The Madame Blanc Mysteries returns to Channel 5 on Thursday, October 29, with its fifth series, followed by a Christmas special. Former Coronation Street actress Sally Lindsay again leads the cast as amateur sleuth and antiques dealer Jean White.
The crime-comedy-drama, co-created by Sally and Sue Vincent, follows Jean as she helps solve mysteries and deaths in the village of Sainte Victoire in the south of France. She is supported by her fiancé Dom (Steve Edge), friend Gloria (Sue Vincent), and the comical couple Jeremy and Judith Lloyd James (Robin Askwith and Sue Holderness).
New guest stars for series five
The show has confirmed a list of new guest stars for series five, including Michael Fenton Stevens, who has appeared in the BBC's Death in Paradise and Apple TV's Slow Horses. Viewers can also expect Bonnie Langford (EastEnders), Justin Moorhouse (Phoenix Nights), Brian Capron (Coronation Street), Lesley Joseph (Birds of a Feather), Jason Manford (Waterloo Road), Su Pollard (Hi-de-Hi!), Louisa Lytton (EastEnders), Frazer Hines (Emmerdale) and Zoe Lyons (Mock the Week).
Ahead of the new season, Sally Lindsay admitted she is "shocked" at how successful the series has become. The drama first aired in October 2021 and quickly became one of the network's most-watched shows.
"The biggest shock of my life"
Sally explained: "Well, I knew it had legs, and I'd been in things like Mount Pleasant, Coronation Street, and Still Open All Hours, I really do love a return, and I love the camaraderie. I love one-off dramas, and I've done hundreds of them, but I do like the camaraderie of a returning cast because you turn into kind of a family, cast and crew, and I love that."
Sally added: "So it was always my intention for it to carry on, that was always going to be the hope. Because it was just Sue and me, and I created it, I didn't think it would be this successful, I got to say, that has been the biggest shock of my life, I think, and the biggest joy of my life, really, apart from my boys."
Filmed in Malta
While the drama is set in the fictional French village of Sainte Victoire, it is actually filmed in Malta. Sally admitted that spending time there has become like a second home, where she has formed "amazing" friendships.
Sally explained: "We've created this sort of other country that now, there are loads of people that are my best friends, which is amazing. So we've got the whole country that I know, that I feel that's my second home, which is amazing. We get to spend time in the sunshine with my dearest friends I've turned into, like Sue and Robin, and obviously Edge, who I've known for 30 years anyway, so we have this time where we've become sort of a friendship group, really, as opposed to a cast."
Sally added: "So It's quite a beautiful way to earn a living, to be honest. I feel extremely grateful every time they give us the green light." The fifth series of The Madame Blanc Mysteries premieres in the UK on Thursday, 29 October 2026 at 9:05 pm on Channel 5.
