From a review of one of the Gambon episodes:

“Of course the Gambon series looks better, they had a vastly better budget, and the technical advances greatly helped with the picture quality. That series had shows that ran for longer (90 mins or 2 hours, from fading memory) so the stories could be developed in a better way, but the Davies version was actually shot in Paris (for the externals) so has that extra benefit.

The criticism about “claustrophobic sets” is also strange, the Gambon & Atkinson series both had some small sets, reflecting the stories as Simenon wrote them (a small room is a small room, a small bar is a small bar!). Their later date of production meant they looked rather better, having had more time and money spent! NB The Gambon series was 2 runs of 6 shows, and I think Atkinson stopped after just 3 (a relief for those fans pained at his lack of resemblance to the written Maigret). I look forward to more of the Davies reruns!

Criticism of Helen Shingler (Davies) is especially daft, as she plays Madame Maigret just as directed, and what a wife would have been back then, especially of a leading policeman. The review by Richard Hull is far more accurate about the Simenon books, and how the atmosphere and detection methods are layered, and pretty hard to replicate on screen – especially in these original one hour shows.”

That, to me, was a fair review … this is the ggl AI review:

“Gambon’s portrayal of Maigret in the 1992-1993 series received mixed reviews. While some praised his acting ability and physical presence as convincing, others criticized the shorter episode length, which they felt didn’t allow for sufficient character development and atmosphere. Some found the supporting cast and overall atmosphere to be too “British” and less faithful to the original French tone of Simenon’s novels.”

The “too British” thing … possibly referring to Geoffrey Hutchings as Lucas … to my mind it was great, an excellent actor. Gambon was the part, plus the quality of the females is always so very important. In The Nightclub Dancer, Minnie Driver was superb, while The Maid was superbly played by Susie Lindeman in that episode … in fact, she absolutely makes that episode, alo g with Gambon … the chemistry is electric.

I’ve seen many Cremer episodes, esp. with subtitles … the Flemish family are better there, the settings are of course authentic but the Maid methought was the weakest. The females are crucial in a film, esp. for us males.

Certain episodes in all series are classics … these were iconic (dates were for the Gambon version):

I would add the Gambon version of The Mad Woman … she was so humanely played by Marjorie Sommerville, though the episode itself was so-so.

This was another classic with Gambon and Minnie Driver:

Below is the Davies version of that episode: