The Midwife

Catherine Frot plays Claire in the title role - a woman whose life is her work and her garden; and she is happy with that...until along comes her father's ex-mistress, Beatrice, who walked out 30 years ago. Played by Catherine Deneuve, Beatrice is the complete opposite of Claire - a freewheeling lush who gambles for a living and drinks wine with her breakfast. Why has Beatrice come back into Claire's life? Beatrice is impossible, "But the great Deneuve plays her with such endearing spirit, such an irreducible weave of dignity and desperation, that our exasperation is tempered with genuine affection... Frot has the trickier, more recessive role, one that might easily be underestimated by those who don’t know her as one of her country's nimblest comic talents" - Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times.

We get a great chance here to get to know them both.