President Alphonse

- Season 1

(2017)

Has anyone seen the President? The President of the French Republic has mysteriously disappeared. Amandine Barzati, the Prime Minister, and Paul Danglard, Minister of the Interior, decide to say that he is ill. Meanwhile, the senators elect the president of the Senate. An unexpected candidate is chosen: Alphonse Dumoulin.

Full steam ahead Alphonse: As stipulated by the Constitution, Alphonse Dumoulin is appointed interim President of the Republic. He takes his role very seriously and is keen to restore the power and prestige of the position. But he is unaware that France is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Three is an odd number: The Prime Minister Amandine Barzati receives the President of the IMF and the Commissioner of the European Union to request a 200 billion loan. This should be a formality, but the new President, Alphonse Dumoulin, invites himself into the talks, as does the Minister of the Interior, Paul Danglard.

Family jewels: Amandine wants to get Alphonse out of her hair for a while and sends him to Brussels to defend France's flagship pork meat products. In his absence she hopes to sell off some of France's assets to the Sultanate of Oman. But the Sultan only has eyes for Mont-Saint-Michel.

Debt, lies and videotape: Amandine is once again under fire from her own ranks. Firstly, there is Alphonse who wants to cancel France's debt and then there is Danglard who is threatening to release video footage of her in the arms of the President's bodyguard.

Grisbi or not grisbi!: Amandine is still trying to find 200 billion and hopes to raise the funds from Goolag, her former employer. Alphonse wants to recover monies owed by multinationals with a talent for tax optimisation, even if this means resorting to Danglard's dodgy methods.

France-Germany: It is the "last chance" summit: the German Chancellor comes to Paris and the aim is to persuade her to lend France 200 billion. But neither Amandine nor Alphonse are keen to meet with the formidable Angela.

The French touch: Alphonse tears up the German cheque and launches the idea of a big loan, but he doesn't share the vision of France proposed by Amandine in her campaign video. As everyone is busy preparing their own clip, Danglard plots to overthrow Amandine.

With Amandine out of the picture, a new Prime Minister must be appointed, despite just 24 hours remaining to find the 200 billion. Danglard, furious not to be chosen, organises a meeting between Alphonse and the ambassador of a "friendly" major power willing to help France, subject to certain conditions.

The fight goes on: France is now under the thumb of a foreign power, with Danglard in charge. Alphonse is held prisoner but manages to escape. He tries to drum up support from Amandine but she has had her fill of politics. He takes refuge in Corsica where he intends to organise the resistance.