No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency on BBC4 (repeat)

The pilot episode of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency will be repeated on BBC4 on Sunday at 7.15pm. The series will also be repeated (though I'm not sure when yet).


I borrowed the above image from an interesting interview with the the show's set decorator at designspongeonline.

No1 Ladies' Detective Agency on BBC & HBO

She's back! Mma Ramotswe, Botswana's no1 lady detective will be back on tv screens here and abroad shortly. In the UK the new series begins on Sunday 15th March at 9pm. The first of six episodes; read about episode 1, The Big Bonanza on the BBC website. The pilot episode is being repeated on BBC4 on Saturday at 7.15pm

The same pilot is being shown in the US on HBO on the 29th March at 8pm.

An article in the new TV & Satellite Week magazine (no on-line link available) concludes: "With her first child due to be born next month, Scott is unsure whether she will return to the role of Precious for a second series 'A lot of things will determine what happens next. But I'd definitely like to be able to figure something out'."

More detail about the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency tv series

From Digital Spy:

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency will return to screens next year as a six-part series, the BBC has announced.

A feature-length TV pilot, directed by the late Anthony Minghella, aired in March to impressive ratings and positive reviews from critics.

Based on Alexander McCall-Smith's bestselling novels, the 60-minute episodes will follow the adventures of Botswana's only female detective Mma Ramotswe.

Jill Scott, Anika Noni Rose, Desmond Dube and Lucian Msamati will reprise their roles from the TV pilot. Survivors star Paterson Joseph is a new addition to the cast as Cephas Buthelezi, a rival detective to Mma Ramotswe.

Read the whole article, here.

Earlier on in the year it was reported that 13 hour-long episodes had been requested by HBO with the BBC having the UK distribution.

Missed No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency?

Last night's No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency is available on the BBCiplayer for watch/download for the next six days.

The Times review is less than glowing:

Given Anthony Minghella's unforgivably early death last week, I shall pass briefly over his last work, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Under his direction, this adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's original novel looked beautiful. The Botswana Tourist Board will be chuffed. The problem is that Precious Ramotswe does not really live in Africa but in a verbal universe that is McCall Smith's own. His dialogue, so natural on the page, turned out to be unutterable, at least by the actors assembled here, who struggled to attain end-of-term play standards. The sentimentality also seemed raised. I choose to blame Minghella's co-writer, Richard Curtis.

No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Trailer

The BBC website for The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency pilot/film now has the trailer that's been showing on the tv, plus two further clips: deciding on the sign for the office and meeting a client.

More No.1 Ladies Detective Agency episodes on tv

I've seen the trailer for the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency film that's going to be on the BBC over Easter (Monday I think). I can't find a version online yet. But I did find that there are plans for a further 13 hour-long episodes. From Hollywood.com:

HBO has retained the services of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

The cable network has ordered 13 hour-long episodes based on the best-selling crime books by Alexander McCall Smith, with shooting to begin in the summer. That's in addition to the two-hour pilot that Anthony Minghella recently shot in Botswana from a script he wrote with Richard Curtis.

Agency stars R&B singer Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe, the proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in the southern African nation. Anika Noni Rose plays her quirky secretary, Mma Makutsi, and Lucian Msamati stars as Ramotswe's devoted suitor, JLB Matekoni.

HBO has secured U.S. and Canadian television and home video rights, and the BBC has taken U.K. television distribution.

UPDATE: Trailer and two clips are on line.