A Belgian murder mystery that claims to be anything but is the surrealist premise of art-meets-death series This Is Not A Murder Mystery, which sees a bunch of famous artists trapped in an estate with a serial killer on the loose and painter René Magritte investigating.
The English-language series, which airs on U&Drama and is also streaming on Channel 4, follows a group of surrealist artists as they're invited to a lavish English country estate for a private show. Following an opening night rager, Magritte wakes up next to a dead woman and swears he didn't do it.
Determined to clear his name, the pipe and bowler hat aficionado played by Pierre Gervais takes it upon himself to crack the case.
The show is set in 1936, the same year in which The Treachery of Imagery artist — aka the 'This Is Not A Pipe' painting which the series references in its title — had his first solo exhibition in New York. On the brink of wider recognition, this bohemian gang of great minds, which also includes Lee Miller, Man Ray and Salvador Dalí among many others, risks falling apart as they all become suspects overnight.
Blending cosy crime and artsy references to an exciting time in history, This Is Not A Murder Mystery makes the most of a classic killer setting with a comedic, classy edge.
Branded a "glossy, grisly whodunit" that's "irresistibly surreal" (via The Guardian), the series has a stacked cast of players including Iñaki Mur as Dalí, Florence Hall as Miller, Frank Bourke as Man Ray, Mike Hoffmann as Max Ernst, and Lauren Versnick as performance artist Sheila Legge.
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Overridden by Magritte's informal but resolute investigation are the local police, with Stephen Tompkinson as DCI Thistlewaite and Donna Banya as DC Mary Quant (not the miniskirt designer).
Elsewhere, the series has been called a "fun mystery romp" combining facts and fiction with "wildly imaginative fantasy" (via the Irish Independent) and a "good old-fashioned whodunit with an array of eccentric characters" (via The Brussels Times).
This Is Not A Murder Mystery airs on U&Drama and is streaming on Channel 4.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
