Héloïse Goy, with Alexis Patri
The RMC Découverte channel is broadcasting the unpublished documentary “Les secrets de Fort Boyard” on Friday evening. Its director Philippe Granados reveals to the microphone of Europe 1 a little of the history of this fort, born in the spirit of Louis XIV well before the launch in 1990 of the television game of the same name, adapted in 34 countries.
Everyone knows the credits of the game show Fort Boyard. But do you know its history and that, much older, of the military building erected off La Rochelle? RMC Dévouverte makes you explore them on Friday evening, thanks to its documentary The secrets of Fort Boyard. Its director Philippe Granados returns for Europe 1 to the many hardships of this fort which took more than two centuries to come out of the ocean. “At first, it was a project that was born in 1665,” he reveals.
“Louis XIV had decided to build an arsenal, because the English and the Dutch came a lot to the French coast to attack us. So there was a project for a fort. The problem is that the French had neither the technique, nor know it to be able to do it. They worked on it, then gave up, “explains Philippe Granados. “At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon decided to relaunch this fort. In 1841, it was decided to reopen the site, and it was under Napoleon III that it was finished.”
The crush of a TV game producer for the fort
The construction of this fort was completed in 1857. In all, it cost the equivalent of two billion euros. However, the building is immediately obsolete due to the progress of artillery. The military building will fall into oblivion for a very long time. It is thanks to a new buyer that he will regain his colors and become famous throughout the world thanks to a famous program.
Philippe Granados details the long road that the fort had to travel before becoming the emblem of this show that has become cult. “In the 1960s, the fort was bought by a Belgian dentist. In 1966, we see the fort appear in the film The adventurers, directed by Robert Enrico. The TV game producer Jacques Antoine sees it at the cinema and completely cracks on it”, explains the director. “He finds the place incredible. In the 1980s, he decided to buy it back and give it a second life. He has an idea for a game with riddles, which takes place in this fort. This is where he will create Fort Boyard.”
The documentary The secrets of Fort Boyard airs Friday evening at 9:05 p.m. on RMC Découverte.