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Julien Baptiste

Shrewd, assured, and fiercely intelligent, Julien Baptiste is a renowned French missing persons detective.

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He is defined by his dogged attitude and leaves no stone unturned as he attempts to unravel the complexities of his cases.

Julien’s key vulnerability is taking the work so personally. A natural empath, he cannot help becoming involved in the lives of those affected by the crimes he investigates. When Julien is asked to help Edward Stratton find his niece, Natalie, he immediately feels his way into the case, sympathising with the women forced to prostitute themselves in Amsterdam’s red light area.

As he digs deeper and deeper, Julien will disturb a hornet's nest of dangerous men that will seek to hurt him in the most devastating manner.

Q&A with Tch茅ky Karyo

Tell us about the character of Julien Baptiste? What is his situation at the start of the series?

We are still very much in the same world as The Missing but we see things through the eyes of Julien

At the end of Series Two of The Missing, we leave Julien Baptiste on the operating table about to undergo an operation for the brain tumour that has dogged him throughout the series. We discover that he has survived another day, is ready to tackle more challenges, and has found a new lease of life spending time with his wife and family.

What’s in store for Julien in this series, and what challenges does he face?

Celia and Julien are in Amsterdam to help their daughter and son-in-law look after their grandchild. Whilst there, Martha, Julien’s ex-girlfriend, who is well aware of his methodical, crime solving skills, tries to get him involved in a case. Julien had decided not to go back to his other life but he can’t let go, and Celia knows that it would be good for both him and for their relationship so she encourages him to get out of the house. This causes some challenges for Julien as he tries to get back into being a detective, and as he goes on he finds that he can still do it as his instincts are very much intact.

What sets this series apart from the Missing?

The DNA of The Missing Series One and Two is still rooted in the story of Baptiste. We are still very much in the same world as The Missing but we see things through the eyes of Julien.

Julien is still stubborn, but he has a lot of empathy for people and is still searching for the truth about human nature. He realises that although humans are animals, what sets us apart is our brain and we should not forget to use it for the sake of life.