NewsHBO's "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," with Rose, Scott and Kani, to Debut March 29The Botswana-set television series "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," starring Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose, will debut on HBO March 29.
By
Adam Hetrick
March 02, 2009
Anika Noni Rose
Photo by Andrew Macpherson
The late Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient") directed and penned the pilot for the seven-episode series that originally aired on BBC in 2008. The original two-hour BBC pilot, the first episode for the HBO series, will air March 29 at 8 PM.
Based on the popular novels by Alexander McCall Smith, all subsequent episodes of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" were written by Nicholas Wright and Robert Jones and were directed by Charles Sturridge and Tim Fywell.
Anika Noni Rose in "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency"
photo by Keith Bernstein
Grammy-winning recording artist Jill Scott stars as "Precious Ramotswe, the eminently sensible and wise proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. Aided by her highly efficient yet rather peculiar secretary Mma Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe investigates cases, helps people solve problems in their lives, and begins a special friendship with the highly respectable owner of a local garage," press notes state. Rose (Caroline, or Change, "Dreamgirls") appears as Ramotswe's secretary, Mma Makutsi, with fellow cast members Lucian Msamati as JLB Matekoni and guest stars David Oyelowo, Idris Elba, Colin Salmon and Tony winner John Kani (Sizwe Banzi Is Dead).
