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.

Director:

Anthony Minghella

Writers:

Richard Curtis (teleplay), Anthony Minghella (teleplay)

Stars:

Jill Scott, Anika Noni Rose, Lucian Msamati

1 nomination.

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jill Scott	...	Precious Ramotswe
Anika Noni Rose	...	Grace Makutsi
Lucian Msamati	...	JLB Matekoni
Nikki Amuka-Bird	...	Alice Busang (as Nikki Amuka Bird)
Desmond Dube	...	BK
Tumisho Masha	...	Lucky Sesana
Bongeka Mpongwana	...	Happy Bapetsi
David Oyelowo	...	Kremlin Busang
John Kani	...	Daddy Bapetsi
Vusi Kunene	...	Doctor Gulubane
Harriet Lenabe	...	Mma Notshi (as Harriet Manamela)
Colin Salmon	...	Note Makoti
Idris Elba	...	Charlie Gotso
Lindani Nkosi	...	Hector Lepodise
Vasco Shoba	...	Obed Ramotswe

Storyline

After her father dies, Botswanan Precious Ramotse decides to sell her inheritance - 180 cows - and move to the capital Gaborone and open a detective agency. From a young age her father had trained her to develop her memory skills and she has a keen sense of observation. Business is slow, but Precious soon has a secretary, Grace Makutsi and fits in well with her neighbors. Slowly, clients begin to trickle in: a woman who thinks the man who claims to be her father - he had abandoned the family when she was just a young child - is actually an impostor; a woman who thinks her husband is having an affair - a view Grace enthusiastically generally supports since she thinks all men are liars and cheaters; and a factory owner who thinks an employee claiming compensation for an accident is scamming him. Her interest is also drawn to the case of a missing boy but she she must face a powerful local gangster to get the information she needs.

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Plot Keywords:

impostor | tv series pilot | orphanage | missing finger | kidnapping | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Family | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK]

Country:

UK South Africa Botswana USA

Language:

Tswana English

Release Date:

29 March 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Gaborone, Botswana

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Afrika Worldwide, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Cinechicks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The BBC aired this film on March 23, 2008, soon after it was completed and, by tragic coincidence, just five days after director Anthony Minghella died. HBO held off airing the film for a year in order to premiere it as the pilot of the resulting series they had commissioned, with the BBC.

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Quotes

Grace Makutsi: [after meeting BK for the first time] That man is very much like a woman.

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Soundtracks

Re Botswana
Written by Malefo Mokha
Licensed courtesy of Small House Records
Performed by Stampore
Licensed courtesy of Small House Records

User Reviews

Fresh and likable

The late Anthony Minghella's early credits included writing several episodes of 'Inspector Morse', so there's a symmetry in the fact that his final film as a director was another story about a fictional detective, namely Alexander MacCall Smith's Precious Ramotse, the eponymous No.1 lady detective in Botswana. Now, I've read detective stories set in the third world that could have been set anywhere, but the charm of this story lies emphatically in its African flavour. Also a degree of its horror: the tale does not altogether shy away from some of the grimmer realities of contemporary African life, but sweetens them with the comforting idea that at least some of these problems could be resolved by a formidable middle aged woman short on sophistication but well-endowed with compassion and common sense. You could argue that this is a slightly patronising idea, although equally, you could argue that most British fictional detectives, from Miss Marple down to Morse himself, embody a certain archetypal Britishness just as clearly as Precious represents one idea of Africa. The gentle pacing and episodic construction means that it isn't exactly edge-of-your seat stuff; but its also fresh, diverting and oddly believable - and as such, a final feather in Minghella's cap.