AGATHA RAISIN: SERIES 1

Agatha Raisin is a high-powered, obnoxious, dressed-to-the-nines and extremely successful partner in a London public relations firm. Out of the blue, she decides to give it all up and move to the Cotswolds, which she remembers fondly from family vacations when she was a kid. Her partner, Roy Silver, asks her, "Won't you get lonely in the country?"Agatha: "It's been lonely here."So she moves to Budgen's Cottage in the village of Carsely, which will never be the same. Given that Agatha has no patience what so ever, she determines that she wants to fit into the village NOW (her "fit in" is synonymous with "be a mover & shaker"). She's just in time for the annual Village Fete where the highest honor is reserved for the winner of the Quiche Contest. What better way to become one with the village than to win the Quiche Contest – even if she has to cheat.Her cheating is found out. Agatha would be in the doghouse with the villagers except that a local is killed and Agatha solves the murder. After that, Agatha is Carsely's "own Miss Marple" and all is forgiven.Agatha goes on to solve more murders, which is nice as it keeps her churning mind busy. She is not totally likeable, but she is certainly interesting and a force to be reckoned with. This is an amateur detective series with a lot of humor. In particular, I laughed out loud while watching "Witch of Wyckhadden."1. "Quiche of Death" (Pilot, 2-episode length) The plot is given above. We're introduced to the recurring characters, including, Detective Constable Bill Wong, who suffers a cougar crush on Agatha. His boss, D.C.I. Wilkes of the South Gloucester Police, is one of the worst drawn characters. His lines should be funny, but they come off as cartoonish.2. "Walkers of Dembley" Agatha joins a hiking "ramble" over the fields, and everyone is startled by a warning shot. Jessica Tartinck, leading another hiking group, confronts a farmer who warns that they are trampling on crops. Jessica is in his face and frankly annoying. But is that any reason to kill her?3. "Hell's Bells" Carsely's church has just rehung the five bells in its bell tower. Amanda Ballard, a young widow new to town, leads a group of 5 people in learning the not-as-easy-as-it-looks art of bell-ringing. Amanda is one of the 5, which is why it is she is who discovers Amanda - hung from one of the bells.4. "The Wellspring of Death" In the nearby town of Ancombe, acrimony reigns at the Parish Council meeting. Angela states her case, "The spring arises in my aunt's garden... and she has the legal right to sell the rights to that spring water to whichever company she chooses." Julia argues that the water company tankers are disruptive and the council should not allow them access. Chairman Robert Struthers has the deciding vote, and he insists he won't make up his mind until the morning. If he's still alive in the morning.5. "The Potted Gardener" It's only two days before Carsely's Open Gardens Competition. Which Agatha has decided to win. Everybody wakes to find their garden displays uprooted. Especially at the house across from Agatha's, where the owner has been "planted" head down in her own garden.6. "The Vicious Vet" The grocer confides to Agatha, "New vet. Very handsome by all accounts. Lots of animals suddenly taking a turn for the worse." That's not something Agatha can resist. She gets her cat and heads over to meet the new vet in appropriate attire - a leopard-patterned pencil skirt, black burnout lace blouse and stilettos. Who would think that it's the vet who needs to be put down?7. "The Day the Floods Came" The big house in the area is Barfield Hall, and new owner Charles Fraith has rented the grounds for a wedding. Agatha, using her London skills, is running the arrangements, which is why she's on hand to see the bride-to-be sobbing. But the wedding goes on, and it's not until the next morning that a woman is found looking as lovely and as dead as the floating Ophelia.8. "Witch of Wyckhadden" Agatha is putting suitcases into the car trunk and telling Gemma, "I'm not running away. I've got a family crisis."Gemma: "But you don't have a family."WHYever Agatha is running becomes apparent, after she's checked into her rooms at the castle once home to the Earl of Wykhadden. Glorious Tudor ceilings, coats of armor and mounted horns all around. And murder. As the manager tells her, "Murder is clearly good for business."9. "Murderous Marriage" It is impossible to give a synopsis of this plot without major spoilers, so I'll just say that someone close, if not so dear, is going to end up dead.The Agatha Raisin pilot, "Quiche of Death", first aired in December 2014. The following 8 episodes of Season 1 aired in June/July 2016. All of the episodes, including the pilot, are based on mystery novels of the same name by M.C. Beaton. Beaton is the nom de plume of Marion Chesney. To date, she's published 27 Agatha Raisin mysteries.Ashley Jensen, who plays Agatha with an occasional burrr in her speech, is from Scotland herself. I hardly recognized her as Agatha in her "real life" photo. In a 6/12/16 interview with Simon Button, Jensen says this about her character: "My hair is more angular and the lipstick terrifying. The character has a strong visual identity.... I can now walk on any terrain in stiletto heels."The DVD set combines the Pilot and Season 1 and totals 462 minutes without commercials. The show is presented in 16:9 with Dolby Digital 5.1. The DVD has English SDH subtitles on all the episodes and on the Bonus Features (except the Photo Gallery).Bonus Features total 18 minutes and are mediocre compared to many features I've watched on other series. Commentators include Robert Bathurst (plays Andy), Mathew Horne (plays Roy), Ashley Johnson (plays Agatha), Barry Ryan (producer), Johnny Ludlow (location manager), M.C. Beaton (author), Matt McCooey (plays DC Wong), Katy Wix (plays Gemma), Jason Barnett (plays D.I. Wilkes) and Jamie Glover (plays James).In bonus B, M.C. Beaton says, "It is the book, but not as you know it.... But they kept to the plot. They kept to the spirit of the book."....A. "Welcome to Carsley"....B. "From Script to Screen"....C. "Meet the Cast"....D. "Introducing Agatha"....E. "About the Show"....F. "Agatha is Back"....G. "From P.R. to P.I."....H. Photo GalleryAs I watched the series, I got more into the characters, and they contributed more to the show than took away from it. The plots seem good to me, but they can be hard to find within the character drama. As a mystery lover, "Agatha Raisin Series 1" is an enjoyable 4.3 stars, rounded down to 4.Happy Reader

Entertaining and a nice change from some of the dark and dour mysteries.

