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  • HBO
  • Mar 23, 2008
  • HBO
  • Mar 23, 2008
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Summary Alexander McCall Smith's popular detective series comes to the small screen courtesy of HBO and the BBC. Oscar winner Anthony Minghella shepherds this project with a two-hour pilot shot in Botswana. Leading the cast is R&B singer/songwriter Jill Scott playing the role of Precious Ramotswe, a good-natured, intuitive mid-30's woman who ...

  • HBO
  • Mar 23, 2008
  • HBO
  • Mar 23, 2008
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Season 1
Season Premiere: Mar 23, 2008
Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 27 Critic Reviews
71
User Score Generally Unfavorable Based on 7 User Ratings
3.4
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Summary Alexander McCall Smith's popular detective series comes to the small screen courtesy of HBO and the BBC. Oscar winner Anthony Minghella shepherds this project with a two-hour pilot shot in Botswana. Leading the cast is R&B singer/songwriter Jill Scott playing the role of Precious Ramotswe, a good-natured, intuitive mid-30's woman who ...

Season Episodes

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Episode 0 • Mar 23, 2008 • 1 h 49 m
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
A Botswanan woman starts up the country's first female-owned detective agency. Based on the series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith.
Episode 1 • Mar 15, 2009 • 1 h
The Big Bonanza
The agency makes inquires about a dentist, searches for a missing dog, and investigates the case of a missing husband.
Episode 2 • Mar 22, 2009 • 57 m
Poison
The agency investigates a possible poisoner amongst a feuding family, ivory smuggling, and a series of unexplained deaths at the hospital.
Episode 3 • Mar 29, 2009 • 1 h 50 m
The Boy with an African Heart
An American woman asks for Precious's help to trace her son who vanished a decade before.
Episode 4 • Apr 5, 2009 • 58 m
Problems in Moral Philosophy
Mma Pekwane thinks her husband has bought a stolen car. Precious is on the case and uncovers a dangerous car-jacking ring. Grace gets a new hair style to tackle her first case as assistant detective.
Episode 5 • Apr 12, 2009 • 57 m
Beauty and Integrity
A new detective agency opens up near the Ladies. Grace investigates a beauty contest while Precious is trying to find Nandira Patel's mystery boyfriend.
Episode 6 • Apr 19, 2009 • 58 m
A Real Botswana Diamond
Precious has a few things to sort out, the main one being her old husband turning up again.

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 27 Critic Reviews
71
78% Positive
21 Reviews
15% Mixed
4 Reviews
7% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 27 Critic Reviews
71
78% Positive
21 Reviews
15% Mixed
4 Reviews
7% Negative
2 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
This is as good an adaptation as any Ladies lover could wish, one that overflows with the joys of life and exudes an all-embracing spirit. Be ready to be beguiled.
By Robert Bianco FULL REVIEW
80
This is unusual fare for HBO, sunny and serene and easy to dismiss. But I think it will find an enthusiastic audience for its benign vision of the detective as feminine healer, grounded in the show’s lovely lead performance by singer Jill Scott as Precious.
By Emily Nussbaum FULL REVIEW
80
As charismatic and unfamiliar as Ramotswe is, after the first hour, it's hard to imagine becoming addicted to this series the way so many readers are addicted to McCall Smith's novels. But then, by the beginning of the second episode, we start to understand: This series is a dramedy, really, a more exotic, more absurd, more original version of "Grey's Anatomy," if you will.
By Heather Havrilesky FULL REVIEW
80
Magnificent cinematography, abundant animal life and lovely music that may contain harmonies unique to Botswana--all these make The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency a distinctly foreign affair. In the end, though, what comes through most strongly is not what's different, but how easily we recognize it all.
By Nancy DeWolf Smith FULL REVIEW
75
Minghella's direction sets the tone for the series, placing Scott's boldly colored dresses against warm green walls and sand-brown buildings. Scott provides big love, but "Big Love" this ain't.
FULL REVIEW
50
Ultimately, everybody's affable in this series. There are no sharp right angles, no emotional elbows.
By Tim Goodman FULL REVIEW
25
The pilot, while offering ample opportunity for the director to indulge in painting the grand, international tableaus that characterized his operatic feature epics, also exposes his tendency toward easy retreat into no-impact treacle when confronted with a culture not easily penetrated, even by an enthusiastic tourist.
FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Unfavorable Based on 7 User Ratings
3.4
29% Positive
2 Ratings
14% Mixed
1 Rating
57% Negative
4 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Unfavorable Based on 7 User Ratings
3.4
29% Positive
2 Ratings
14% Mixed
1 Rating
57% Negative
4 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

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