Rowan Atkinson to star as pipe-smoking Parisian detective Jules Maigret

Set in Paris in the 1950s, the first of the two films, Maigret Sets A Trap, will go into production in September

Rowan Atkinson is set to take the role of Jules Maigret, based on the Georges Simenon novels (Getty Images)

Rowan Atkinson is to star as the pipe-smoking Parisian detective Jules Maigret in two feature-length films for ITV, based on the novels by Georges Simenon.

Set in Paris in the 1950s, the first of the two films, Maigret Sets A Trap, will go into production in September. Atkinson said: “I have been a devourer of the Maigret novels for many years and I’m very much looking forward to playing such an intriguing character”.

Belgian Simenon wrote 75 Maigret novels, the first, Pietr-le-Letton, in 1931. He died in 1989 aged 86. His son, John, who will be an executive producer of the Atkinson films, said: “I have no doubt my father would have approved of Rowan’s casting and been very excited to see him inhabit his most renowned creation.”