A continuation of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries?

There has finally been some news about the future of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries which has made the fanbase more or less totally crazy. I have to say though, that as much as I want more about Phryne Fisher, Jack Robinson and everyone else, I still cannot help feeling a little cautious towards it.

Now, before you turn against me completely, please hear me out on this! A lot of franchises have suffered in recent years more or less due to overuse just because they became so popular that their creators would not let them finish.

I have seldom seen this issue being addressed, but Swedish comedian and author Jonas Gardell did so in the Swedish newspaper Expressen in March this year in the wake of the Swedish rock band Kent announcing they were going to retire. (Both links are in Swedish.)

"Lena Philipsson sjunger att kärleken är evig! Men hon sjunger det bara i tre minuter!" ("Lena Philipsson sings that love is eternal! But she sings it only for three minutes!")

~ Jonas Gardell, Modigt av Kent att sätta punkt

Gardell talks about the trend in pop-culture of today that nothing gets to have an ending. Even the more serious dramas do not get to end, with lesser quality as time goes by. Gardell himself wrote a series of three books called Torka aldrig tårar utan handskar (Never dry tears without gloves) about a group of homosexual men in Sweden during the 1980's when the first outbreak of HIV happened. It is such a wonderfully, sad plot that really touches your heart. (I have long intended to make a post about those books and the three part TV series that goes with it, but it is emotionally exhausting.) Both books and TV-series have had a lot of international success and the US industry thought about doing an American remake of it. However, they changed their minds because they did not know how to make more. Everyone dies!

I think Jonas Gardell has a point in letting something end even though there is a demand for more from the public. I love Phryne Fisher and all the others and I love Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, but I do not want it to turn bad just because of the demand for more. Fiona Eagger says in the article about the future of the show: "The fan base is so passionate. If you've got a successful franchise, why not (make more than one movie)?" which actually served as a warning bell to me. If they should continue the Miss Fisher universe, I think it would be best if they focused mostly on the matter of having a story to tell. And I might be an archaeologist, but I do not want a "female Indiana Jones". I want Phryne! I am for them making films, but they need to do it for the right reasons. Back in May I wrote a post on my Tumblr blog about how amazing it could be if Phryne would go to Sweden. The Nordic countries are often sadly overlooked, not least historically (For example the Tudors pale in comparisson to the contemporary Scandinavian royal dynasties!). We have a lot to offer and Phryne would probably fit in very well. I imagine she would like the Folkhemmet ideal (the open-minded and including part, not the racist and elitist one!), befriend Swedish forensic scientist Harry Söderman. Sweden was actually the country which invented scientific racism as a discipline back in 1922, we also passed a law of compulsory sterilization in 1934 because some people were not considered fit to procreate. I think this would be able to serve as a backdrop for a Phryne plot line. After all, there is a Swedish Murder Mysteries series about these issues. However, I would not want a story because it is a popular franchise. I want it only as long as it is good!

And about the whole prequel: I have a hard time seeing how they can make it canon based on the facts we have been given about Phryne's background in both books and TV shows. To me, Phryne is the way she is because of the war and René Dubois. An 18 year old Phryne would not have had time to reflect on the war which would probably make her rather much of a mess. René would also be lurking around the corner and I just do not see how they could make it work with a teenage Phryne being the same as her fantastic, hedonistic wonderful adult self.

I am sorry that I am so pessimistic towards a continuation of the Phryne Fisher franchise, but I have seen it happen to the Swedish Beck and Wallander franchises and I see it happens to the Harry Potter one at this very moment. Series that were once good, but then became overused and empty, turning fans against them instead.