Tchéky Karyo wants to play Baptiste again in the future, despite writers ruling out season 3
The actor wants to play the French detective again, despite creators Jack and Harry Williams announcing there will not be a third series.
While BBC One's Baptiste is set to conclude with the end of its upcoming second series, the drama's star Tchéky Karyo has teased that he's not ready to say goodbye to the character just yet.
When asked whether he was planning on still playing Julien Baptiste in 10 years time, Karyo told RadioTimes.com and other press during a set visit in November: "I mean, if I'm in good shape, why not?
"You know, it depends. For the moment, we may, we may not, who knows? It's not really decided but it's a good character, it's always an amazing distribution. They do great work, you see all the actors I've been working with – it's fantastic."
Unfortunately, Jack Williams, who wrote the series alongside his brother Harry, recently announced during an RTS Q&A ahead of series two that Baptiste wouldn't be returning for a third season, citing that they didn't want Baptiste to "become another police officer".
"I think what we've had the joy of doing every year is telling big, bold stories that give him a proper journey... And I think we began to worry – does it become a formula? Do we suddenly make him just another cop?
"And we thought, well that aside, let's just tell a great story for him and a great story for an actress that we've wanted to work with forever [Fiona Shaw] and the thing came together and as we wrote it, we started to realise that if we did this, we wouldn't get to do another one."
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He added: "We love this show, we love Tchéky, we've been working together a long time but it's about doing the right thing for the show and the character, and not going, 'Hey, we'll be back next year with more crazy adventures – keep watching until you don't!' It's something great that we all love, that we're proud of."
When asked what it's like saying goodbye to the character, Tchéky Karyo added: "No, I'm not saying goodbye, you know. I didn't say hi yet. Am I saying goodbye to myself? No, no – I'm saying hi all the time.
"I hope I'm not stuck in Baptiste's character; I'm already going through other things and I hope we will go through other things together and that you don't see me as Julian Baptiste."
Series two of Baptiste, a spin-off show to BBC One's The Missing, follows the French detective as he tries to find the husband and two sons of Emma Chambers (Fiona Shaw), a British Ambassador whose family disappeared whilst on holiday in the Hungarian mountains.
Baptiste series two airs on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm. Take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage or check out our TV gGide to find out what’s on television this week.
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