Inspector Montalbano (TV series)

The Inspector Montalbano (Italian: Il commissario Montalbano [il kommisˈsaːrjo montalˈbaːno]) television series are Italian police procedural stories. Based on Andrea Camilleri's detective novels, they are located in the imaginary town of Vigàta, Sicily, which is based on Camilleri's native Porto Empedocle. The series protagonist, Salvo Montalbano, is the police chief, or commissario.
The music for the soundtrack was composed by Franco Piersanti.
Inspector Montalbano was produced and broadcast by RAI to critical acclaim. It premiered on Rai 2, and then, since the fourth season, on Rai 1. Over 65 countries have broadcast the series, including on BBC Four in the United Kingdom, MHz WorldView in the United States and SBS in Australia. In 2012, the series generated a spin-off, The Young Montalbano.
Inspector Salvo Montalbano is in charge of the state police station in Vigàta, a fictional town in the fictional province of Montelusa (see locations) in Sicily, Southern Italy. Montalbano investigates criminal acts which he always manages to solve by reconstruction thanks to his intelligence and the help of his team which includes his deputy, Domenico 'Mimì' Augello, Giuseppe Fazio, Galluzzo, and Agatino Catarella. Salvo has a long-distance, tempestuous relationship with Livia Burlando who lives in Genoa.
Among his external collaborators are:
In a recent interview, Luca Zingaretti said: “For me it was a wonderful professional and human adventure. Now it seems to me to have come to an end. The author no longer writes and my director friend, Alberto Sironi, is sadly gone too. Does it make sense to end the saga by filming the last two unpublished novels also as a sign of respect towards them? Or is it their very lack that suggests respectful silence? I lean towards the latter”.
Given the success of the Andrea Camilleri novels, published by Sellerio (Palermo), RAI with Palomar, commissioned a television series, in co-operation with Sweden's public service SVT, Sveriges Television, of most of the novels and short stories. Each closely follows the plot of the novels, in some cases joining several short stories. Alberto Sironi (it), who died suddenly in early August 2019, had directed the entire series up till then. He was taken ill during the filming of three new episodes in 2019 and Luca Zingaretti took over the direction. Camilleri was teaching at the same time that Zingaretti was studying at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico. Luca Zingaretti had to adjust his accent to Sicilian having been born in Rome. Inspector Montalbano was initially launched on Rai 2. It moved to Rai 1 after the second series.
Austrian actress Katharina Böhm, then Lina Perned (both dubbed by Claudia Catani) and lastly Sonia Bergamasco played his girlfriend, Livia. Cesare Bocci played his deputy and Peppino Mazzotta his most trusted detective Fazio.
Although Camilleri set his books in a fictionalised province of Agrigento, much of the series is filmed in the province of Ragusa. The exteriors of la Mànnara were filmed at Fornace Penna in Sampieri. Montalbano's offices are in Scicli, as are the offices of Commissioner Bonetti-Alderighi (actually those of the mayor). Filming is in Ragusa Ibla, Modica, Donnafugata Castle and the Donnalucata, Pozzallo and Scoglitti ports, Marina di Ragusa, Comiso, Santa Croce Camerina, Sampieri, Acate, and other places in south-eastern Sicily. The opening shots in the series include the Guerrieri Viaduct in Modica. The Coast Guard office in Scoglitti, in reality, is the small lighthouse museum.
The BBC holds the United Kingdom transmission rights. "Excursion to Tindari" and "Montalbano's Croquettes" were shown on BBC Four in December 2008. On 11 February 2012, "The Snack Thief" was broadcast in its 9 pm Saturday evening slot. On 25 August 2012, BBC Four began to broadcast a series of 12 episodes. From 19 October to 9 November 2013, the four series nine episodes were broadcast and referred to as Series 3. In June 2014, BBC Four began a re-run of all existing episodes and this time commencing in the correct running order. However the episodes (as detailed in dates above) for series 8 were shown in a different order than the Italian sequence. This remains the U.K. sequence for the BBC iPlayer stream.
In the United States, the series is retitled Detective Montalbano and streams on MHz Choice in Italian, subtitled in English by MHz staff.
In Australia, the series was shown on Special Broadcasting Service in Italian, subtitled in English by SBS staff.
In France, it was shown in winter 2013 on France 3 on Sundays with the title Commissaire Montalbano. In Spain, it was on La 2 on Saturdays in spring 2013 and in Argentina it was seen on the Europa channel.
MHz Networks distributes the Detective Montalbano series on TV, DVD, TVOD and SVOD.
In the UK, the earlier episodes are currently available in both a collection and series format, with the series numbering following BBC Four's. These titles are distributed by Acorn Media UK.
In the Nordic countries the first 18 films are available as Box 1 (1–6), Box 2 (7–12) and Box 3 (13–18). All were released in 2009 (labelled 1999, the start date of the series) with Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles. They were released by AtlanticFilms AB on license from RAI Trade.
In Spain, there is a confusing situation where episodes are dubbed in Spanish, as well as Italian with Spanish subtitles being available in both box sets containing six episodes each and overlapping mini box sets containing two films each. Both are labelled, Colección Montalbano in identical boxes just to add to the confusion. Distribution is by Track Media SL.