Jo (previously known by the working title Le Grand) is an English-language French police procedural television series created by Canadian-American screenwriter René Balcer of Law & Order fame with French writing team Franck Ollivier and Malina Detcheva, known for the miniseries Lost Signs, and variously directed by Charlotte Sieling (The Killing), Kristoffer Nyholm (Taboo, The Vanishing), Sheree Folkson (Another Life), Stefan Schwartz (The Americans). It is co-produced by the French Atlantique Productions and the Belgian Stromboli Pictures companies in association with broadcast partners TF1, RTBF, Sat.1, ORF and RTS.
The series, shot entirely in Paris, is centered on Jo Saint-Clair, a cop played by French star Jean Reno in his first lead TV role. Along with his team, Jo attempts to solve murders taking place around some of the French capital's most famous locations.
Jo premiered in Italy on Fox Crime on January 17, 2013 where it was a ratings success, garnering twice the number of viewers as Borgia, and has since been broadcast in several other European countries and across Latin America and southern Africa, with its debut in an English-speaking country set for May 19 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Among the partner channels, it premiered in Belgium on La Une on April 18, 2013 and a week later in France on TF1. A second season was initially expected with the first having been a ratings success and Jean Reno having signed for two seasons from the get-go, however it was later announced in early June 2013 that TF1 had cancelled the show.
Plot Commander Jo Saint-Clair, a veteran of Paris' homicide bureau, is experienced in solving the most mysterious murders. As brilliant as he is fearsome, Saint-Clair has the intelligence of serial killers, allowing him to solve a series a crimes plaguing the French capital's most iconic sights: the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the Catacombs, the Place Vendôme. In his private life, Saint-Clair also has known his share of problems. With the help of his confidant Karyn, an unorthodox nun working in the city's problem areas, he will try to reconnect with his estranged daughter Adèle.
Cast Jean Reno as Joachim "Jo" Saint-Clair, the lead character, a brilliant cop with an intimate knowledge and love of Paris, who's known many problems throughout his life, notably involving alcohol, drugs and women but he's trying to put them behind him and become a better father to his estranged daughter Adèle. The son of a prostitute, he was given the name of the street he was born in, Saint-Clair. The character was initially known as Joachim Legrand when the project was first announced at the MIPTV Media Market, but was later revealed to be Saint-Clair later that year at the Mipcom. Jill Hennessy as Sister Karyn, an unorthodox nun who doesn't wear the traditional habit. As brave as she is vulnerable, she suffered a great loss at the age of 19, undertook theology studies, devoted her life to God and is now in charge of a refuge for prostitutes where she was like a second mother to Adèle, Jo's daughter, when she was living there. She met him through her and is now Jo's close friend and confidant, serving as a bridge between him and Adèle and sometimes helping out on his cases. Tom Austen as Marc Bayard, an enthusiastic and determined young Police Lieutenant who's quickly moved up the ranks of the Police force. He's been working with Jo for two years at the start of the series and shares a father-son relationship with him. As a young husband and father himself, he has trouble balancing his family life and professional duties. Orla Brady as Béatrice Dormont, Jo's superior officer and friend. Heida Reed as Adèle Gauthier, Jo's estranged daughter. Chris Brazier as Yannick Morin Celyn Jones as Nick Normand, the unit's expert in computers and numbers. Wunmi Mosaku as Angélique Alassane, the unit's person in charge of medical reports. Sean Pertwee as Charlie, Saint-Clair's nemesis, childhood friend and head of a crime syndicate. Eriq Ebouaney as Amadou.
Notable guest stars Sam Waterston as David Zifkin Geraldine Chaplin as Liliane Coberg Leslie Caron as Josette Lenoir Olivia d'Abo as Nicole Wallace Sienna Guillory as Claire Hugo Becker as Eddy Miranda Raison as Katie Miville Julie Cox as Sharon
Production
Conception Jo is one of several ambitious new shows commissioned by French channel TF1, along with Falco, No Limit and the English-language series Crossing Lines and Taxi Brooklyn that showcase the channel's desire to become a bigger player in the international market and a change in French channels' conception of TV shows. As such, production company Atlantique Productions already has considerable experience with such efforts, having been behind the English-language Borgia for Canal+ and Transporter: The Series for M6. The show was announced on March 28, 2012 under the title Le Grand (a nickname for Jean Reno's character) and was presented in more detail in the first few days of April at the MIPTV Media Market where it was sold on the strength of star Jean Reno and showrunner René Balcer's names.
Balcer had previously co-created the French cop show Mission Protection Rapprochée for TF1 in the late nineties and had participated in the development of Paris enquêtes criminelles, the French adaptation of his Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He co-produces the show through his The Mattawin Company.
