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Arts & Culture

AGATHA RAISIN: Season 1

Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin, a high-flying London PR executive fulfills a life-long dream of retiring to a small village in the Cotswolds. Along the way, Agatha discovers that she has talent for crime-solving, but her new life is not the quiet country idyll she imagined. Based on the best-selling novels by M.C. Beaton.
Courtesy of British Sky, Free @Last TV and Mammoth Screen
Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin, a high-flying London PR executive fulfills a life-long dream of retiring to a small village in the Cotswolds. Along the way, Agatha discovers that she has talent for crime-solving, but her new life is not the quiet country idyll she imagined. Based on the best-selling novels by M.C. Beaton.

Airs Fridays, Jan. 11 - March 8, 2019 at 10 p.m. & Sundays, Jan. 13 - March 10 at 6 p.m. on KPBS TV

This quintessentially British village mystery is based on the bestselling books by M.C. Beaton.

High-flying London PR executive Agatha Raisin (Ashley Jensen, EXTRAS, UGLY BETTY) fulfills a life-long dream of retiring to a small village in the Cotswolds.

Desperate to fit in, she enters the local quiche-baking competition, only to find herself a suspect when her entry kills the judge.

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To save her reputation, Agatha sets out to solve the murder, with the help of her former assistant Roy, eager Detective Constable Bill Wong, and her cleaner Gemma.

Along the way, Agatha discovers that she has talent for crime-solving, but her new life is not the quiet country idyll she imagined.

Based on the best-selling novels by M.C. Beaton, these “frothy and enjoyable” (The Killing Times TV) mysteries shine with humor and intrigue.

AGATHA RAISIN Trailer

EPISODE GUIDE:

Pilot Episode: “The Quiche Of Death” airs Friday, Jan. 11 at 10 p.m. & Sunday, Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. - Agatha Raisin, having spent years clawing her way to the top of the cutthroat world of public relations, is tiring of the high life. Pining for a more peaceful existence in friendlier locales, she leaves London, opting for early retirement in the picturesque idyll of the Cotswolds.

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She settles in Carsely - an outwardly sleepy village in scenic surroundings - and attempts to curry favor with the locals, cheating her way into a quiche-making competition with an entry purchased from an urban deli.

But the gambit spectacularly backfires when the philandering judge, Major Andy Cummings-Browne, is found poisoned from a killer quiche. The offending crust? 'Cooked' by Agatha.

Finding herself ostracized and shunned in the village, Agatha begins an amateur investigation into the death, applying the skills she would usually reserve for a thorny PR campaign to get at the truth of the matter.

Outspoken, opinionated and never afraid to speak her mind, regardless of the consequences, Agatha shakes up the tranquil world of Carsely, unearthing hidden secrets as she goes.

With her cleaner Gemma Simpson, lovelorn local policeman Bill Wong and faithful former assistant Roy Silver in tow, she's determined to wring out the truth - hoping to salvage her reputation, and dreams of a perfect life, in the process.

Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin, and Mathew Horne as Roy Silver in AGATHA RAISIN.
Courtesy of British Sky, Free @Last TV and Mammoth Screen
Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin, and Mathew Horne as Roy Silver in AGATHA RAISIN.

Episode 1: “The Walkers Of Dembley” airs Friday, Jan. 18 at 10 p.m. & Sunday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. - When militant rambler Jessica Tartinck is found bashed to death in a field, former PR whiz Agatha Raisin is forced to go undercover to get to the bottom of the grisly crime.

Episode 2: “Hell's Bells” airs Friday, Jan. 25 at 10 p.m. & Sunday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. - A rich newcomer to the village, Amanda Ballard, has found little favor among the Carsely locals. And when her body is found hanging from the bell ropes of the church in an apparent suicide, Agatha suspects foul play.

Episode 3: “The Wellspring Of Death” airs Friday, Feb. 1 at 10 p.m. & Sunday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. - A village-wide squabble in Ancombe over the selling of water rights results in the death of Parish Council Chairman Robert Struthers. Agatha, on a PR job for the water company, tries to put the matter out of her mind. But as the body count rises, she finds herself drawn into the fray.

Episode 4: “The Potted Gardener” airs Friday, Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. & Sunday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. - Mary Fortune, a seemingly perfect paragon of village life, is found murdered in her own back garden. As shockwaves reverberate through Carsely, a series of bizarre garden sabotages may hold the key to Agatha unlocking the secrets of the murder.

A scene from AGATHA RAISIN, episode 4 “The Potted Gardener."
Courtesy of British Sky, Free @Last TV and Mammoth Screen
A scene from AGATHA RAISIN, episode 4 “The Potted Gardener."

Episode 5: “The Vicious Vet” airs Friday, Feb. 15 at 10 p.m. & Sunday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. - Veterinarian cum lothario Paul Bladen has the ladies of Carsely all aflutter with excitement. But when a routine operation results in his death, Agatha once again must uncover the truth behind his untimely demise.

Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin in a scene from “The Vicious Vet.”
Courtesy of British Sky, Free @Last TV and Mammoth Screen
Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin in a scene from “The Vicious Vet.”

Episode 6: “The Day The Floods Came” airs Friday, Feb. 22 at 10 p.m. & Sunday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. - Young bride Kylie Stokes is found dead, her body apparently drowned in a flash flood in the area. But as horrid details surrounding her death come to light, Agatha, who had seen the bride in some dismay on her 'happy' day, resolves to crack the case herself.

Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin in "The Day the Floods Came."
Courtesy of British Sky, Free @Last TV and Mammoth Screen
Ashley Jensen as Agatha Raisin in "The Day the Floods Came."

Episode 7: “The Witch Of Wyckhadden” airs Friday, March 1 at 10 p.m. & Sunday, March 3 at 6 p.m. (Sunday subject to change) - Ditching Carsely for the vast Wyckhadden Hotel to escape personal embarrassment, Agatha finds herself in the center of another scandal when local ‘witch’ Francie Juddle is discovered bludgeoned to death. Trapped in the area until the matter is resolved, Agatha begins her own investigation.

Episode 8: “The Murderous Marriage” airs Friday, March 8 at 10 p.m. & Sunday, March 10 at 6 p.m. (Sunday subject to change) - When Agatha’s ex-husband, Jimmy Raisin, returns to Carsely unannounced, it tests her relationship with James Lacey to its snapping point. And when Jimmy ends up dead in a ditch, Agatha is put in the frame for his murder.

Distributed by Acorn TV.