The Paris Première channel is broadcasting the first episodes of “Harry Wild” this evening, a detective series combining investigation and humor carried by Jane Seymour. The star of “Doctor Quinn, woman doctor” presents us with this new role which marks her big return.
Twenty-one years after the broadcast of the TV movie entitled “Ladies of Hearts”, which served as the conclusion to the cult series Doctor Quinn, Woman Doctor, Jane Seymour is making her comeback on television with Harry Wild, a new detective series in which she takes the leading role.
While Harry Wild arrives this evening in France at 9 p.m. on Paris Première, the actress, met a few months ago as part of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, tells us more about this character of an investigator not like the others and looks back on the success of Doctor Quinn and the roles that marked his career.
AlloCiné: Your new series, Harry Wild, was launched in the spring of 2022 on the American platform Acorn TV. Can you introduce us to your character and the universe of this comedy-tinged “mystery show”?
Jane Seymour: I play Harry Wild, or rather Harriet Wild, a retired literature professor who isn’t quite sure what she plans to do with her free time. She settles in Dublin, with her son, who is a police inspector. And their relationship is complicated because he refuses to listen to his mother. While this one is always right (laughs).
Quickly, my character takes an interest in a case that his son is working on – a serial killer inspired by a famous play – and manages to solve it thanks to his knowledge of British history and literature. .
Harry discovers a vocation as a detective and will join forces with Fergus Reid (Rohan Nedd), a fifteen-year-old teenager who refuses to go to school, to solve a whole bunch of investigations, using their knowledge. respective roles – literature for her, street codes for him – to form a shock pair. And what is very funny is that they find themselves in impossible situations, they are chased by killers, or track down killers. And Harry still finds a way to fix Fergus’ grammar mistakes or teach him things about Shakespeare (laughs).
Acorn-TV Jane Seymour and Rohan Nedd in Harry Wild.
What attracted you to this new project?
The series is extremely well written. It’s smart and very funny at the same time. And the investigations are very well put together. You never know what really happened until the very end of the investigation. The mysteries are very effective.
And then Harry refuses to get married, she goes on fussing with men and throws them away when she doesn’t want them anymore, she drinks a lot, she’s a very funny character to play.
You are also the producer of the series. Are you very involved in writing?
We are fortunate to have extremely talented screenwriters. But they know me very well, they know what I like. And I sometimes give them ideas that are very often found in the series. We have a real relationship of trust. It’s awesome.
A season 2 of Harry Wild is already planned, you confirm?
Yes, we started filming in October in Dublin. The series is already a success around the world. I am in a hurry that the French public can finally discover it.
You have interpreted many characters during your career. Does Doctor Quinn still remain the role most dear to your heart?
Sure. I would say Michaela Quinn and Harry Wild. They’re completely different characters, but Doctor Quinn fans love this new series, so I’m thrilled.
Acorn-TV
Jane Seymour is Harry Wild.
Are you surprised by the success of Doctor Quinn and the love that the public still has today for this series which rocked a generation but ended more than twenty years ago?
I am inevitably a little surprised, and at the same time, not that much. When I was shooting the show I didn’t have time to watch it, I was working all the time, so I’m not an expert on Doctor Quinn at all. Even though I’m Doctor Quinn (laughs).
But today, when I come across reruns, I notice that the series is timeless. It takes place in the 1870s and we realize that not much has changed. Of course, we now have planes and internet. But we are still confronted with problems of immigration, racism, or related to the environment. All the humanitarian and social issues of the time remain, unfortunately, the same today.
Do you remember how the series ended?
Not really. Because we were never entitled to a true end. We thought we were going to resume filming and the series was canceled. Of course, there were then two telefilms, but the series in itself did not have the right to a real conclusion at the time of its diffusion.
What is your best memory related to the Doctor Quinn adventure?
There are so many. Especially with my playing partners, like Joe Lando. But I would say Doctor Quinn literally saved my life. It’s my best memory. I had no money, no roof over my head. I had nothing. I asked my agent to find me something, whatever the role. And one evening I received the script for the pilot of Doctor Quinn, I was in tears while reading it.
However, the next day I was told “It will never become a series. The main character is a woman, it will not work. There are too many family values, it is historic, it is dusty”. But I really believed in it. I signed for five seasons, when no one believed in this project. And we know the rest of the story. So my best memory is that we proved to everyone that we could make a hit out of a show like Doctor Quinn. 98 countries around the world continue to watch the series today. It is fabulous.
You also participated in the fourth season of Smallville in 2004. Is that still a good memory for you?
Sure. To be honest, I had never really watched the series. I just knew I was going to play Genevieve Teague when I agreed to join Smallville opposite Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk and Jensen Ackles. And I had a lot of fun. It’s always fun to play the bad guys (laughs).