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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (TV series)
Encyclopedia
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a television comedy-drama
series, produced by the BBC
in conjunction with HBO, and based on the novels of the same name
by Alexander McCall Smith
. The novels focus on the story of a detective agency opened by Mma Ramotswe and her courtship with the mechanic Mr. JLB Matekoni. The series was filmed on location in Botswana
and was seen as one of the first major film or television productions to be undertaken in Botswana. (The Gods Must Be Crazy
, a 1980 film set in Botswana
was filmed mainly in South Africa.)
The programme began with a feature-length pilot episode on 23 March 2008. Executive producer, the late Anthony Minghella
directed the episode and co-wrote the adaptation with fellow executive producer Richard Curtis
. A six-episode series concluded in the UK on 19 April 2009. HBO began broadcasting the series on 29 March 2009. In 2010 the show won a Peabody Award
for its 2009 season. It was cancelled due to poor ratings.
While HBO failed to renew the show after its first season, Michael Lombardo, HBO's director of programming, indicated that two feature film
s continuing the series were in consideration in 2010.
was a known fan of the books and after optioning the film rights he worked with the publishers to write a blurb for the paperback edition. Minghella was committed to directing the project himself but it was several years before his schedule allowed pre-production to commence. Producer Amy J. Moore was a catalyst in the decision for an on location production in Botswana. Minghella, having filmed The English Patient
in Africa, was concerned with the realities of importing equipment and housing the cast and crew for the production. Moore had travelled extensively in Africa including Botswana
and had worked on promoting South African film and bringing African produced plays to an Off Broadway setting. A friend approached her with the novel in 2000 and she greatly enjoyed it. Once attached to the project she convinced Minghella to visit the country with her in 2004 and took him camping in the Makgadikgadi Pans. The promise of funding from the country's government convinced Minghella to shoot on location. Minghella also approached The Weinstein Company
for funding and Harvey Weinstein
has commented that he thought it was important to fund the production because it would be impossible to sell to a network or studio solely as a concept.
Production on the pilot began on 2 July 2007. At this stage the producers were Sydney Pollack
and Minghella of Mirage Productions and Weinstein. Weinstein has commented on the project saying that "like all fans of Alexander McCall Smith's magisterial books, I became enchanted with the wonders and charms of Botswana
." Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella helmed the pilot episode and co-wrote the teleplay with Oscar nominated writer Richard Curtis
. Although McCall Smith declined to write the adaptation, he remained involved as an adviser and visited the set during production. While filming the pilot episode Minghella publicly expressed concerns about how the film might be received in cinemas because the story is far removed from crime genre conventions and has little action. Minghella raised the possibility of it appearing on television instead and he decided to offer the film as a feature length pilot.
Once the pilot was completed HBO and the BBC ordered a further six one-hour episodes. The collaboration marks the Weinstein Company's first foray into television and Harvey Weinstein commented that he is thrilled to be working with HBO on the project because he believes they are responsible for producing television that is often superior to films.
, Timothy Bricknell and Amy J. Moore produced the pilot episode, with Richard Curtis
, Sydney Pollack
and Harvey Weinstein
as executive producers. Bricknell produced the series, with Curtis, Moore and Bob and Harvey Weinstein acting as executive producers. Minghella and Pollack also receive this credit, despite both passing away before the full series entered production. The project is filmed in Botswana
and the majority of the crew are locals.
Grammy Award
-winning singer/actress Jill Scott
stars as the titular detective Mma Ramotswe. Tony Award
-winning actress Anika Noni Rose
plays assistant detective Mma Grace Makutsi. London theatre actor Lucian Msamati
plays car mechanic Mr. JLB Matekoni. Actor and comedian Desmond Dube
plays BK, owner of the Last Chance Salon and friend to Mma Ramotswe.
British actors Colin Salmon
, Idris Elba
, and David Oyelowo
also feature in the pilot. Elba plays Charlie Gotso, an adversary to Mma Ramotswe. Salmon plays Mma Ramotswe's abusive ex-husband and trumpet player Note Mokoti. Oyelowo plays cheating husband Kremlin Busang. Tony award winner John Kani
also appears as 'dubious' Daddy Bapetsi. Nikki Amuka-Bird
plays jealous wife Alice Busang. Oyelowo, Kani and Amuka Bird all receive star billing in the feature length pilot but will not continue as series regulars.
