Why Jersey still steals the show in the new Bergerac starring Damien Molony
The new U&Drama show could reboot the island as a holiday hotspot.
Hard to say who was the bigger star of Bergerac back in the 1980s: John Nettles, who played the series’ namesake maverick detective; or Jersey, the show-stealing island on which he did his detecting.
It was a counterintuitive phenomenon. A crime epidemic so rampant, on an island only nine miles by five, should have elicited a Foreign Office no-go warning. But instead Bergerac enticed visitors to Jersey in droves.
The original drama, which ran on BBC1 from 1981 to 1991, beamed the largest Channel Isle into millions of living rooms, rendering skullduggery at its most alluring. Viewers were willing to overlook a spot of murder because the beaches looked so golden, the lifestyle so glamorous, the cars – Jim’s burgundy Triumph Roadster! Charlie Hungerford’s white Rolls-Royce! – so very snazzy.
In a recent interview, Nettles distilled the show’s appeal: “At the end of the day, Bergerac was all about pictures. It was about beautiful islands and unlikely villains beating each other up on cliff tops in bright sunshine.”
This month, the detective and his Roadster are back, with Jim played by Irish actor Damien Molony, previously seen in Being Human, Ripper Street and The Split. And it means Jersey is back in the spotlight, too. Just as Bergerac has changed during the intervening 34 years – the reboot is darker and grittier – so too has Jersey.
You can still pay for your luscious Jersey Dairy ice creams with one pound notes (this is the only place in the British Isles where they’re still legal tender), but the rise of cheap flights to more exotic climes has put a dent in the tourist industry, and finance is the biggest business here now.
However, the island hasn’t lost any of its good looks. Indeed, the creation of a National Park in 2011, which encompasses 12 per cent of Jersey’s landmass, including most of its coast, means those good looks have never enjoyed greater protection.
And if some holidaymakers are choosing to head elsewhere, all the better. That leaves the island’s array of sandy, surfy, snorkel-friendly, craggy and bluff-backed beaches far less busy.
You can find space on wide sweeps such as St Brelade’s, a star player in the original Bergerac. Or lose the crowds at cliff-tucked Bouley Bay, where scenes were shot for the new series – and where it’s practically illegal not to buy a crab sandwich from Mad Mary’s beach café.
Capital St Helier features large in the reboot. This former fishing village turned seat-of-government turned 21st-century finance hub has a pleasing buzz, and is full of independents: shops hiring out e-bikes, jewellers selling handcrafted pieces, cool cafés brewing coffee from fresh-roasted beans.
The historic hub is Royal Square, where the Court House, States House and Library flank the site of the French defeat at the Battle of Jersey in 1781. In the 16th century, this square was the main marketplace; the current Central Market, a few streets north, was opened in 1882.
Around 40 stalls trade under its great glazed roof and handsome Victorian ironwork these days, selling everything from French cheeses to Jersey cow placemats – and providing a backdrop for new Bergerac shenanigans, which were recently filmed here.
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There is significant history, spanning millennia, to be unearthed all across the island. Take the Neolithic passage grave of La Hougue Bie: dating from around 4,000 BC, it’s one of the ten oldest buildings in the world, its precise purpose the island’s greatest unsolved mystery.
Meanwhile, Mont Orgueil Castle has been looming over gorgeous Gorey Bay since the 13th century. A tricksy maze of twisty passages, hidden rooms and spiralling staircases, with a total of almost 200 steps, leads to the battlements – any invaders who made it in surely stood little chance of finding their way out again. Maybe its cunning and secrecy are why the castle made frequent appearances in the original Bergerac?
Recovering alcoholic Jim wouldn’t have spent much time at the Hamptonne Country Life Museum, a 15th-century farm evoking Jersey’s cider-making past – the tipple was once the island’s biggest export. And he would certainly have avoided La Mare Estate. Not only has cider production been revived there, but a sustainable vineyard – on the same latitude as Champagne – now produces quality wines.
Jersey’s most immediate and striking historical remnants, though, are the leftovers from the Second World War, when the island was occupied by German troops. The Channel Islands were the most heavily fortified section of Hitler’s far-reaching “Atlantic Wall” leaving an excess of strongpoints, batteries and bunkers still scattered around.
With the island marking the 80th anniversary of its liberation in 2025, it’s a poignant time to descend into the War Tunnels or take a bunker tour. This combination of liberation celebrations and a TV return, means that little Jersey is having a big year.
Bergerac airs Thursdays at 9pm on U&Drama and is available on streaming service U.
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