' filming location
While Sainte Victoire is genuinely inspired by regions of southern France, including villages such as Vauvenargues, the show is primarily shot across the two Mediterranean islands. Back in 2021, Madame Blanc's leading lady and show creator Sally Lindsay spoke about filming abroad.
Sally Lindsay created The Madame Blanc Mysteries after wishing she could film abroad in a warmer climate
In an interview with MailOnline, the actress revealed that inspiration struck for the series after she'd thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to film somewhere with a warmer climate?"
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Sally has also spoken about the initial complications of choosing a filming location, saying:
"We were going to film in France, but it proved so complicated to do that. Channel 5 suggested Gozo, but I wasn't really sure… I'd been to Malta a couple of years ago when my father was passing because it was on his bucket list, and the bit we went to looked more like Spain than the South of France."
The series is filmed across areas in Malta (left) and Gozo (right)
"We got the ferry to Gozo, but it was unbelievable – literally just a tiny drive in and it was like we were in the South of France. Even our French actors thought it looked like France!"
Unfortunately for the cast and crew, filming for the first season was initially delayed in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, but once they could resume, Sally explained that they quickly fell head over heels for the island of Gozo. "I thought, 'Oh my God, it's just like 60s France!' It's magical," she said.
While the show isn't actually filmed in the South of France, the village of Sainte Victoire is inspired by the region
Another of the show's stars, Les Dennis, has spoken about filming scenes in Malta, explaining to the Express that the high temperatures had been a major challenge for him. "In all of our scenes we really had to be on it because the schedule was so tight," he recalled, "And working in that Maltese heat!"
Les added: "In the first couple of scenes, we are supposed to be in our flat in London and trying to work in that heat and make it look cool was not easy, but we got through it."
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