Following a high-profile screening at the Festival de la Fiction in La Rochelle on September 16, 2026, the maritime thriller series Le Charles has drawn enthusiastic audience praise. Co-produced by M6 and Prime Video and filmed entirely on the French nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the six-episode production blends geopolitical tension with a closed-room murder mystery.
Filming At Sea Aboard the Charles de Gaulle
Shooting an ambitious dramatic thriller on an active nuclear aircraft carrier presented extraordinary logistical hurdles for the production team. Creator Henri Debeurme pursued the unique setting after an unexpected connection with Brigitte Matthieu, CEO of UGC, who had recently visited the ship as part of the citizen reserve and helped secure access to the vessel’s commander. He recalled that she told him she had been on the aircraft carrier three days earlier, that she was part of the citizen reserve, and that therefore she might be able to find the commander’s number, noting that it really happened like that and that they then started writing.
Production took place in the Mediterranean while the warship participated in active naval exercises. The resulting schedule required the cast and crew to work around military operations in real time. Debeurme recalled of the demanding conditions that they were filming while Rafale jets were taking off from the flight deck, and that they had very little time on the deck while equipment was being changed, describing the shoot as an impossible chaos where everything changed fifteen times a day.
Henri Debeurme, series creator, recounted that they were filming while Rafale jets were taking off from the flight deck, and that on the deck they had very little time while equipment was being changed, adding that the shoot was an impossible chaos where everything changed fifteen times a day.
Plot Dynamics and the Suez Canal Crisis
The narrative unfolds entirely inside the hull of the carrier as geopolitical stability unravels around the Suez Canal. The plot kicks off when a French container ship is sunk by the fire of an unidentified group. Héléna Duval, portrayed by Elodie Young, is named second-in-command to Daniel Devred, played by Jacques Gamblin.
During his initial briefing to the crew, Devred outlines the gravity of the mission by stating that it only takes a single spark and everything goes up in flames. He emphasizes that this time it is no longer just a deterrence mission for the Charles. Complicating matters further, a member of the crew is found dead under suspicious circumstances that do not point to a suicide, initiating a manhunt on the Charles de Gaulle where the crew must preserve the secret internally and externally while the mission continues.
Audience Reception at La Rochelle
The premiere screening packed the expansive auditorium of La Coursive in downtown La Rochelle on Wednesday night, September 16, and received a triumph from the audience. Festival attendees and industry professionals noted that the interest of the series presented at the Festival de la Fiction lies in having found a police locked-room mystery within the actual functioning of the vessel, playing on the rule of the noir novel where the culprit is necessarily in the room and every character becomes a suspect.
Broadcast Schedule and Platform Rollout
The festival presentation brought visibility to the broader distribution strategy for the project. The miniseries—consisting of 6×52’ episodes—is directed by Julien Despaux and produced by Next Episode (Groupe UGC). The project has secured a staggered release model, where it will first be broadcast on Prime Video in France in 2026, followed by a subsequent broadcast on M6.
The series anchors a competitive lineup at the Festival de la Fiction, which runs from Tuesday, September 15 through Sunday, with thousands of professionals—including 180 producers—gathered to review more than forty unreleased works, alongside platforms such as Netflix, HBO, Canal +, and Amazon Prime Video.