Was the TV movie with Antoine Hamel filmed in a real prison?

Different but involved investigators in each episode, trips throughout France and famous local legends or intrigues linked to local heritage, the recipe for Murders in… is well known to France 3 viewers. This Thursday January 9, the channel rebroadcasts Murders in Pont L’Evêque, a TV movie based on a decades-old news story, taking place in a famous prison…

Antoine Hamel and Franck Roussel in the casting of Murders in Pont l’Evêque

Murders at Pont l’Évêque likes to play between eras. Indeed, we follow Julien (Antoine Hamel) and Franck Roussel (Arnaud Binard), two brothers who are completely opposite, team up to investigate the death of judge Daniel, found hanged in the old prison of Pont l’Evêque. Two gendarmes who will have a lot to do, because this magistrate is the famous type and the center of all attention, given that his clerk, Marion Letellier (Elodie Frenck), is coveted by Franck and Julien, these two brothers who hate each other. During their investigation, a new murder will thwart their plans, that of the lover of the murdered judge’s mother, having taken place in the 1950s.

Murders in Pont l’Evêque : Was the TV movie filmed in a real prison?

Far from following the tradition of makeup, which consists of passing off one place for another, this aspect of Murders in… made it big by taking over the walls of a real prison in Pont L’Evêque. The one nicknamed the Merry Prison was built in 1823 and hit the headlines in the 1940s because it had open doors and left its maintenance to the prisoners themselves. Inmates also capable of managing administrative tasks, accounting and even prison records! Marked by the escape of René Girier, known as René La Canne, in 1949, who nevertheless sawed the bars of his cell, the establishment was closed in 1953. The opportunity to keep the walls and make a brand new place, dedicated to cultural events, in particular. Having filmed in this strange penitentiary, Arnaud Binard declared that he enjoyed the moment with our colleagues from Tele-Leisure :“The happy prison became a heritage space, a museum in which we were able to film. It was quite crazy: we really had the feeling of being there because everything was very well preserved. We were also able to recreate a cell in the prison cellars.”