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Italian TV: Terence Hill leaves Don Matteo after 20 years

Raoul Bova to take up the baton as Terence Hill leaves the stage.

Veteran Italian actor Terence Hill is standing down from the long-running television series Don Matteo, in which he has played the lead role for more than 20 years.

Hill first appeared on Italian television screens as Don Matteo Bondini - a priest in the town of Gubbio in the Umbrian province of Perugia - in January 2000.

The popular TV series went on to become one of the most successful and long-lived on Italian state broadcaster Rai1.

Don Matteo is a wise, helpful character who is skilled at investigating local crime stories, in collaboration with his Carabiniere friend, Antonio Cecchini, played by comedian Nino Frassica.

Don Matteo cast and production team say goodbye to Terence Hill.

But now - after 22 years, 13 seasons and 259 episodes - Terence Hill has said goodbye to the beret-wearing priest and his trusty bicycle.

The 82-year-old actor, who starred in spaghetti westerns alongside the late Bud Spencer, has filmed his last episode in Spoleto where he received a send-off from the cast and production team.

But how exactly will the priest-detective leave the stage? This has yet to be revealed.

However, according to La Stampa newspaper, the new lead character will be Don Massimo, played by 50-year-old Italian actor Raoul Bova who will reportedly swap the bicycle for a motorbike.

The ten episodes in the 13th season of Don Matteo will be broadcast on Rai1 in 2022, probably starting in January as in previous seasons.

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