The final two episodes of Spiral - ever!

All good things must come to an end, even Spiral, BBC Four’s hit French crime drama.

The Bridge and The Killing maybe more famous, but Spiral precedes them both by several years – its first run originally aired in the UK in the summer of 2006 and gained a small if loyal group of fans. They believe that despite the hype surrounding other shows, the Gallic hit remains the best foreign series to air on the channel.

Entitled Engrenages (which translates as Gears) in its native country, Spiral has taught viewers all about France’s judicial system, which differs from our own; the police work hand-in-hand with judges who have the power to drive investigations in certain directions, long before a trial date is set.

The debut run introduced us to idealistic young assistant prosecutor Pierre Clement and his veteran colleague Judge Francois Roban, who worked together to help Police Captain Laure Berthaud bring criminals to book.

When Gregory Fitoussi, who played Clement, decided to leave to launch an international career (he’s since appeared in Mr Selfridge, Odyssey, Beecham House and Riviera), Berthaud and co continued to look to Roban for guidance. Over the years they’ve often butted heads with Josephine Karlsson, a cynical lawyer and Clement’s girlfriend who will stop at nothing to get a client off a charge – something that doesn’t make her popular with the police.

She and Berthaud have more in common than they realise. Both are strong-willed, stubborn, determined and willing to bend – or even break – the rules to get what they want. They’re traits that have landed both women in trouble in the past.

Roban retired at the end of season seven, leaving Berthaud without an ally at court. He’s been replaced by Judge Lucie Bourdieu, who thinks her age, sex and attractiveness work against her, so is desperate to make a mark in her first posting – something that has led her to make some less than impressive decisions.

In her defence, it’s a tough and complicated case. It started out as a seemingly straightforward investigation into the death of an immigrant child who had been sleeping rough. However, various clues led the police to realise the boy was caught up in a drugs trafficking ring that also involves the regular arrival of mules from French Guiana.

While Karlsson has found herself reluctantly keeping an eye on another young immigrant whose life is in danger from the criminals at the centre of the case, Berthaud’s former colleague and ex-lover Gilou has been unofficially working undercover to dish dirt on Cisco, a known gang leader, who is also linked to the investigation.

Now the final two episodes are set to air – and they will be the last ones we’ll ever see; the production company behind the drama announced there would be no more series after this one. The good thing is, it’s set to go out with a bang – probably literally.

Here, as Karlsson heads back to Paris, Gilou’s life is placed in grave danger by Judge Vargas, who decides not to pursue Cisco any further. It’s up to Berthaud and the team to get him out of a tight spot – can this grittiest of crime shows really end happily, or is tragedy about to strike?

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