''Agatha Raisin'' is a British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television program, based on M. C. Beaton's book series of the same name about a former PR agent who solves crime mysteries in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...

village of Carsely. The programme was broadcast as a pilot titled ''

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death ''The Quiche of Death'' (1992) is the first Agatha Raisin mystery novel by Marion Chesney Marion Gibbons (née Chesney; 10 June 1936 – 30/31 December 2019) was a Scottish writer of romance and mystery novels, whose career as a publishe ...

'' on 26 December 2014, followed by an eight-part series that first aired on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

on 7 June 2016. A second season was ordered by

Acorn TV The acorn, or oaknut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives (genera ''Quercus'' and ''Lithocarpus'', in the family Fagaceae). It usually contains one seed (occasionally two seeds), enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne ...

on 15 January 2018. On 27 February 2019, the show was commissioned for a third season. A fourth season started filming in March 2021.

Production

On 22 August 2014, Sky announced that it had commissioned the adaptation for Sky One. It was commissioned by

Cameron Roach Cameron Roach is a British television producer. Credits include ''Footballers' Wives'', '' Bad Girls'', ''Casualty'', '' Life on Mars'' , Silk, Young James Herriot and ''Moses Jones ''Moses Jones'' is a British television crime drama series ...

. Sky One chief Adam MacDonald said, "Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death is a contemporary, sharp and witty crime drama offering for the upcoming festive season." ''Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death'' began filming in September 2014. The main filming location is

Biddestone, Wiltshire Biddestone is a village and civil parish in northwest Wiltshire, England, about west of Chippenham and north of Corsham. The parish includes the smaller settlement of Slaughterford. Geography The Bybrook River forms the western boundary of t ...

. On her role in the film,

Ashley Jensen Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She was nominated for an Emmy for her role on the television series '' Extras'', in which she appeared from 2005 to 2007. She was a cast member of the ABC series '' Ugly ...

said, "I am absolutely delighted to be on board! It's not often a part like this comes along for a woman. Agatha Raisin is a strong forthright, independent, driven, successful woman, who is both funny and flawed, a real woman of our time." Series two was ordered by

, with a change to three 90-minute films as opposed to 45-minute episodes. On 27 February 2019, the show was commissioned for series 3, which consists of four 90-minute episodes. It premiered on 28 October 2019.

Cast

Main

as Agatha Raisin. * Jamie Glover as James Lacey: Agatha's on-again, off-again love interest. * Jason Merrells as Sir Charles Fraith: aristocratic friend of Agatha's who has a flirtation with her. *

Mathew Horne Mathew Frazer Horne (born 6 September 1978) is an English actor, comedian, television presenter and narrator. He is best known for appearing on several BBC sketch shows and sitcoms, most notably ''Gavin & Stacey'' (as Gavin Shipman), ''The Ca ...

as Roy Silver: former colleague of Agatha's from her Public Relations firm. *

Lucy Liemann Lucy Katherine Liemann (born 24 November 1973) is an English actress. After graduation she was spotted at a supermarket by a voice scout who urged her to become a voice artist. Liemann then went on to study acting at the Academy of Live and ...

as Sarah Bloxby: wife of Reverend Jez Bloxby. * Jason Barnett as DCI Denzel Wilkes; this character is a re-imagining of DCI Wilkes from the books, who has a contentious relationship with Agatha. *

Matt McCooey Matt McCooey (born 27 May 1981) is a British–Japanese actor best known for his role as DC Bill Wong in the television programme ''Agatha Raisin''. Early life McCooey is the son of author and journalist Chris McCooey and Kumiko Aoki. He was bor ...

as DC Bill Wong: the local detective. * Jodie Tyack as Toni Gilmour: hired detective at Agatha's Detective Agency with an

Eidetic memory Eidetic memory ( ; more commonly called photographic memory or total recall) is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision—at least for a brief period of time—after seeing it only onceThe terms ''eidetic memory'' and ''pho ...

. (series 3-) *

Katy Wix Katy Victoria J Wix (born 28 February 1980) is a Welsh actress, writer, author and artist. She is best known for her television roles as Carole in ''Stath Lets Flats,'' Mary in ''Ghosts'' and Jules in '' Big Boys''. She has also appeared as a s ...

as Gemma Simpson; this character re-imagines Doris Simpson from the books. (series 1-2)

Recurring

Marcia Warren Marcia Warren (born 26 November 1942) is an English stage, film and television actress. On stage, she appeared in ''Blithe Spirit'' as Madame Arcati and '' The Sea'' (2008) at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. She is currently appearing in Netflix' ...

as Mrs. Boggle, an older resident who often assists Agatha in solving crimes. *

Caroline Langrishe Caroline Langrishe (born 10 January 1958) is an English actress. Early life Born in London, Langrishe is the elder daughter of Patrick Nicholas Langrishe (1932–2022), of The Manor House, Sellindge, Kent, a Lieutenant in the 11th Hussars, late ...

as Sheila Barr, sister of James Lacey (series 1, series 3-) *

Taz Skylar Taz or TAZ may refer to: Geography *Taz (river), a river in western Siberia, Russia *Taz Estuary, the estuary of the river Taz in Russia People * Taz people, an ethnic group in Russia ** Taz language, a form of Northeastern Mandarin spoken by ...

as Harry Beam: hired detective at Agatha's Detective Agency. (series 4-) *

Rhashan Stone Rhashan Stone is an American actor and comedian based in the UK. He is best known for appearing in many comedy shows such as ''Desmond's'' and ''Mutual Friends''. Stone is also a stage actor who has performed in numerous productions for The Roy ...

as Jez Bloxby (played by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith in the pilot), husband of Sarah; this character re-imagines Alf Bloxby from the books. (series 1) *

June Watson June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...

as Mrs. Josephs. (series 1) * Tim Stern as Gene Harvey. (series 1) *

Richard Durden Mark Richard Durden-Smith (born 8 February 1944), known as Richard Durden, is an English actor, with a range of television, film and stage credits. Personal life Durden-Smith was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College and Merton ...

as Mr. Boggle. (series 1) * Maddie Monti as Kyra Simpson. (series 1) * Daisy Beaumont as Mary Fortune. (series 1)

Episodes

Pilot (2014)

Series 1 (2016)

Series 2 (2018–19)

Series 3 (2019–20)

Series 4 (2021–22)

Reception

Reviewing the first series, ''The Independent'' was critical of the writing, but praised Jensen. On the other hand, ''The New York Times'' called the series 'Delightful'. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' described the second series as "Campy, kitsch, silly and very fun". TV Scoop said about the show 'It’s a sexy show with loads of plot twists. You follow Agatha’s journey figuring out whodunnit in a comical way'.

Home media

Region 1: Acorn Media- ''Agatha Raisin, Series 1'' DVD was released on 25 October 2016. ''Agatha Raisin, Series 2'' DVD and Blu-ray were released on 7 May 2019. ''Agatha Raisin, Series 3'' DVD was released on 26 May 2020. Region 2: In the UK, Acorn released ''Series 1'' on DVD on 1 August 2016. ''Series 2'' DVD was released on 29 July 2019. Region 4: The first four seasons have been released in Australia.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agatha Raisin (Tv Series) 2014 British television series debuts 2010s British comedy-drama television series 2010s British crime television series 2010s British mystery television series 2020s British comedy-drama television series 2020s British crime television series 2020s British mystery television series British detective television series English-language television shows Sky UK original programming Television shows based on British novels Television series by Mammoth Screen Television series by All3Media Television shows set in the United Kingdom