British actor Paterson Joseph
will join the cast in a recurring role as Cephas Buthulezi, a rival detective. Tau Maseremule and Thabo Malema play Rra Matekoni's young apprentices, Fanwell and Charlie. Vusi Kunene has a recurring role as Dr. Gulubane.
was shortlisted for the role but the producers were uncertain because of her relative lack of acting experience. Minghella decided to cast her after viewing clips of her poetry readings and musical performance and noting her rare screen presence. The decision was made just two weeks before production began.
. It is the first major production to be filmed in Botswana and the government reportedly provided five million dollars of funding for the project. The producers signed a 10-year-lease in 2007 for the area at the bottom of Kgale Hill in Gaborone locally known as "Kgalewood" where the detective agency set is located.
Moore has commented that the story struck her with the idea "That leading a good life is possible; that being a good person is possible; that being a good neighbor is possible; that truth can exist alongside beauty. I thought, this African book can teach the Western world a lot."
Minghella called the experience of filming in Botswana an "amazing adventure" and noted the beauty of the country's landscapes. He said "Particularly fascinating to me was working and filming in an African country where old and new are currently coexisting, where traditional values have not yet been eroded by the demands and efficiencies and neuroses of the modern. It was a privilege to be working on a film which celebrates what we can learn from Africa, and not what we think we can teach it."
. The BBC promoted the series as a collaboration between acclaimed British filmmakers Anthony Minghella
and Richard Curtis
. The show has received 6.87 million viewers (27% share) in the UK, easily beating ITV1
's He Kills Coppers.
. The List said that Jill Scott's performance "effortlessly captures the blend of wisdom, compassion and understated humour that has made Precious Ramotswe such a popular creation." Some mainstream press reviewers were less impressed. The Guardian
' s reviewer summed it up as "Heartbeat, basically, relocated to Botswana, a beautiful African country where smiley happy people, cardboard cut-out characters, go about their business with good humour, hard work, morality and diligence." The Times
reviewer said "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." But in The Independent
, the reviewer, remarking on the recent death of its director and co-adaptor, Anthony Minghella
, said "its merits are distinctively Minghella's own, and that in adapting Alexander McCall Smith's hugely popular and arguably emollient stories for the screen, he and Richard Curtis have found a way to stiffen their representation of African life without losing the sweet moral clarity of the originals."
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
series, produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in conjunction with HBO, and based on the novels of the same name
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a series of twelve novels by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith. The agency is located in Gaborone, capital of Botswana. Its founder is a Motswana woman, Mma Precious Ramotswe, who features as the stories' protagonist and main detective...
by Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees...
. The novels focus on the story of a detective agency opened by Mma Ramotswe and her courtship with the mechanic Mr. JLB Matekoni. The series was filmed on location in Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
and was seen as one of the first major film or television productions to be undertaken in Botswana. (The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Gods Must Be Crazy is a 1980 film, written and directed by Jamie Uys. The film is the first in The Gods Must Be Crazy series of films. Set in Botswana and South Africa, it tells the story of Xi, a Sho of the Kalahari Desert whose band has no knowledge of the world beyond...
, a 1980 film set in Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
was filmed mainly in South Africa.)
The programme began with a feature-length pilot episode on 23 March 2008. Executive producer, the late Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
directed the episode and co-wrote the adaptation with fellow executive producer Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
. A six-episode series concluded in the UK on 19 April 2009. HBO began broadcasting the series on 29 March 2009. In 2010 the show won a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for its 2009 season. It was cancelled due to poor ratings.
While HBO failed to renew the show after its first season, Michael Lombardo, HBO's director of programming, indicated that two feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
s continuing the series were in consideration in 2010.
Origins
The production was initially envisaged as a film rather than a television adaptation. British director, the late Anthony MinghellaAnthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
was a known fan of the books and after optioning the film rights he worked with the publishers to write a blurb for the paperback edition. Minghella was committed to directing the project himself but it was several years before his schedule allowed pre-production to commence. Producer Amy J. Moore was a catalyst in the decision for an on location production in Botswana. Minghella, having filmed The English Patient
The English Patient (film)
The English Patient is a 1996 romantic drama film based on the novel of the same name by Sri Lankan-Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje. The film, written for the screen and directed by Anthony Minghella, won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture...
in Africa, was concerned with the realities of importing equipment and housing the cast and crew for the production. Moore had travelled extensively in Africa including Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
and had worked on promoting South African film and bringing African produced plays to an Off Broadway setting. A friend approached her with the novel in 2000 and she greatly enjoyed it. Once attached to the project she convinced Minghella to visit the country with her in 2004 and took him camping in the Makgadikgadi Pans. The promise of funding from the country's government convinced Minghella to shoot on location. Minghella also approached The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company is an American film studio founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 2005 after the brothers left the then-Disney-owned Miramax Films, which they had co-founded in 1979...
for funding and Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
has commented that he thought it was important to fund the production because it would be impossible to sell to a network or studio solely as a concept.
