Set in Mallorca, the first series of the 10-part BBC Daytime drama (co-produced with German channel ZDF), which is written by Good Karma Hospital’s Dan Sefton and features a brilliant partnership in the form of uptight British cop Miranda Blake (Elen Rhys) and laid-back German policeman Max Winter (Julian Looman), broke audience records and has since been sold to over 60 countries around the world and translated into numerous languages, including Japanese.
The Mallorca Files is a drama which does not take itself too seriously.
In tone, it’s a bit like blood-drenched comedy drama Death in Paradise, or BBC Daytime’s other hit detective drama Shakespeare & Hathaway.
The crimes are puzzles. Everything will soon be safely solved.
There’s no need to worry, and that is why viewers have fallen in love with the series and the two main characters across the globe.
And now, early next month, series two, which only features six episodes because the pandemic cut filming short, will premiere in the UK and then be followed by a repeat of series one which will mean a February of lying back on the sofa and getting lost in the delights of Mallorca.
Following her decision to stay on the island, season two sees Miranda settling into her life on Mallorca; she’s even starting to enjoy a little ‘Mallorca time’.
She’s come to terms with Max’s quirks (at least most of the time) and she’s even starting to build a rapport with Palma Police Chief Ines (Maria Fernández-Ache).
In fact, her biggest short-term problem seems to be finding somewhere permanent to lay her head.
But crime doesn’t sleep in Mallorca, and now that the pair have proven their worth (and their partnership) to Ines, the duo find themselves allocated bigger, more sophisticated and more local cases, ready to give crime another kick in the Balearics.
And, there is going to be a special launch of the second series.
On Tuesday 12 January, the Royal Television Society will be hosting the launch event which is going to be a panel and Q&A with the BBC, Elen & Julian and creator Dan Sefton and Pedro Barbadillo, head of The Mallorca Film Commission.
It will be hosted by TV critic Emma Bullimore and for anyone wishing to take part all they have to do is go to rts.org.uk/event/mallorca-files-preview-and-qa because people will need to sign up to the event as all participants will need to register.
In addition the entire second series will be dropped on BBC iplayer next month and Britbox in the United States will launch at end of March, so it is going to be a major few months for The Mallorca Files and Majorca itself.
Such has been the global impact of the series that the Palma Film Office is now on board and has been helping in any way possible and will do so once filming of a third series can resume on the island.
The town hall says that representatives from the film office have met with local production teams in order to improve coordination for filming.
There has also been a meeting with the residents association in Sa Calatrava to analyse what impact there was because of the use of public areas for filming the first series.
Councillor Rodrigo Romero, who is president of the film office, explained that there is consensus that Palma as a filming location should offer “general benefits” for local businesses and those working in the audiovisual sector.
The Mallorca Files plays out against the backdrop of sun-drenched locations and glamorous lifestyle of the island and it clearly proved a wonderful winter tonic last year for UK TV viewers with the producers, Cosmopolitan Pictures and Clerkenwell Films hoping that the second series will have a similar, if not better, welcome and audience response.
Ben Donald, the co-producer of the hit police series, told the Bulletin that they were the first production company to have presented the BBC with a completed new series since the pandemic hit.
“The Mallorca Files will serve as the perfect reminder of what people have missed in Mallorca and what they can look forward to enjoying again.
“That has always been one of our objectives, to show Mallorca at its best, hence why we’ve used all of the best locations. It is just the most inspiring live, natural set to film in.
“We’re all desperate to get back to Mallorca. And the exposure we’ve given Mallorca has not gone unnoticed.
“The Mallorca Film Commission is creating a shooting map which will feature all of the locations which we used around the island for the benefit of the general public and the film and audiovisual industry as a whole.”
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They have shown the series on Swedish public television as well. I really tried to watch an entire episode on three occasions, but it did not work, it was impossible. I felt physically unwell after fifteen minutes and had to comfort myself with a Kubrick movie on Netflix.