BBC Four’s Paris Police 1900 set against backdrop of Dreyfus scandal

Rising antisemitism is at the fore in a new French historical crime drama starting on BBC Four this week.

Paris Police 1900, created by graphic novelist Fabien Nury, is inspired by real-life events and delves into the dark side of the French capital.

As rumours spread that Alfred Dreyfus has been released from Devil’s Island, police chief Louis Lepine (played by Marc Barbé) is urgently called out of retirement to restore order in a Paris rocked by anti-Jewish sentiment, violence, riots and misogyny and to top it all, the sudden death of French president Félix Faure.

But there’s more trouble ahead following the discovery of a young woman’s torso in a suitcase floating down the Seine, spurring young, ambitious detective Antoine Jouin (Jérémie Laheurte) into action at the heart of the police headquarters.

Sue Deeks, the BBC’s head of programme acquisition, says: “Paris Police 1900 is a stunningly cinematic look at the darkness beneath the glamour of La Belle Epoque. Historical figures and true events provide a fascinating backdrop to an intriguing murder mystery which will keep viewers gripped to the very end.”

Paris Police 1900 begins on Saturday, 9pm, on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer