Precious Little Action but Intrigue Galore

Think of TV dramas with a woman detective as their focus and you could rustle up anything from the gentility of Miss Marple to the gritty reality of Silent Witness – but there’s generally at least one dead body to contend with. Not so with the distinctive and charming one-off film, The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, based on the best-selling novels by Alexander McCall Smith.

Perfect Sunday evening fare, this feature-length TV movie, directed and co-written by the late Anthony Minghella with award- winning scribe Richard Curtis, transported us to Africa and the beautiful landscapes and townships of Botswana to meet the sassy Precious Ramotswe and a collection of often humorous, sometimes slightly sinister, characters. But there wasn’t a single murder or episode of gratuitous violence in sight.

That’s not to say the stories were feeble or unchallenging; the puzzles faced by Precious and co ranged from the kidnapping of a child connected with a body parts trade linked to ancient witchcraft to the honey-trap seduction of a philandering husband that backfires in all the wrong places.

American jazz singer Jill Scott was peachy perfect in the role of “traditionally built” Precious, who decides to set up as her country’s first ever lady detective after her father Obed dies, leaving her 180 cows to sell. With the gift of natural curiosity and a certain intuition and a dogged persistence, Precious embarks on a new life in the city, quickly gathering around her some quirky and helpful friends.

Anika Noni Rose gave a delightful portrayal of man-hating young secretary Mma Makutsi, Lucian Msamati was sweet and appealing as the widower and proprietor of Speedy Motors JLB Matekoni, who becomes Precious’s suitor, Colin Salmon was suitably creepy as her trumpet- playing ex-husband and David Oyelowo sleazed nicely as cheating spouse Kremlin Busang.

If you like a fast-paced drama peppered with shoot-outs and lashings of bloody corpses, this would have been a huge disappointment, but its thoughtful snail-speed development allowed the cameras to linger on the glorious locations and concentrate upon the reassuring strength and dignity of a community a million miles away from the fictional mean streets of New York, London or even St Mary Mead.

The evidence of surviving traditions of a proud people was mixed convincingly with the modern technologies and commercial attitudes that could weaken and ultimately destroy them.

There’s plenty of potential in McCall Smith’s work for a follow- up series, and it would be grand to spend some more time in the company of Precious. If that doesn’t materialise, it has to be time to invest in the books.

(c) 2008 Western Morning News, The Plymouth (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.