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March 11, 2008 11:45

HBO's Out-of-Africa Detective Series

Posted by James Poniewozik | Comments (7) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

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).

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Reader Comments (7)

Bemused:

Seriously? My 78-year-old mother is a big fan of the books. And she's not exactly HBO's target audience, I wouldn't think. Weird.

Posted by Bemused | March 11, 2008 12:17 PM

beerbaron:

Interesting. I'm not really a fan of Curtis or Minghella's work (The Talented Mr. Ripley being one exception) and I hate when British people get to see shows first. Did we have a revolution for nothing?

Seems like part of HBO's effort to skew female in its dramatic series. The Sopranos, Deadwood and The Wire attracted mostly male viewers (I also think they're the three greatest drama series ever made, but I'm a guy). I love reading about HBO projects in development, because you get all excited and then they don't air for about three years. I think I've been hearing about the John Adams miniseries since the mid-90s. And when the hell is True Blood going to be on?

Posted by beerbaron | March 11, 2008 12:56 PM

James Poniewozik:

@beerbaron: Last I heard, True Blood's expected in the fall.

Posted by James Poniewozik | March 11, 2008 1:55 PM

Molly:

I know from my bookstore-working days that the books have a pretty good-sized following, so I'm not surprised someone has decided they'd be marketable as a TV series. I've read a couple of them, and I think they'll probably work well on TV - the books include both short-term mysteries usually resolved within a chapter (or, on TV, an episode) as well as one or two more drawn-out storylines. The BBC connection makes sense, but the fact that HBO is picking them up seems odd, mainly because I don't remember the books having any of the controversial aspects (sex, violence, polygamous marriages) HBO is known for. In fact, there's a lot I'm forgetting, I would think a faithful adaption would be able to be shown on just about any network.

Posted by Molly | March 11, 2008 2:09 PM

Molly:

Oops...that last line was supposed to read "unless there's a lot I'm forgetting."

Posted by Molly | March 11, 2008 2:23 PM

Keith:

@beerbaron - "I hate when British people get to see shows first. Did we have a revolution for nothing?"

Unfortunately, the Brits are the only ones willing to take a chance on an idea or come up with an original thought. We copy more of their TV programming than they do of ours.

Posted by Keith | March 11, 2008 3:01 PM

idigress:

I really enjoyed this series of books - I read the first book in Book Club a few years ago and I continued with the rest of the series on my own. Interested in seeing Jill Scott in this role - she was quite good in Tyler Perry's last movie.

Posted by idigress | March 11, 2008 10:37 PM

About Tuned In

James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or--once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers--in your dreams themselves.