A Very Secret Service

Nostalgia is the name of the game in this amusing series pocking fun at France and its secret service. French bureaucracy is notoriously labyrinthine, even in the secret service and the first episode of the series its amazingly funny, showing the poor, disoriented Andrè trying to find his way in his new office.

Andrè's colleagues, in charge of Africa, Algeria and Eastern Europe are despicable, self-serving, arrogant men, the way French can do very well. His superior is an enigma and - apparently- his father is a priest...

Female characters are also interesting and not bi-dimensionsional, even if there is an inevitable femme fatale.

Each episode is a mere 30 minutes and develops independently, while carrying a main plot involving the higher hierarchy. Although nowadays it is impossible to watch a show without an agenda, this one is at least threading lightly and for sure it's funny.

A French agent drama set in the early sixties with a backdrop of actual historical events, in this case the cold war and Algerian liberation war. It is very enjoyable to watch, it is a very French kind of jargon and humour and I would describe it as a mix of Peter Sellers and Jaques Tati. At moments it is absolutely brilliant and hilarious.

The recreation of the 60s atmosphere is great and everything oozes a high class production. Mad Men in a French setting.

It is a funny comedy, no gore or explicit violence, that will keep you smiling and wanting more. Each episode is pretty short circa 25 min so it is perfectly digestible in chunks now and then.

A series that deserves much more attention. A hidden gem.

Very recommended watch if you are looking for an intelligent comedy

The first - the performance of Hugo Becker . The second- lovely humor in different and seductive nuances. Not the last - the cliches and stereotypes, wise used for the perfect atmosphere and for the resurrection of a lot of memories about films of same genre. Short - just a delight.

Season One: A Very Secret Service is a sophisticated French satire about the Cold War, colonialism and racism. The series is especially meaningful - and humorous - to those with some understanding of post-War history.

The main character Andre Merlaux struggles to make sense of the bureaucracy surrounding intelligence operations and, whether skillfully or by chance, protects the French Republic from its enemies more than once. Once Merlaux gets the hang of the whole spy thing then the rules change again.

Au Service de la France is a laugh. It pokes holes in the the world, France and the era (yes, everyone did smoke in the 1960s, even on airplanes!). The series also none too subtly delivers a none too positive message on the role of Western powers in establishment of the post War global structure. So, yes, it's kind of a political show!

It's a shame that this excellent production has no review yet on IMDb, so i decided to go first :-)

"A very secret service" caught me by surprise. The stage are the early 1960s, relatively short after the end of WW2 and in the middle of the cold war. It's a mix of "The Office" and "Dr. Strangelove".

There is plenty of twisted, sarcastic and dark humour (at times very British). They shoot quotable one-liners like machine guns at you. I laughed my *** off many times (hint: the eastern German bathrobe).

With all the silliness they managed to create a coherent story line as well as a bunch of characters you really care about.

They mostly also use very nicely and somewhat easy to understand french, so it's good for those wanting to learn french. I'm Swiss, so i can relate well to what's going on.

Now bring on the second season, or i will get very grumpy!!