Grégory Fitoussi: witty, charming (and très beau)

French actor Grégory Fitoussi is starting to make a name for himself in the UK, with a role in new ITV drama Mr Selfridge, and Friday night was a chance for a packed house of London-based fans to see him in the flesh. A bearded Fitoussi, who plays Pierre Clément in Engrenages (Spiral), was at the Institut Francais du Royaume Uni to introduce the premiere of episode one, season four of the BBC4 drama. The event formed part of the excellent Totally Serialized festival. Apologies for the poor photo quality, it's the best I could manage from row 4 with an iPhone!

Grégory Fitoussi quickly charmed his UK fans

Interviewed on stage by the TV editor of Time Out, Fitoussi confirmed that series 4 will focus on the terrorist threat from the extreme left (ultra gauche). He also teased us with the information that, despite their differences, Pierre finds himself attracted to fellow lawyer Joséphine Karlsson (Audrey Fleurot) and 'you will see what happens next'. A 5th series of Engrenages is 99% confirmed, he said, but wouldn't reveal any of the plot – joking that a sniper from the production team was trained on him from the back of the room, in case he gave anything away.

Day-long snowfall and freezing temperatures didn't prevent a full house

Charmingly self-deprecating about his (excellent) English, and posing for pictures with fans before the screening, Fitoussi got the evening off to a great start. The episode we saw on the big screen was typically gritty and tense, with touches of dark humour – I loved it. Review to follow.