France so loved Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s hit series Fleabag that it has made its own version, about the life of a woman called Mouche (Fly).



Rather than subtitle the seemingly singularly British comedy, French producers wanted to faithfully recreate a Parisian version, complete with guinea pigs, a salon de thé, dysfunctional family and the same emotional pitfalls, but set against a backdrop of bridges over the Seine.



It is becoming increasingly common to adapt scripted formats for foreign audiences, as opposed to the long standard practice of copying reality TV formats such as Big Brother. An Indian Luther, and Russian and French Doctor Fosters are among many in the works. Their success, however, is far from guaranteed.



Mouche, which broadcasts on 3 June, has been described as a faithful adaptation of Waller-Bridge’s original – recapturing the series almost scene for scene.



The writer and director, Jeanne Herry, told France Inter radio this week: “The English version is excellent, so I don’t see why you’d change it.” She said she added only a handful of extra scenes – developing Mouche’s relationship with her best friend and adding a scene from her mother’s funeral.

One difference at the start of the French series is that Mouche’s object of sexual fantasy is not Barack Obama but Benoît Hamon, the former French Socialist party presidential candidate running in the European elections.



Under the contract, Herry was allowed to add two or three scenes per episode. “I didn’t want to be adding things in,” she said. “It was about making sure it sounded right in France, so that it really seemed anchored in France.

“We found it worked with Paris decor and costumes. It’s a series that is not so much about England or English culture but about the times we’re living in. Those times we’ve living in have a similar impact across Europe and the western world and similar themes – personal connection, the difficulties of talking – at the heart of families. It’s all so universal that the connection worked.”



The star of the French version is Camille Cottin, who already has a large following in the UK for her scathing role in the French comedy series Call My Agent, made by the state TV channel France 2 and now on Netflix. Cottin became famous in France for her excruciatingly funny sketches portraying a gleefully unaware character, Connasse. She has been deemed a perfect on-screen match for Waller-Bridge.

Qu'est-ce que l'on avait hâte de vous montrer les premières images de #Mouche ! 🎉

Camille Cottin prend les commandes de la @CreationCanal, bientôt sur @canalplus et @myCANAL > https://t.co/8V51hgOHbv pic.twitter.com/M7LOioh2BF — Création Originale CANAL+ (@CreationCanal) April 18, 2019

Cottin, who lived in London as a teenager, said she discovered the series when her sister, an editor, was working on a documentary about women’s sexuality in British TV shows and recommended it. “She said: ‘You have to see this, the sisters are us.’ I watched it and it made me hysterical with joy and happiness.”



Cottin said the “brilliant English series” was incredible in its portrait of a character “who, faced with grief, unhappiness and despair, puts on this sunny, dazzling front when inside she’s destroyed”.



The French name for the series came from Cottin herself. She said the production team had been sitting around desperately trying to pick a French equivalent for the word Fleabag but all the French versions seemed too modern or harsh. She said the word Fleabag had an element of mystery, “so it was important to keep that mystery, that enigmatic, poetic, timeless side and not put something too modern in there”. She suggested Mouche, her own nickname as a child. “I suggested it and they liked it,” she said.



Cottin, who described Waller-Bridge as “one of the greatest contemporary writers”, said she would have been terrified to meet her. She had emailed Waller-Bridge during shooting, saying she was scared but delighted to be taking on the role. She said she hadn’t expected a reply, knowing how busy Waller-Bridge was. But shortly afterwards she received a long, “very warm” reply wishing them luck.

The remaking of TV series for international markets began with reality formats, like Wife Swap and Supernanny, before taking off with scripted shows. The Great Bake Off is now licensed to 32 countries.

Walter Iuzzolino, an Italian former TV producer who fronts Channel 4’s world drama platform Walter Presents, said British television had been “an extraordinary source of intellectual property” for many years.

“Shows like The Office and Fleabag have become such hits because they are driven by extraordinary creative talent – their boldness and uniqueness is what made them so popular in the first place,” he said. “It’s no surprise that broadcasters around the world are keen to replicate such a successful formula. The challenge for any adaptation is to find a compelling piece of talent that can make the concept their own and can lend unique local flavour to the piece.”



The series Life on Mars has been licensed to companies in Russia, Spain, the Czech Republic, South Korea and, most recently, China. The British-Irish psychological crime drama The Fall was relocated from Belfast to Lyon as Insoupçonnable, and last month it was announced that an Indian version of Luther was in the works.

But with the success of each show very much dependent on how well it has been adapted for its new audience, not every one takes off. The 2008 German version of The IT Crowd – titled Das iTeam: Die Jungs an der Maus (The iTeam: The Boys at the Mouse) – was cancelled after only two episodes due to low ratings.



• Mouche begins on Canal+ on 3 June