The new series, ordered from Showtime, “will follow the great tradition of Homeland”.
American network Showtime ordered The Departmentadaptation of the acclaimed French spy drama Office (The Office of Legends in the original version), with the two-time Oscar winner George Clooney on board as director and executive producer.
Le Bureau: The plot of the original series
Created by Eric Rochant and aired for five seasons from 2015 to 2020, Office explored the daily lives and missions of agents of the Bureau des Légendes, a division of France’s foreign intelligence service. Responsible for the training and management of undercover agents engaged in long-term missions in foreign areas of national interest, the Bureau des Légendes has seen its men and women, sources of extraordinary utility for the secret services, living under false identity for years. The series was a huge success with audiences and critics, with the New York Times which called it one of the best international television shows of the decade, and NPR “the best TV show in the world right now”.
In production by the end of the year, The Department (working title) “will follow in the great tradition of Homelandone of Showtime’s most successful and brand-defining series,” Showtime and Paramount Media president Chris McCarthy said in a statement. “Just like Homeland took international espionage to new heights, The Department will take viewers even deeper into a world of intrigue and subterfuge with complex characters struggling with their own demons while battling threats to the existential nation and world.”