‘The Invisibles' is a pretty common moniker when it comes to audio-visual entertainment. There was a BBC series from 2008 starring Warren Clarke, Anthony Head and Jenny Agutter, a 2024 movie starring Tim Blake Nelson, a 2017 German film (aka The Resistance), and a Czech 2014 comedy-fantasy series to name but a few.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading this article now.
This particular series is a French police drama (‘Les Invisibles') about a team of misfits who investigate John and Jane Doe cases – where a dead body has shown up without any identification. Their job is to put a name to their corpses, return them to their families, and to find whoever made them into corpses in the first place.
Each of the episodes is a stand-alone case, meaning it’s a dip in and out type of show where no long-term commitment is required of the viewer – and therefore it’s a fun way to wile away an hour trying to solve the mystery.
Much like a lot of formulaic US crime dramas – the ‘CSI' and ‘NCIS' franchises, for example – The Invisibles cast is made up of a hotch-potch of non-conformists under the command of Captain Darius (Guillaume Cramoisan), who is a compassionate individual driven by his mantra of giving these “invisible” souls an identity and personality. Hence why he insists that each body be given a name before they’ve been identified, to ensure that they’re more than just an invisible John or Jane Doe. For example, in the opening episode, a man is discovered in the Milan Woods, so he is named Milan – at least until they can uncover his true identity.
Working for Darius are Marijo (Nathalie Cerda), a grumpy older cop, Duchesse (Déborah Krey), an aristocratic younger woman who is the recipient of much of Marijo’s venom and Ben (Quentin Faure), a former boxer. In addition, there is Angie (Cécile Rebboah), the newly appointed forensics expert.
As the series develops, we learn more and more about what makes each member of the team tick – their strengths and weaknesses, the private lives and desires, as well as their darker sides.
The opening episode involves the death of a man found in woods. There are a number of potential clues to his identity, which the team pursue with varying degrees of success, ultimately leading them to a love triangle between a chef, a wealthy property developer and his neglected wife. It’s actually quite a complex and compelling story.
Like the US shows I mentioned earlier, this could easily have been formulaic and predictable; but is does have an endearing charm that the North American shows lack. The characters are engaging and likeable, and the script is slick and, at times, humorous.
The show is on its fourth season in France and is highly regarded over there – and deservedly so.
Walter Presents: ‘The Invisibles' is available as a boxset on C4 Streaming now.
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