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BONUS: Bergerac (2025) — Watch It or Skip It? | Spoiler-Free Review · Cozy Comfort Club Podcast

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Cozy Comfort Club.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: I've got a little bonus episode for you today,
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: and these are my quick spoiler light chats about the shows I just had to talk about,
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: whether they're cozy or cozy adjacent or not so cozy at all.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: So grab something cozy and let's get into it.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: So today we're talking about Bergerac.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is the 2025 reboot of the original Bergerac series,
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: and this time it stars Damian Maloney as Detective Jim Bergerac.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: It originally premiered in the UK in February of 2025, and season one has six episodes.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of having a completely different case each episode,
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: there's one main murder mystery that kind of plays out across the entire season.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it recently made its way over here to PBS Masterpiece.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, of course, I watched the entire season.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And y'all, I really, really like this one.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: This was a great binge.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: So first of all, I didn't expect to fall in love with Damian Maloney the way that I did.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I know it's not related to whether I like the show or not,
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: but I cannot be the only person who thinks he looks like some kind of mashup
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: between Charlie Puth and Jonathan Bailey, because that's really all I could see.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before we get into it,
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: I do want to say that I never watched the original with John Nettles.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: So if you watched the original one and you loved it,
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: you might have a totally different opinion about this one.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have any nostalgia attached to Bergerac,
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: so I'm coming into this with completely fresh eyes.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, I was sold.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So Jim Bergerac is a detective who's also an alcoholic and he's dealing with a lot
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: in his personal life.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: He's grieving the loss of his wife.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: He's trying to be a father to his teenage daughter and he's just trying
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: to get his life back together.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: So we have that whole grieving father with The troubled teenager storyline.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it actually reminded me a little bit of A Taste for Murder.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: That was another crime drama that I watched on BritBox a few months back.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so I thought about that show and that took place in Italy.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I think I like Bergerac a little bit more.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: And speaking of setting, can we talk about Jersey?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: The island of Jersey is now on my list of places that I would not mind visiting one day.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I love the mix of French and British culture.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: The scenery was so beautiful.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: It gives Bergerac a different feel from a lot of the other British crime dramas
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: that I've been watching lately.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, you have some really good casting and a pretty riveting plot.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, OK, yep, I'm all in.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So there's also another mystery within the main murder mystery,
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: and we're trying to figure that out while we're watching.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: But of course,
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: we have Jim's story as well,
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: and we're trying to understand what happened with his last case.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Why is he off from work?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we know he's grieving, but was he acting out at work?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: So we're just trying to figure out Jim's backstory.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, there are so many red herrings.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I kept thinking I knew where the story was going to go and
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: then something else will happen and I just start questioning everything all
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: over again.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And without spoiling anything, there's a big twist at the end that I did not see coming at all.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: At all.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: They really got me with this one.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I love it when a show can do that or a mystery can do that.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, like I said, the cast is great.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Philip Glenister is in this one.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: He's fantastic.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Zoe Wanamaker is also amazing as Jim's very wealthy mother-in-law, Charlie.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: She's good in everything she's in.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And Charlie basically serves as this like constant reminder of how messed up Jim is.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: She knows he has issues.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: She knows that he's having trouble raising his daughter.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, she's not going to let him forget it.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then guess who made a special appearance in this one?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Ella Maisie Purvis.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've watched Patience,
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: you already know who I'm talking about because she plays Patience.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: The minute she showed up, I was like, okay, yep.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this is one of my favorite parts of watching British TV.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: You could just watch five series on BritBox or PBS and you will start to see
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: the same people over and over again.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it feels like you know them.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I love it.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now we have to answer the Cozy Comfort Club question.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Is Bergeret cozy?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Nope.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not even going to try to convince y'all that it is.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is definitely more of a crime drama.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: You've got grief and family issues,
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: darker subject matter, tension and And a detective who's going through a lot.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: So if you come in here looking for Father Brown cozy, uh-uh, this is not it.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I would probably call Bergeret cozy adjacent, okay?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because the setting is beautiful, right?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: It definitely helps.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I do think there's something really comforting about
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: a really good British detective drama anyway.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Especially when we have like a main character that we actually like.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: So even when the actual crimes aren't cozy, it still feels like a comfort crime drama.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: I do have one tiny complaint, though.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Jim's raspy voice, especially in the first two episodes or so.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: That voice got to me sometimes.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: There were moments when I wanted to say, please clear your throat.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, whatever.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: It didn't bother me that much because I really loved him after this.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm now I'm like, OK, I got to watch whatever he's in.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: So watch it or skip it.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, this is easy.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Watch it.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you like character-driven crime dramas,
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: complicated detectives,
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: beautiful settings,
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: really good acting,
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: and mysteries that have enough twists and red herrings to really keep you guessing,
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think Bergerac is worth the binge.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I came into this having never watched the original series.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And somehow, six episodes later, I wanted to visit Jersey.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to follow Damien.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I was ready for more.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: And thankfully,
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: we're getting more because Bergerac has officially been renewed for season three.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: So we still have a season two to watch.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then we're going to get a season three.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: So this is going to be amazing.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you've watched Bergerac, please tell me what you thought.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to hear from anybody who watched the original one.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Did you enjoy this version or was it hard not to compare the two?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: And please, no spoilers for anybody who hasn't had the chance to watch it yet.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time,
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: grab something cozy, find your next comfort watch, and I'll talk to you on Tuesday.