France’s TF1 revives ‘Plus Belle La Vie’ with social ‘tie-ins’ following France 3 cancellation

Plus Belle La Vie

France’s TF1 is reviving former France TV daily drama Plus Belle La Vie.

The show will return to the TF1 channel and to the MyTF1 streaming platform at the start of 2024, with daily episodes set to be accompanied by a raft of online and social media tie-ins.

TF1 Group’s production arm Newen France is producing.

Stéphanie Brémond, head of soaps & long-format series at Newen France, has retained Clémentine Planchon as producer while Mariem Hamidat – an established writer on the series – has been retained as showrunner.

Writing will begin this summer and shooting in mid-October, with the show set to continue with storylines grounded in the reality of life in a Marseille neighbourhood. The series will be shot in Marseille’s Belle de Mai studios, and on location in and around the city.

Many of the cast members have already been confirmed, including the return of a number of Marwan Berreni (Abdel Fedala), Sylvie Flepp (Mirta Torrès), Léa François (Barbara Evenot), Stéphane Hénon (Jean-Paul Boher), Cécilia Hornus (Blanche Marci), and Laurent Kérusoré (Thomas Marci).

Plus Bella La Vie ran for two decades on France 3 until last year, when the French pubcaster axed the show after declining ratings.

Ara Aprikian, TF1 Group’s EVP of content, described the show as “a perfect fit for our editorial and digital ramp-up strategy.”