I read about 13 or 14 books of the Agatha Raisin series and stopped them. I loved her sharp mind but didn't find the other characters appealing except for Bill. Not in this series, though. It's brilliant. Agatha is even better in the series. The surrounding characters have their own lives and are brilliant. The actress who portrays Agatha does a wonderful job. Maybe seeing the characters makes them seem more human or the person they go to write the scripts is wonderful. Thank you whoever you are. One character who I despised in the book, James, is actually likeable in this series. Bill Wong is really cute. (eyebrow wag) I got this on Prime but because my parents don't have Prime or trust Amazon, I got them the DVD. They love the series too. So glad this came out.

At the beginning, I thought I wasn't going to like the series. Having read all of the Agatha Raisin books I had her appearance - the perfect cap of dark hair, slightly plump and beady eyes in my mind. By the end of the first episode I was getting used to the actors/actresses playing the various characters. By the end of the series I found I really enjoyed it. There have been some changes made to the other characters; her cleaning woman is much more prominent but that's to the good, Bill Wong's boss is very funny (and he can dance!). These changes were probably considered necessary to the transition from book to film. I do miss the original Mrs. Bloxly who in the books was the first to accept Agatha, warts and all. Overall though it was well done and some very funny bits here and there.

This is a fun but silly series, based on the M.C. Beaton books. Something between a comedy and a mystery. Ashley Jensen is super cute in the title role. Mathew Horne (Gavin in "Gavin and Stacey") is not at his best in this role and Lucy Lieman as Sarah is underutilized, the part having been seriously downsized compared to the books. The series is shot entirely in a few blocks of one tiny cozy cute Cotswold village. Very picturesque but almost claustrophobic. Apparently, a second season has been commissioned. It would be nice to develop some of the characters a bit more--D.C. Wong, the vicar, Roy, etc. and to widen the focus geographically. The filming of the series has more of a tight-shot feel like "Father Brown" rather than the sort of travelogue feel like the early"Midsomer Murders". Maybe it's a budget issue?

This is a fun series. The main character is a blond and a little goofy in her own way. But she's a successful business woman who's had enough of the bid city and has moved to a small English town where the fun starts. While looking for love and trying to be accepted in the small community she becomes involved in the towns first murder. While competing with the local police trying to solve the mystery she gets involved with community affairs beyond all expectations. The whole series becomes murder solving mysteries as one person after another falls prey to death. Unfortunately I was not able to watch the last disk as I discovered it was cracked and would not play. Now I have to order a new set to see the last episodes. I hope this series continues.

Does the world need yet another series of detective stories set in idyllic English countryside? A tradition which I suppose goes back to Miss Marple and has progressed through shows like Midsomer Murders (now well past its sell-by date), Father Brown and the woeful Shakespeare & Hathaway etc., has given us a wealth of these fluffy bits of nonsense and there is precious little more than can be added to this over-worked genre. That said, there are times when the viewer wants to switch off their brain and just allow an undemanding and completely forgettable piece of froth to wash over them. In this respect Agatha Raisin fits the bill reasonably well. The plots, if they can be described as such, are extraordinarily slight and although the pilot episode did produce the odd genuinely funny moment, overall the humour is decidedly weak. What rescues the show is an engaging performance by the lead actor (pulling off the trick of making an incredibly irritating character quite likeable), with reasonable support from most of the other cast members. One fly in the ointment is the regular appearance of a Police Inspector of absurdly exaggerated stupidity. I know the show is not meant to be taken seriously, but this character is so totally unbelievable that it jars whenever he appears. However, despite the fact that this series is derivative, totally unoriginal and throws in practically every cliche you can imagine, I actually found it quite enjoyable. To throw in a cliche of my own, it can be a guilty pleasure.

I have read all of the Agatha Raisin books. They are a very amusing easy read although slightly repetitive. I was saddened when I heard that the author had died and there would be no more. The TV series and associated DVD are based on the books but the main characters with the exception of Agatha herself are shown as very different from the those in the book. That said, they fit well.

I love Ashley Jenson. Why do programme makers always feel the need to change the characters in the book? Or add characters? An easy to watch series but don't expect it to be like the books if you loved them, you will be disappointed.

The cast tackle a series of murders in a small Cotswold village, much to the annoyance of the local constabulary. it is fast paced, has very little gore, and as well as the comic situations, there is some love interest to keep it edgy. I bought the next series too. Occasional episodes are on Freeview TV to whet your appetite.

We absolutely loved this series which we discovered on Sky Originals. We bought the DVD because the first edition appeared to have been withdrawn from the TV. The series is funny and sad and beautifully shot with lots of well known faces playing the characters. We loved it so much we booked a holiday in the grounds of the house where Andy Cummings-Brown was murdered because the village looked so beautiful.