Production on the pilot began on 2 July 2007. At this stage the producers were Sydney Pollack
Sydney Pollack
Sydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
and Minghella of Mirage Productions and Weinstein. Weinstein has commented on the project saying that "like all fans of Alexander McCall Smith's magisterial books, I became enchanted with the wonders and charms of Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
." Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella helmed the pilot episode and co-wrote the teleplay with Oscar nominated writer Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
. Although McCall Smith declined to write the adaptation, he remained involved as an adviser and visited the set during production. While filming the pilot episode Minghella publicly expressed concerns about how the film might be received in cinemas because the story is far removed from crime genre conventions and has little action. Minghella raised the possibility of it appearing on television instead and he decided to offer the film as a feature length pilot.
Once the pilot was completed HBO and the BBC ordered a further six one-hour episodes. The collaboration marks the Weinstein Company's first foray into television and Harvey Weinstein commented that he is thrilled to be working with HBO on the project because he believes they are responsible for producing television that is often superior to films.
Crew
Anthony MinghellaAnthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
, Timothy Bricknell and Amy J. Moore produced the pilot episode, with Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
, Sydney Pollack
Sydney Pollack
Sydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
and Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
as executive producers. Bricknell produced the series, with Curtis, Moore and Bob and Harvey Weinstein acting as executive producers. Minghella and Pollack also receive this credit, despite both passing away before the full series entered production. The project is filmed in Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
and the majority of the crew are locals.
Cast and characters
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning singer/actress Jill Scott
Jill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...
stars as the titular detective Mma Ramotswe. Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning actress Anika Noni Rose
Anika Noni Rose
Anika Noni Rose is an American singer and actress known for her Tony Award winning performance in the Broadway production of Caroline, or Change and her starring roles in the films Dreamgirls and The Princess and the Frog....
plays assistant detective Mma Grace Makutsi. London theatre actor Lucian Msamati
Lucian Msamati
Lucian Msamati, sometimes credited as Wiina Msamati, is a British-born film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:Lucian Gabriel Wiina Msamati was born in the United Kingdom and brought up in Zimbabwe by his Tanzanian parents, a doctor and a nurse, he is the eldest of four siblings...
plays car mechanic Mr. JLB Matekoni. Actor and comedian Desmond Dube
Desmond Dube
Desmond Dube is a South African singer, actor, mime artist and entertainer. He is known for his work in Friends Indeed, Suburban Bliss and Joburg Blues.Desmond is a trained theatrical actor and has appeared in both commercial and street theatre...
plays BK, owner of the Last Chance Salon and friend to Mma Ramotswe.
British actors Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon
Colin Salmon is a British actor best known for playing the character Charles Robinson in three James Bond films.-Personal life:...
, Idris Elba
Idris Elba
Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ...
, and David Oyelowo
David Oyelowo
- Background :Oyelowo was born in Oxford, England of Nigerian descent. He is married to actress Jessica Oyelowo and they have three sons.Oyelowo first attended a youth theatre after being invited by a girl to whom he was attracted. He then studied Theatre Studies for A level and his teacher...
also feature in the pilot. Elba plays Charlie Gotso, an adversary to Mma Ramotswe. Salmon plays Mma Ramotswe's abusive ex-husband and trumpet player Note Mokoti. Oyelowo plays cheating husband Kremlin Busang. Tony award winner John Kani
John Kani
Bonsile John Kani is a South African actor, director and playwright.He was born in New Brighton, South Africa.Kani joined The Serpent Players in Port Elizabeth in 1965 and helped to create many plays that went unpublished but were performed to a resounding reception.These...
also appears as 'dubious' Daddy Bapetsi. Nikki Amuka-Bird
Nikki Amuka-Bird
Nikki Amuka-Bird is a Nigerian born British actress of the stage and screen. Her theatrical credits include Welcome to Thebes ; Twelfth Night ; World Music ; Top Girls ; A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest and The Servant of Two Masters Nikki Amuka-Bird is a Nigerian born British actress of the...
plays jealous wife Alice Busang. Oyelowo, Kani and Amuka Bird all receive star billing in the feature length pilot but will not continue as series regulars.
