'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' review
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Whatever you think about HBO's recent drama series, "sweet" is probably not a word you'd use to describe any of them. Intense, maybe, or challenging, but not always a lot of fun to watch.
Now comes "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," and "sweet" is definitely one of the words I'd use to describe it. Captivating and charming too. Lovely to look at and full of life, it's one of the best new series this season.
The show is based on the best-selling series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith (which I have not read, so I can't speak to the show's fidelity to the books) and follows Precious Ramotswe (Jill Scott), the proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. Sunday's (March 29) two-hour premiere introduces us to Mma Ramotswe, who has inherited 180 cows from her late father and, after selling them and escaping both her abusive ex-husband and an oily lawyer looking for a cut, moves to the capital city, Gaborone, and fulfills a dream by opening her own detective agency in an old post office.
She hires a secretary, the efficient and prickly Grace Makutsi (Anika Noni Rose, "Dreamgirls"), and waits for clients to come calling. And waits -- business is slow in coming at first. But when it does, Mma Ramotswe is able to put her keen powers of observation -- another gift from her father -- and natural intelligence to work to help people solve their problems.
Her cases aren't always life-and-death matters; Sunday's premiere features a woman who thinks her long-lost father is really an impostor sponging off her, and later episodes deal with everything from lost pets to break-ins to an American woman searching for her son, who came to Botswana to work on an agricultural project several years earlier and disappeared. (That story, with CCH Pounder of "The Shield" playing the mother, is the focus of episode four, and it's deeply affecting.)
Singer Scott has done some acting before, but in her first lead role she inhabits Mma Ramotswe completely, from the way she speaks to the way she walks and her search to make things right for her clients. She may come off as naive, but Mma Ramotswe has had more than her share of sorrow in life, and you can see it in Scott's face as she listens to the sad stories some of her clients have. It's a fine performance.
Scott and Rose also share a nice chemistry, as Mma Ramotswe's more open and trusting manner clashes with Mma Makutsi's exacting and easily disturbed nature. Mma Ramotswe also has a suitor in JLB Matekoni (Luican Msamati), an auto mechanic who occasionally lends his insight into her work.
Sunday's pilot was co-written directed by the late Anthony Minghella, and he did a fantastic job with it. The pilot and all subsequent episodes were filmed in Botswana, which gives "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" a unique visual identity in the TV landscape and helps inform the characters. The pilot's other writer, Richard Curtis ("Bridget Jones's Diary"), has remained on as an executive producer and has helped ensure a consistent look and voice for the show.
"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" is not a show for action junkies; Mma Ramotswe approaches her job deliberately, and the pace of the show reflects that. It also, however, reflects the character's generous spirit -- HBO hasn't had a more welcoming show in some time. It's a great addition to the TV landscape.
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"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" premieres at 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 29.
Interested in other female crime-solvers? Check out a gallery of our favorite female detectives.
I have read the books (well, about 4 of them) and I think the series captures the magic of them well. There is a happy light tone to the series, although there are some underlying sadness to the characters at times.
The actors are great and the cases are fun. A really well made and entertaining series.
I really have enjoyed the books; i've read them all and run out to get the new one as soon as it is released. The plot synopses you describe come straight from the books...i look forward to the television series.
You answered my question about whether to watch or not -- my answer is NOT. Did WE and Oxygen and Lifetime go out of business? They cancelled DEADWOOD for something like this?
I've read several of the books and from reading this review, the series seems to be sticking to them. I don't have HBO so I won't be able to watch. I think this seems like an odd show for HBO. I wish that AMC had picked it up instead.
The show has already started in the UK and I have to say it's a charming series. Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose are brilliant as Mma Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi and the location of Botswana is beautiful.
I read the first 2 books and enjoyed them. Upon your review, I found out about this show & was pleasantly surprised to find myself loving it! It's so visually stunning! The great storytelling as translated to the screen, in addition to the superb acting, goes well with the stunning backdrop. I smiled throughout my entire viewing of the 2 hour first episode/movie. I hope this show is a great success as I can't wait to find out more about each character & watch more stories unfold, while feasting my eyes on the gorgeous landscape.
A half hour into this show, and I'm grinning from ear to ear...
I'm a Canadian living in Gaborone, Botswana. The books do perfectly capture the spirit of Botswana. They leave out a few things, like the fact that there are a lot of native white people, and a huge amount of foreigners working and living here, but overall are very accurate. Like the names of streets and organisations, and a lot of the people are real people, for example Trevor Mwamba, the Anglican Bishop. And I drive past Zebra Way all the time. When the made-for-TV movie was filmed here a couple of years ago, we waited with great anticipation to see it. It was never shown here, and it took a local theatre person with connections 2 years to get hold of a copy of the movieto show. We felt it was a slap in the face not to even get the see the film on TV like other parts of the world. Now I fear we may never get the TV series here either, although my sister is taping it for me on HBO in Canada.
I forgot to mention that when my friends and I finally got to see the first made-for-TV movie, here in Botswana, we loved it. The actors had gotten the characters exactly right, and done a good job with the accent. We were afraid all the American actors would change the flavour of the books too much, but we really enjoyed it. The humour was exactly right. Since the filming sets and most of the actors, and a lot of the crew are the same, I'm confident that the TV series will be just as good. I can't wait to see it when I visit Canada. Because Botswana appears to be last on the list for release of this series. We rely on satellite TV here, so unless BBC entertainment carries the series, we will never see it here.
I forgot to mention that when my friends and I finally got to see the first made-for-TV movie, here in Botswana, we loved it. The actors had gotten the characters exactly right, and done a good job with the accent. We were afraid all the American actors would change the flavour of the books too much, but we really enjoyed it. The humour was exactly right. Since the filming sets and most of the actors, and a lot of the crew are the same, I'm confident that the TV series will be just as good. I can't wait to see it when I visit Canada. Because Botswana appears to be last on the list for release of this series. We rely on satellite TV here, so unless BBC entertainment carries the series, we will never see it here.