Contender Home Entertainment announces the 27 October DVD debut of the highly acclaimed BBC Drama The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, an exceptional and ambitious film from director Anthony Minghella and writer Richard Curtis based on the first novel in the best-selling series by Alexander McCall Smith.
Released in time for the Christmas gifting season, it’s a perfect choice for your mum, sister or wife or a must-have self-purchase.
In what was to be his last film as director, Academy Award winning filmmaker Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) directs a script adapted by himself and Academy Award nominee Richard Curtis (Love Actually, The Vicar of Dibley). The success of the film when originally broadcast has lead to the BBC and HBO joining forces for an entire series. Based on the subsequent books, the series is about to start filming and is due on our screens next year.
The first BBC drama to be filmed entirely on location in Botswana, the film is a charming story chronicling the adventures of Mma Ramotswe, portrayed by Grammy award-winning singer Jill Scott. Mma Ramotswe is the wise proprietor of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana, who investigates local cases and helps people solve problems in their lives.
The major international cast also includes Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) as Mma Ramotswe’s secretary Mma Makutsi and Lucian Msamati plays Mma Ramotswe's suitor JLB Matekoni. They are joined by David Oyelowo (Five Days), Idris Elba (The Wire), Colin Salmon (Die Another Day) as well as actor and comedian Desmond Dube (Hotel Rwanda).
Precious Ramotswe, sells her late father’s cows and moves to the city to become Botswana’s finest – and only – female private detective. Her methods may be unconventional but she's got warmth, wit and canny intuition on her side, not to mention the support of her friends Mr JLB Matekoni (Msanati), proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors and Mma Makutsi (Noni Rose), the fastest-typing secretary in Gaborone. Precious is going to need as much help as she can get to solve the mysteries of a missing finger, a dubious Daddy, a cheating husband and as she heads into dark and dangerous territory on the trail of a missing child…
This uplifting and enchanting tale is produced by Academy Award winning filmmaker Sydney Pollack and Timothy Bricknell (Cold Mountain) for Mirage Productions along with Amy Moore.