| Genre: | Political thriller Political drama |
| Creator: |
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| Starring: |
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| Composer: | Christophe Lapinta |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
| Num Seasons: | 3 |
| Num Episodes: | 18 |
| Director: | Jean-Marc Brondolo Frédéric Tellier Frédéric Garson |
| Producer: |
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| Location: | Paris |
| Runtime: | 52 minutes per episode |
Spin (French: Les Hommes de l'ombre - literally The Shadow Men) is a French political television drama series created by Dan Franck, Frederic Tellier, Charline de Lépine and Emmanuel Daucé, and broadcast from 25 January 2012 on France 2.
After the success of the first season in its native France,[1] a second season was commissioned,[2] which premièred on France 2 on 1 October 2014 with 13.5% of the viewing audience.[3] While prime time viewing figures were disappointing, combining those with on-demand numbers led to a more stable audience. A third series was subsequently commissioned.[4] It was broadcast in France in October–November 2016.
In December 2015 it was announced that Spin would air in the UK on More4.[5] The show premiered on 8 January 2016 and the two existing seasons were broadcast consecutively on a weekly basis. The third and final season was broadcast in April–May 2017.
The President of France, visiting a striking factory in Saint-Étienne in the Loire, east-central France, is killed in a suicide attack. Presidential elections are announced for 35 days later and there is no doubt that the prime minister, Philip Deleuvre, will run for the Élysée. But what few people know is that the Prime Minister knows more than he claims. This grand lie causes a return to business of Simon Kapita (Bruno Wolkowitch), a former spin doctor to the late president. Anxious to preserve the honour of his dead friend and some form of political ethics, this "man of the shadows" sets out to find a candidate who will be able to beat Deleuvre — who is being advised by Kapita's former protégé Ludovic Desmeuze (French: [[Grégory Fitoussi]]).
| Actor | Character | Description | Appearances | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Simon Kapita | Visage's and later Marjorie's Spin Doctor | colspan=3 | |||
| Ludovic Desmeuze | Deleuvre's and later Carrère's Spin Doctor | colspan=3 | |||
| Philippe Magnan | Philippe Deleuvre | Desportes' Prime Minister; later Leader of the Opposition | colspan=3 | ||
| Emmanuelle Bach1 | Apolline Vremler | Journalist and ex-wife of Simon Kapita | colspan=2 | ||
| colspan=2 | |||||
| Robert Palissy | Senator
| colspan=2 | |||
| Marianne Fabbro | Juliette Kapita | Simon and Apolline's Daughter; freelance journalist | |||
| Alain Marjorie | colspan=2 | ||||
| Elizabeth Marjorie | colspan=2 | ||||
| Anne Visage | colspan=2 | ||||
| Valentine | colspan=2 | ||||
| Mathieu Barbet | Marc Kajanef | Webmaster | colspan=2 | ||
| Philippe Hérisson | Jean Guénelon | Deleuvre's Chief Cabinet Secretary | colspan=2 | ||
| Malik Gendre | Head of Presidential Security | colspan=2 | |||
| Gabrielle Tackichieff | Marjorie's Secretary-General of the Élysée | ||||
| Benoît Hussan | |||||
| François Berland | Pascal Diot | Marjorie's Chief Cabinet Secretary | |||
| Stéphanie Crayencour | Rose Sarfati | Hussan's wife | |||
| Maxime Beaugendre | Marjorie's Prime Minister | colspan=2 | |||
| Clémence Parodi | Marjorie's Secretary of State for Parliamentary Relations | colspan=2 | |||
| Aïssatou Diop | Lili | colspan=2 | |||
| François-Régis Marchasson | Petitjean | Leader of the Parti Du Rassemblement | colspan=2 | ||
| Smadi Wolfman | Alexandra | Marjorie's Spin Doctor | colspan=2 | ||
| Sandra Choquet | Claudia | colspan=2 | |||
| Christiane Millet | Isabelle Desportes | colspan=2 | |||
| Patrick Harivel | Desportes' Minister of the Interior | colspan=2 | |||
| Jackee Toto | Jamie | colspan=2 | |||
| Serge Biavan | Prat | Head of Anti-Terrorism | colspan=2 | ||
| Cyril Couton | Pollster | colspan=2 | |||
| François Dunoyer | Pierre Desportes | President of France | colspan=2 | ||
| Jérémy Bardeau | Arthur Frot | ||||
| Marjorie's Prime Minister | |||||
| Elisabeth Commelin | Sonia | Marjorie's Secretary | |||
| Lucien Rumiel Braun | Rudolph | Deleuvre's Parliamentary Assistant | |||
| Eric Herson-Macarel | Editor of Mediamag | ||||
| Peter Hudson | Bakian | Businessman and arms dealer | |||
| Stefan Godin | Gaillaud | Admiral | |||
| Anne Loiret | Annie Vaneck | colspan=2 | |||
| Marc Pierret | Bataille | colspan=2 | |||
| Hélène Sacco | Marjorie's Prime Minister | colspan=2 | |||
| Anne-Marie Carrère | MP for Hauts-de-Seine and candidate for President | colspan=2 | |||
1 In series 1, Valérie Karsenti portrayed Apolline.
| Country | TV network(s) | Broadcast title |
|---|---|---|
| Spin | ||
| Bulgarian: В сянката на властта | ||
| DR2 | Spin[6] | |
| French: Les Hommes de l'ombre | ||
 Finland[7] | ||
| Spin – German: Paris im Schatten der Macht[8] | ||
| Greek, Modern (1453-);: Οι άνθρωποι του παρασκηνίου[9] | ||
| Spin | ||
| Men of Shadow | ||
| "Men Of Shadows" | ||
| Year | Award | Category | Name | Result | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | French: [[Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels]] : FIPA d'or | French: Meilleure interprétation féminine (séries) Best female actor in a series | Nathalie Baye (season 1) | [10] | ||
| 2012 | Monte-Carlo Television Festival | French: Prix de la presse - Meilleure série française ("Press award for best French series") | Season 1 | [11] [12] | ||
| French: Meilleure mini-série ("Best mini-series") | Season 1 | |||||
| French: Meilleur acteur (mini-séries) ("Best actor in a mini-series") | Bruno Wolkowitch (season 1) | |||||
| 2013 | French: Globes de Cristal|nocat=y Awards | French: Meilleur téléfilm ou série télévisée ("Best TV movie or TV series") | Season 1 | [13] | ||
| 2014 | French: Meilleure série (France) ("Best French series") | Season 2, episode 1 | ||||
| 2017 | French: Globes de Cristal|nocat=y Awards | French: Meilleur téléfilm ou série télévisée ("Best TV movie or TV series") | Season 3 | [14] |