Format Producer Klaus Zimmermann described the show as a cop show where every episode is a "mini The Da Vinci Code". Jo's personal journey has a series-long arc, but each episode is centered on one case, linked to an iconic location of Paris. The city is considered by the creators like its own character, with director Charlotte Sieling stating "the main character is the cop and the second character is Paris". To make the show more appealing to international buyers, the typical episode lasts about 45 minutes, like American network "hour-long" dramas rather than French ones which last about 50 minutes.
Casting Jo represents Jean Reno's first regular role in a TV series and his first role in a series overall since an episode of the anthology series Série Noire in 1985. He was attached to the project from the beginning, when his character was known as Joachim Legrand, and the series was sold in part of the strength of his name. While he's been regularly offered parts in TV shows, he accepted this one due to its international scope and the fact it would be shot in English, but also stated that he didn't see himself doing the show many years as it wasn't "[his] thing". While the 63-year-old actor has played many cops throughout his career, he differentiated this one by his softer side and his relationship with his daughter. Reno also provided his voice for the show's French dub, as he usually does.
Canadian actress Jill Hennessy was named the second regular as shooting began, playing a nun who is a close friend of Reno's character, making it her fourth lead role in a TV show. Hennessy appreciated that the show had "aspects of great television police drama but then it adds all these other mystical elements and personal elements as well" and felt that the show was hard to "put in a box".
British actor Tom Austen first heard of the project through his agent a month before filming, but at the time his part was meant for a 40-year-old actor of Middle-Eastern origin. Attracted by the idea of shooting in Paris with actors he admires, the 24-year-old was however able to get a meeting with director Charlotte Sieling, whose work on The Bridge was also among the reasons the project interested him, and along with her he managed to convince the producers that he was right for the part and began his gun training a few days later. Jo is Austen's second regular role in a television series after the short-lived Beaver Falls.
Apart from Reno, most of the main actors are native English speakers, all playing French characters. Actor David Coburn was brought in as a vocal coach to ensure all the actors spoke with the same General American accent, apart from Jean Reno whose accent was considered part of his charm and appeal.
Filming Production began on the Île de la Cité at 4a.m. on July 16, 2012 and lasted for 88 days in Paris and its suburbs until November 8, making it the first English-language show to be shot entirely in the French capital. Four directors each helmed two of the season's eight episodes. These include Danish filmmakers Charlotte Sieling and Kristoffer Nyholm (both known for their work on The Killing) as well as Stephan Schwartz and Sheree Folkson. Sieling was responsible for the show's look, having directed the pilot episode, and was particularly enthusiastic about the project stating the show would be something that had not been seen before, a hybrid of Scandinavian, French and English series, comparing it to the ever-changing patterns of a kaleidoscope. She brought in her usual cinematographer Jørgen Johansson for her episodes, while Nyholm and Folkson's episodes were handled by French cinematographer Tommaso Fiorilli, who's worked on several TV shows before, including Spiral, and Schwartz's by Jean-Max Bernard. The production designer for the season was Ambre Sansonetti, who's had considerable experience on police procedurals having held the same position on the TV show Braquo as well as the films 36 Quai des Orfèvres and MR 73.
The show was produced to be carbon neutral. Each episode was shot in about ten days, mostly in exteriors and budgeted at 2 million euros (or 16 million for the entire season), with TF1 contributing 900,000 per episode (or 7,200,000 overall). This represents twice the French average but is in line with other similar efforts such as Borgia or XIII: The Series. The show required the hiring of 85 technicians and 160 thespians, the construction of 32 sets per episode in Saint-Ouen, the renting of 51 vehicles and the cooking of 10,000 meals.
Post-production Editors for the show include Stratos Gabrielidis for the Charlotte Sieling episodes, Joel Jacovella for the Kristoffer Nyholm episodes and Patrick Zouzout for the Stephan Schwartz episodes, all of whom have worked on several episodes of XIII: The Series. The Sheree Folkson episodes were edited by Diane Logan.
The show's score was composed by Thomas Hass Christensen, another collaborator of Sieling's.
Reception
Critical response Response to the show in France and Belgium was overwhelmingly negative. In Télérama, Samuel Douhaire found that the famous locations of Paris showcased in every episode were used very badly, that the cops looked like caricatures from American shows and that the series' worst aspect is its cliché-ridden exploration of Jo's private life. In the Belgian Le Vif, Guy Verstraeten was also turned off by the clichéd nature of the show, stating that the creators couldn't be bothered to create a single original thing. Writing for Le Nouvel Observateur, Mathieu Cantorné labeled the show as "unoriginal and conformist" but did concede that the atmosphere "could be somewhat appealing". Negative views also came from the website Onirik and the Belgian newspaper L'Avenir. Many outlets also singled out the poor quality of the French dub.
Positive opinions came from the tabloid Closer, which found the series to be a good mix between a French and American show; Le Parisien, which considered the show efficient and praised the actors; and Télé Loisirs, which was impressed with the directing.