Sophie Davies | On 15, May 2022

Remakes are notoriously difficult to get right – so when a UK adaptation of internationally acclaimed French series Call My Agent! (Dix Pour Cent) was announced, there was a certain amount of scepticism. Thankfully, John Morton (who wrote W1A and Twenty Twelve) has managed to put a British twist on the source material without sacrificing its charm.

The satirical comedy takes place in fictional talent agency Nightingale Hart, staffed by agents Jonathan (Jack Davenport), Rebecca (Lydia Leonard), Dan (Prasanna Puwanarajah) and Stella (Maggie Steed). They’re flanked by assistants Julia (Rebecca Humphries), Ollie (Harry Trevaldwyn) and newbie Misha (Hiftu Quasem), who gets her job when she happens to be in the right place at the right time. What her colleagues don’t know is that she’s actually Jonathan’s daughter – the outcome of an affair his wife is still unaware of – and the two of them resolve to keep this a secret, leading to plenty of amusing misunderstandings.

On the surface, the characters are very similar to their Call My Agent! counterparts and, for people who’ve seen the original, the agents’ individual storylines will be familiar. During this first season, Jonathan gets to know his estranged daughter and has to grapple with telling his family about her. Lone wolf Rebecca enters into a serious relationship, while Dan takes on Nightingale Hart receptionist Zoe (Fola Evans-Akingbola) as a client and falls for her.

At first, if you’re a Call My Agent! fan, you might find yourself wondering what the purpose of the remake really is, given there are so many similarities. However, notable changes have been made, which mean that Ten Percent ultimately has a little more heart and less whimsy than its predecessor.

For example, in both shows the agency is thrown into disarray when its boss (played by Jim Broadbent here) suddenly dies, leaving nobody in particular in charge. Where the British version deviates is that Broadbent’s character isn’t just the boss of Nightingale Hart – he’s also Jonathan’s father. This gives his death more emotional weight and Jonathan must spend the series trying to continue his father’s legacy when he was, by all accounts, more popular and respected than Jonathan has ever been.

There’s also the addition of Simon Gould (Tim McInnerny), an ageing actor who has struggled with alcoholism and seems to have gone a long time without getting any work. Initially, he has the air of a comedy character who’s wandered in from another show, bumbling around and causing chaos at auditions. But as the series goes on and we follow his bumpy journey back into acting, it’s difficult not to find yourself sympathising with and rooting for him.

Just as Call My Agent! did, Ten Percent features guest appearances from well-known actors playing themselves as clients of the agency. Some storylines are transplanted pretty directly from the French version: Kelly Macdonald is offered a big movie role on condition that she makes herself look younger; Helen Bonham Carter and Olivia Williams are the subjects of a mixup when they’re accidentally offered the same part; Clémence Poésy struggles to commit to a demanding role after having a baby. This is one element of the remake that feels somewhat like a missed opportunity. It’s perhaps no coincidence that the funniest guest turn is the one which doesn’t really have a French equivalent, with David Harewood turning down Bond because he’s quit acting to become a cab driver.

Although it may have lost a certain amount of glamour in transposing the action from Paris to London, Ten Percent is eminently watchable, regardless of whether you’ve seen Call My Agent! or not. The cast are a likeable group, and Morton’s writing is as snappy and witty as it was in his previous work. If more episodes are commissioned though, it would be wise for the show to deviate a little further from the source material and surprise fans of the original if it wants to truly stand alone and prove its worth.

Add to Watchlist