Dolmen (miniseries)

Dolmen

Company type	Television miniseries
Industry	Television
Founded	June 13, 2005 (2005-06-13)
Headquarters	France
Products	Television series

Dolmen is a French television miniseries consisting of six episodes, each lasting 90 minutes, featuring Ingrid Chauvin in the lead role. The series was penned by Nicole Jamet and Marie-Anne Le Pezennec and originally aired on TF1 from 13 June to 18 July 2005.

Synopsis

The story unfolds on Ty Kern, an island near Brittany inspired by Belle-Île-en-Mer, focusing on four families bound by deep-seated conflicts: the Kersaints, Le Bihans, Pérecs, and Kermeurs. Marie Kermeur, a young police lieutenant, returns home to wed her childhood sweetheart, Christian Bréhat. Yet, just before their wedding, strange occurrences begin: a seagull’s bloodied body is found on the shore, Marie suffers from haunting dreams, her brother Gildas is discovered dead, and nearby menhirs inexplicably start to bleed.

With the help of Lucas Fersen, an inspector from the mainland, Marie delves into these mysteries as a series of fatal incidents intensify.

Cast and characters

Family tree

Kermeur family

Owners of the local hotel:

• Marie, a lieutenant in the Gendarmerie stationed in Brest (Ingrid Chauvin)
• Millic, regarded as Marie’s father (Jean-Louis Foulquier)
• Jeanne, considered Marie’s mother (Martine Sarcey)
• Gildas, Marie’s brother (Luc Thuiller)
• Loïc, another brother of Marie (Manuel Gélin)
• Nicolas, son of Loïc (Tom Hygreck)

Pérec family

• Yves, a medical doctor and the island’s mayor (Marc Rioufol)
• Chantal, spouse of Yves (Catherine Wilkening)
• Aude, their daughter (Lizzie Brocheré)

Kersaint family

• Arthus, the local Châtelain (Georges Wilson)
• Pierre-Marie ("PM"), son of Arthus (Hippolyte Girardot)
• Erwan de Kersaint, Arthus’ son and Marie’s biological father (Yves Rénier)
• Armelle, wife of Pierre-Marie (Laure Killing)
• Juliette, their daughter (Emilie de Preissac)

Le Bihan family

Operators of a faïencerie pottery workshop:

• Yvonne, head of the business (Nicole Croisille)
• Pierric, her son with intellectual disabilities (Chick Ortega)
• Gwenaëlle ("Gwen"), Yvonne’s daughter (Micky Sébastian)
• Philippe, Gwenaëlle’s husband (Didier Bienaimé)
• Ronan, their child (Thomas de Sambi)

Additional characters

• Christian Bréhat, fiancé to Marie Kermeur and an accomplished Yacht racing skipper (Xavier Deluc)
• Anne Bréhat, Christian’s sister and proprietor of a café on Ty Kern (Brigitte Froment)
• Lucas Fersen, major with the Brest Gendarmerie (Bruno Madinier)
• Patrick Ryan, an alias used by Erwan de Kersaint, an Irish novelist
• Stéphane Morineau, head of computer forensics at Brest Gendarmerie (Richard Valls)

Technical details

• Directed by Didier Albert
• Screenplay authored by Marianne Le Pezennec and Nicole Jamet
• A production collaboration between TF1 and Marathon Productions

Filming locations

• Ty Kern harbor scenes filmed at the port of Sauzon, Belle Île-en-Mer
• Faïencerie Le Bihan depicted by HB-Henriot faïencerie located in Quimper
• Lighthouse scenes shot at Kermorvan peninsula lighthouse near Le Conquet
• Site de Guénoc (location for bleeding menhirs): constructed concrete and metal set adjacent to Kermorvan lighthouse
• Château des Kersaint represented by Château de Kerouartz in Lannilis, a historic 17th-century manor noted for a past murder

International distribution

• Basque Country: ETB2, October–November 2006
• Belgium: RTL TVI, June–July 2005
• Germany: RTL 2, November 2006
• Hungary: RTL Klub, summer of 2006
• Italy: Rete 4, August–September 2006
• Portugal: RTP1, August and December 2006/2007
• Switzerland: TSR, June–July 2005
• Poland: TVP 1, February 2006
• Russia: TV3, May 2007
• Finland: MTV3, June–August 2007
• Slovenia: POP TV, July–August 2007
• Czech Republic: TV Nova, January 2008
• Catalunya: TV3, January 2008
• Netherlands: Misdaatnet, May 2011
• United States: MHz WorldView, September 2013

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Outcome
2006	Globes de Cristal Award	Best TV Movie / TV Series	Didier Albert	Template:Nom