The engaging and uplifting adaptation of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" debuts Sunday on HBO.
The two-hour premiere of the series is a different kind of show for normally edgy HBO. This is heartfelt and sunny, but no less well-crafted or insightful than some of HBO's best, and seriously dark, past series.
It's based on the novels by Alexander McCall Smith.
"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" is the story of Precious Ramotswe (Jill Scott), who moves to a city from the countryside in her beloved Botswana and sets up a detective agency to help people. She hires an odd, and oddly efficient, secretary (Anika None Rose), who's faced with transcribing on a typewriter that's missing a few keys. Precious suggests she use words without the missing letters.
Capturing Precious' buoyant optimism, her earnest morality and her straightforward good heart without making it cloying or a Lifetime movie -- no offense, Nora Roberts fans -- is every bit as tough as taking a pack of gangsters and layering family dynamics and life's realities through them.
The pilot was directed with a gentle touch by Anthony Minghella, who died a year ago, and would be a fine feature film on its own. It's built with fully drawn characters in roles big and small, and with a landscape that's stark, beautiful and conveys the contradictions of life in Botswana.
But the cornerstone of this series, just as in the books, is a humanity that runs through so many people and most of all Precious, whose precise, direct use of language -- "That is a terrible story," she says, or, "I sincerely agree" -- shows her integrity and how she gives everything and everyone her complete, enthusiastic attention.
"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" is a sheer delight. Precious, played lovingly by Scott, is as interesting as she is so entirely likable. Following her adventures and her simple day-to-day doings is an upbeat, eye-opening view of not just her world, but ours, too.
