A Very Secret Service


A Very Secret Service is a French comedy-drama series created by Jean-François Halin and produced by Gilles de Verdière.

Premise

In 1960, young André Merlaux eagerly accepts a cryptic summons to take a position as a trainee officer with the French Secret Services. He will be watched over by the operations director Moïse, and reluctantly mentored by senior colleagues Moulinier, Jacquard, and Calot. It is the height of the Cold War and the position of France as a Great Power is in crisis, faced with independence challenges from the colonies of French West Africa, above all the fight over the independence of Algeria. French society is changing at home as well, with a rising counterculture exemplified by growing feminism and New Wave cinema.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Principal photography took place between October 2014 and February 2015 in Île-de-France and Morocco.
The series recalls in style and tone, although it is slightly more serious. The show uses historical events as background or foreground for its action, similar to Mad Men.
Arte's president of fiction, Olivier Wotling, confirmed a second season to Le Figaros TV Magazine on July 3, 2016.

Release

It was commissioned by Arte, where it premiered in 2015, and was later distributed worldwide by Netflix on 1 July 2016. The second season appeared on Netflix in August 2018.