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On Monday, May 26, filming begins on the fourth series of Don Matteo in Rome (for the interiors) and in Gubbio (for the exteriors). This time they'll make twenty-four episodes that will be shown two per night, like before, beginning in the spring of 2004 on Raiuno. The directors will be Giulio Base ("Padre Pio", "Maria Goretti") and Andrea Barzini, who directed some episodes of the second and third series. |
| Besides Terence Hill, as the friendly Don Matteo, all the characters to whom we have become so attached will return: Captain Anceschi (Flavio Insinna), Marshal Cecchini (Nino Frassica), the housekeeper Natalina (Natalie Guetta) and the parish canon Pippo (Francesco Scali). |
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| There are some surprises planned: young Nerino, played by Claudio Ricci, has grown up and will return to live with his father, leaving in his place a child named Camilla, to be played by Sara Santostasi. Another new female series character will be the mayor of Gubbio, probably to be played by Milena Miconi (the winner of an "interactive casting" done by Lux Vide on their web-site). And will she be able to win the heart of the perpetual bachelor Captain Anceschi? We'll find out as the series progresses. |
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Another new entry will be the Carabiniere to be played by Andrea Cereatti (one of the cast of "Naja" and "Via Zanardi").
And there will be problems! For example, this time it will be Assuntina (Giada Arena), Marshal Cecchini's youngest daughter, to get into trouble with her friend Lucia (Martina Pinto, the actress who played Maria Goretti). |
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Besides the regular characters, the producers have arranged for a different guest star to appear in each episode. Would you like an example? In one episode, Katia Ricciarelli will have a role as, coincidentally, an opera singer. Even Giulio Base will play a character with Mirca Viola.
On June 3rd, filming moved to Gubbio, with the first shots right in Piazza Grande. But first the mayor of Gubbio wanted to drink a toast with the cast and crew to welcome everyone back and wish them success with their work and a pleasant stay in Gubbio.
From left: the director Giulio Base, Nino Frassica, the producer coordinator Daniele Passani, the Mayor of Gubbio Orfeo Goracci, Terence Hill, Natalie Guetta and Flavio Insinna.
On July 2nd, they moved to Ussita (Visso) and the week after that they were filming in Narni. On July 14 they began filming in Rome the interior scenes. On a sound stage, they built copies of Don Matteo's house, the Church and the Carabinieri headquarters.
The first eight episodes will be completed in Rome under the direction of Giulio Base; these are the working titles, in script order:
| 1) |
L'estraneo |
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| 2) |
Il calice avvelenato |
What will happen to Don Matteo? |
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| 3) |
Furto in Vaticano |
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| 4) |
Gara di ballo |
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| 5) |
L'amore rubato |
A sensitive subject |
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| 6) |
Debito per la vita |
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| 7) |
Spirali di ghiaccio |
On the set with Rossella Brescia |
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| 8) |
Mio padre è stato in carcere |
A very moving scene |
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The reason for transferring the cast and crew to Narni was so they could film in the ancient "Rocca". Click on the photo to enter the set! |
On Monday, September 8, the direction of Don Matteo was taken over by Andrea Barzini. He filmed for four weeks in Gubbio and then moved production on October 6 to Rome for the interior shots.
These are the working titles of the episodes, some have already changed name.
| 1) |
Omicidio in diretta |
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| 2) |
Indagine riservata |
A Mortal Accident |
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| 3) |
Dietro il sipario |
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| 4) |
Comma 23 |
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| 5) |
La valigia |
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| 6) |
Volo di notte |
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| 7) |
Campagna elettorale |
A New Mayor for Gubbio |
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| 8) |
Segreti e bugie |
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After a Christmas break, Andrea Barzini continued filming in Rome on his last four episodes of the series. In the two weeks from January 12 to 24, the cast and crew even returned to Gubbio.
| 1) |
Merce preziosa |
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| 2) |
Il dono |
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| 3) |
La legge del caso |
Hands off "Casa Domani" |
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| 4) |
Il sospetto |
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On March 1, 2004, the direction passed back to Giulio Base, for the last four episodes of the series.
The cast and crew have returned to Gubbio for two weeks, from March 22 to April 3, before returning to Rome to finish the last week of filming from April 5 to 10, 2004. Just the filming for this series has taken nearly a year!
| 21) |
Cuori solitari |
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| 22) |
Vacche grasse, vacche magre |
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| 23) |
Il delitto del biberon |
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| 24) |
Tre spari nel buio |
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During the filming, backstage interviews were conducted that will air from February 15 on Raisat Premium (Sky) each Sunday at 19.45. One episode will be dedicated to Terence Hill with an interview with him: don't miss it!
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