British actor Paterson Joseph
Paterson Joseph
-Career:Born in London. Attended Cardinal Hinsley R.C High School in North West London. Joseph first trained at the Studio '68 of Theatre Arts, London – 1983–85 with Robert Henderson, then at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art . In recent years he has had a high number of roles in...
will join the cast in a recurring role as Cephas Buthulezi, a rival detective. Tau Maseremule and Thabo Malema play Rra Matekoni's young apprentices, Fanwell and Charlie. Vusi Kunene has a recurring role as Dr. Gulubane.
Casting
Casting the roles of Mma Makutsi and Mr. JLB Matekoni was completed early in the project. However, casting Mma Ramotswe proved to be more of a challenge. Producer Timothy Bricknell states that the character's build and age excludes most well known actresses and that they initially began looking for an actress in Botswana before expanding their search throughout Africa and eventually on to London and Los Angeles. Jill ScottJill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...
was shortlisted for the role but the producers were uncertain because of her relative lack of acting experience. Minghella decided to cast her after viewing clips of her poetry readings and musical performance and noting her rare screen presence. The decision was made just two weeks before production began.
Locations
The pilot episode was shot on location in BotswanaBotswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
. It is the first major production to be filmed in Botswana and the government reportedly provided five million dollars of funding for the project. The producers signed a 10-year-lease in 2007 for the area at the bottom of Kgale Hill in Gaborone locally known as "Kgalewood" where the detective agency set is located.
Themes
Bricknell has stated that the production showcases a modern, relatively prosperous African nation before a large television audience. He said that "People have talked about the responsibility of doing justice to Alexander McCall Smith’s novel, but with this production, we also felt a strong sense of responsibility as white people making the first motion picture filmed entirely in Botswana, and presenting modern Botswana to the rest of the world."Moore has commented that the story struck her with the idea "That leading a good life is possible; that being a good person is possible; that being a good neighbor is possible; that truth can exist alongside beauty. I thought, this African book can teach the Western world a lot."
Minghella called the experience of filming in Botswana an "amazing adventure" and noted the beauty of the country's landscapes. He said "Particularly fascinating to me was working and filming in an African country where old and new are currently coexisting, where traditional values have not yet been eroded by the demands and efficiencies and neuroses of the modern. It was a privilege to be working on a film which celebrates what we can learn from Africa, and not what we think we can teach it."
Pilot (2008)
| # | Title | Writers | Director | Original air date | UK Viewing figure |
|---|
TV series (2009)
| # | Title | Writer | Director | Original air date | UK Viewing figure |
|---|
Promotion
The BBC announced the pilot as the centrepiece of its 2008 winter schedule and broadcast the pilot in the prestigious Easter weekend slot at 21:00 on Easter Sunday on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. The BBC promoted the series as a collaboration between acclaimed British filmmakers Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
and Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
. The show has received 6.87 million viewers (27% share) in the UK, easily beating ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
's He Kills Coppers.
Critical response
The series received generally positive reviews from most critics, based on an aggregate score of 71/100 from MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. The List said that Jill Scott's performance "effortlessly captures the blend of wisdom, compassion and understated humour that has made Precious Ramotswe such a popular creation." Some mainstream press reviewers were less impressed. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
reviewer said "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." But in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, the reviewer, remarking on the recent death of its director and co-adaptor, Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
, said "its merits are distinctively Minghella's own, and that in adapting Alexander McCall Smith's hugely popular and arguably emollient stories for the screen, he and Richard Curtis have found a way to stiffen their representation of African life without losing the sweet moral clarity of the originals."
Impact on Botswana
The funding provided for the production allowed the country the economic benefits of hosting a major film production. It also laid the foundations for future productions by training local cast and crew members that officials hope will generate a local film industry. Botswana also expects a tourism benefit from the film and is preserving the set, "Kgalewood", as part of a tour of Gaborone aimed at fans of the story.Cancellation and future
In August 2010, Michael Lombardo, HBO's director of programming, indicated that the show was not being renewed for a second season; however, two feature-length films continuing the series were in consideration. In January 2011, HBO president Sue Naegle stated the television movies for the series are still in script phase but there are full intentions to make the films. At the 2011 Television Critics Association summer press tour, HBO announced that the show would continue as two or more standalone films, with network executives reviewing the first script. No further production information was announced.External links
from BBC- Alexander McCall Smith on his visit to the set
- Review, Leicester Mercury
- http://sharetv.org/shows/the_no_1_ladies_detective_agency_uk/episodes