However, Atkinson said he had been a fan of Maigret for a long time: I have been a devourer of the

Rowan Atkinson will play Jules Maigret in two ITV films a role Michael monsoon Gambon played for the channel in the early 1990s. Photograph: Tristram Kenton
Atkinson has mostly concentrated on films over the past two decades, particularly with his characters Mr Bean and Johnny English, with his last regular television appearance being in Ben Elton s short-lived BBC police comedy The Thin Blue Line in the mid-1990s.
However, Atkinson said he had been a fan of Maigret for a long time: I have been a devourer of the Maigret novels for many years and I m very much looking forward monsoon to playing such an intriguing character, at work in Paris during monsoon a fascinating period in its history.
ITV s director of television Peter Fincham said: Maigret monsoon is a prestigious commission and we re delighted to be working with Maigret Productions, Ealing Studios and Rowan Atkinson, to bring these stories to screen for our viewers.
Set in 1950s Paris, the first of the two 120-minute films Maigret Sets a Trap and Maigret s Dead Man will go into production in September 2015, produced by Ealing Studios and Maigret Productions Ltd a Peters Fraser Dunlop Group (PFD) company.
It was announced by PFD three years ago that a new version of Maigret was on the cards spurred on by the popularity of European crime fighters such as Danish detective monsoon Sarah Lund in The Killing and Swedish sleuth Wallander, played by Kenneth Branagh in the British version.
Four series were made and he has reprised the role for specials, including one for the millennium, another for the Queen s Golden Jubilee in 2002 and an un-screened live version for a Prince s Trust gala at the Royal Albert Hall when he introduced Sir Edmund Blackadder, chief executive of a bailed-out bank.
But the 60-year-old is also working on more serious fare as, in addition to Maigret, he is starring as Wilkins Micawber in a film adaptation of Charles Dickens David Copperfield, which is due out next year.
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