It has been confirmed that it is one of the most followed TV series in Rai. The 11th season of Don Matteo achieved excellent results, and the next season could be close. Here’s what the production team said.
The last episode of Don Matteo 11 got amazing audience levels in prime time, obtaining a share of 30.18%, or 6 million 777 thousand spectators glued to Rai1 (first channel of Italian television) to discover the fate of the most beloved parish priest in Italy. Yes, because the character played by Terence Hill does not leave us indifferent. The events of Don Matteo are intertwined with those of the Carabinieri barracks in Spoleto (City in Umbria Region) whose investigations are often resolved first by the parish priest. The series is enriched with crucial characters, though secondary, such as the field marshal Cecchino played by Nino Frassica, or Natalina (Natalie Guetta).
Since the first episode aired on January 7th, 2000 almost twenty years have passed, but the ratings have never decreased, which has pushed the production company, Lux Vide, to continue with the series all this time. On average the audience ratings have always stood between 25 and 30%, confirming the series as one of the most followed in Italy. Some rumors have claimed that this 11th season might be the last, also considering that Terence Hill has left the set of Un Passo dal Cielo. Although the actor had repeated on several occasions that the decision was due to a desire to devote himself only to Don Matteo, many have thought of a possible goodbye even for the seasons to come.
Fans are asking for the 12th season. On the occasion of the special screening organized last April 19th at the Teatro Nuovo “Gian Carlo Menotti” in Spoleto, fans of the series have been clamoring for production to continue with another season. Terence Hill himself had suggested that he would not rule out this hypothesis. So the Lux Vice has not thought twice about it and has already confirmed the intention to continue telling the events of Spoleto and its parish priest once again. Given the success of the audience response, there are very few doubts about what will be Rai’s decision.
