This project had not been on my radar screen at all, but HBO has announced a new drama, which I’d describe as a detective show with a pretty big difference. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, based on a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith, is a BBC coproduction about a female-run detective agency in Botswana. A two-hour pilot, co-written and directed by Anthony Minghella (Four Weddings’ Richard Curtis is the other writer), is airing in Britain this spring; thirteen episodes of the series will begin shooting this summer. Singer-actress Jill Scott stars as Precious Ramotswe, the agency’s chief.
I’m pretty much entirely unfamiliar with the book series, so anyone who knows it is welcome to weigh in.The biggest news for Tuned In’s Wire fans, by the way, is that the series costars Idris Elba (a.k.a. Stringer Bell).