There’s nothing better than snuggling on the sofa with a cosy crime drama and if you’ve worked your way through Midsomer Murders and Death In Paradise, and are on the lookout for some new cases to solve – from the comfort of your living room with a cup of tea – we’ve got your next escapism fix via Agatha Raisin, which has been transporting us to the beautiful Cotswolds.
The series introduces us to the effervescent Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin, a former PR hotshot in London who relocates to the country for a slower pace of life. But when a village quiche competition turns deadly, she finds herself channelling her networking skills into becoming the village’s very own amateur detective. What unfolds is a 10/10 detective drama for every wannabe sleuth and, dare we say, it’s like Midsomer Murders but even better.
Here’s everything you need to know about Agatha Raisin, including the plot, cast and all the inside details about this series.
What Is Agatha Raisin about?
The murder mystery, based on MC Beaton’s popular novel series, first aired as a one-off special on Sky in 2014. The show follows the eponymous lead, Agatha Raisin (Ashley Jensen), a former London PR guru who heads to the fictional village of Carsely, in the Cotswolds, for a quieter life.
However, the bucolic dream is short-lived – in an attempt to make new friends, she enters a quiche-making competition, which quickly backfires. One of the judges drops dead and Agatha becomes a prime suspect; to clear her name and crack the case, she decides to carry out her own investigation – and, it turns out, she’s a pretty adept detective.
After the success of the one-off episode, Sky commissioned the first series, which first premiered in 2016, and followed Agatha solving a string of murders alongside her best friend Roy (Mathew Horne). The mysteries range from the death of a field rambler to the apparent suicide of a village newcomer, and in the finale, Agatha is at the altar with her on-off lover, James Lacey (Jamie Glover), when she is framed for murder!
The second three-part series, which aired in 2019, is an equally rickety rollercoaster ride, Agatha finds herself single and forms the Carsely single ladies group. Her empowered single era is short-lived however, when she finds herself under the spell of a charismatic hairdresser, Jonny Shawpart (James Lance) – but there’s something very sinister behind his charm…
In the third eight-part series, premiering in 2020, Agatha starts her own detective agency, which provides her with a plethora of mysteries, including the discovery of a dismembered human torso at the Winter Fayre hog roast! In the fourth series, airing in 2022, there’s even more drama, including a fiasco at Carsely’s Jam-Off.
Who’s in the cast of Agatha Raisin?
The cast of Agatha Raisin includes:
- Ashley Jensen (Shetland, The Escape Artist) as Agatha Raisin
- Amybeth McNulty (Stranger Things) as young Agatha
- Jamie Glover (Fellow Creatures) as James Lacey
- Jason Merrells (Cutting It) as Sir Charles Fraith
- Mathew Horne (Gavin & Stacey) as Roy Silver
- Lucy Liemann (Rev.) as Sarah Bloxby
- Jason Barnett (Bridgerton) as DCI Denzel Wilkes
- Matt McCooey (The Salisbury Poisonings) as DC Bill Wong
- Katy Wix (Ghosts, Big Boys) as Gemma Simpson
- Jodie Tyack (Wreck) as Toni Gilmour
Is Agatha Raisin any good?
Yes – if you love cosy crime dramas such as Midsomer Murders and Death In Paradise, you’re going to want to tune into Agatha Raisin. Ashley Jensen’s take on Agatha is fun, vivacious and fashionable – she’s impossible not to love! Paired with the Cotswold village setting, which is full of colourful characters, it’s the pinnacle of escapism television.
How can I watch Agatha Raisin?
You can watch Agatha Raisin now on Acorn TV via Prime Video.
What other detective dramas can I watch now?
If you’re in the mood for something equally as cosy, we’d recommend Mrs Sidhu Investigates, the Channel 4 series in which we meet high-end-caterer-turned-local-sleuth Mrs Sidhu (Meera Syal), who unravels a series of mysteries in her local town. You can watch Mrs Sidhu Investigates on Channel 4. If you want to travel further afield and are in the mood for something darker, High Country is a gripping detective drama set Down Under, following Detective Andie Whitford, a city detective transferred to the wilderness who finds herself at the centre of a chilling web of missing people. You can watch High Country now on BBC iPlayer.
