User reviews

The last episode of S2, I had a hard time watching. Face up after 2 times. Watching S3E1 and not 10 min in and I'm annoyed. I love the cast and am really disappointed by the shift into silliness. While it works, kind of, it's like it swallowed a huge bucket of silliness instead of just a cup. Like baking, ratios matter. I'll watch but in the background. Tolerable but not my fav show anymore.

Series 3 has lost the plot. Everyone overacts, especially Ashley Jensen. In series 3 her character is annoying, angry and mouthy. She trips and falls everywhere and it's not remotely humorous, just annoying. Series 1 and 2 are better and Fairies of Fryfam is my favourite episode. If there is a series 4 I hope they all tone down the silliness.

Yet another funny series about solving murders in idyllic English villages. No, this hasn't the taut writing or the sharp wit of Agatha Christie's but is more of a Midsomer Murders with slapstick comedy and one-liners. The setting is beautiful, but the characters are too stereotyped. The village seems to be made up of a handful of people which lends the series a aura of incredulity and just sheer fantasy. The plots all have holes, and without sufficient character development, or explanation, seem a bit silly to have been solved in the 40 minutes or so. Don't watch this with any seriousness in mind, it's more about silliness and escapism to provide mindless entertainment.

Everything that made the first two seasons charming was flushed down the toilet. I find it incredibly tedious to make it through an episode now. Without the gay best friend and house cleaner it's all just sad now. Not funny. I'd give it 3 stars but the first seasons bump it up.

It took a while for this show to grow on me. Agatha's 'girly' facet didn't register at first, now I think it's a hoot. She's a really interesting character, and wonderfully played. *All* the actors are excellent. Her best friend Gemma is subtly divine. The two policemen each in their own way are wonderful. I've come to love the show, and really hope they will keep it going. We needed something to fill the gap of clever and engaging 'murder and tea.' No ugliness, shouting, acrimony, etc. Of course, the setting is gorgeous. Agatha has given up the bustle of the city and moved to the Cotswolds. So you get some of those 'quirky village characters' that Midsomer Murders excelled at. If you're a fan of Miss Marple and Poirot shows, or Miss Fisher's murder mysteries, you should really give this a try.

This series is really fun. The characters are delightful and in my opinion well cast. I have not read the book/books? Therefore, I have no preconceived notions or requirements. Ashley Jensen is wonderful and the perfect opposite to Jamie Glover's character. The chemistry between the entire cast is great. I love the little town they are in, I feel like I am right there. The mysteries are good not overly predictable and sprinkled with just enough emotional ups and downs. But even then, as long as I am entertained by the story and characters it would not matter to me. Thank The Lord For Acorn TV - I would not have found this little treasure had it not been for that channel. I am really hoping there will be more. I will be disappointed if that is "all she wrote."

I've changed my old rating of 9 down to 7. I was aghast at season 3 and didn't finish. If you haven't seen the show yet, I recommend and hope you enjoy - season 1 especially, season 2 mostly. The Witch of Wickhadden is my favorite episode. Lovely additional cast members, neat setting.

I'm sorry for the folks who read the books first and were disappointed in the show! This series got me reading the books, which has been great. (Even those start going downhill. No disrespect and RIP, Ms Beaton.) I have no trouble reconciling 'book Agatha' and 'TV Agatha.'

The early formula was excellent, and I dearly wish the story/production team will try to recapture it. Shorter like they were, more of them, and less pratfalls and such. And yes, Katy Wix was a big part of that formula for me, too, I saw other reviews saying so! A real charmer, and her character plays off Agatha's so well.

For now, I will just rewatch the early episodes like I've done numerous times. It's a charming place to be.

Is just Awful, silly beyond belief season one was good what went wrong ?

Come into this without ANY preconceptions, unlike some who obviously recognize it as being 'different to the books', so from a pure and fresh viewpoint, just a really good fun, lighthearted series. Fabulous settings, attractive eccentric cast, for not-at-all serious light hearted viewing - and sometimes you just NEED that - for me, can just say, much enjoyed, and hope they make more... Have also seen some compare it to Midsomer M., but no - this is much lighter - strong comic element. Maybe cross between Midsomer and Vicar of Dibley!? Only confusion - how DO they manage to find so much sun when they are filming in the UK - certainly enhances the Cotswolds (as if it needed it). Imagine the cast have great fun doing it - more please...

Follow up! Why the h*ll haven't Sky taken up 2nd Series? Come ON!

No movie or TV show is like the book(s). Well, maybe Godfather 1. But I think this one follows the thoughtline of author MC Beaton close enough that we can recognize many similarities and storylines. As a long time MC Beaton mystery fan, I was a bit surprised by the screen Agatha played by Ashley Jensen. She is certainly not the picture I had of bear eyed Agatha in the books. So I think of her as a younger version. However, Jensen won me over through great acting, exhibiting no doubt that she had the same attibutes and failings of book Agatha. In fact, she nailed the part in her own way, not the same in looks but absolutely capturing the persona of the character. The supporting players were outstanding as well and they were easily recognized from the books. Unlike the women in and out of the stories, sprucing themselves up to make goo-goo eyes at the latest new man to the village, there is one with understated beauty that you might miss. The wife of the reverend, looking the part of clergy family, Sarah Bloxby as played by Lucy Liemann with straight hair and a plain look about her goes unappreciated. But when she smiles in closeups, her face lights up the screen. She is also able to handle very difficult scenes. The four men around Agatha (Wong, Silver, Fraith and Lacy) play their parts so very well, and close to the books. DCI Wilkes played by Jason Barnett keeps us laughing with comedy and Agatha's cleaning lady Katy Wix was missed in this last episode. Hopefully she will be coming back. "All in all", I say job well done by the whole crew and keep up the good work! I'm sure there will be some put off by any differences from the books. Try to separate the two and enjoy the show for the writing and acting that is so expertly presented.

Stumbled across this show on Acorn TV and I'm happy I did. It's delightful. It's fun. I like the settings, the characters and the actors. However, I am totally unfamiliar with the original books. That being said, I don't think it much matters. I was a fan of the TV show "Bones" for a number of seasons before I picked up one of Kathy Reichs' novels. I admit it was a bit jarring at first. The books and the TV show have really only two things in common; the name of the main character and her profession. I stopped trying to compare the two and enjoy both as stand-alone entities. If I read the Agatha Raisin books, I shall keep it in mind to apply the same rule--after reading some of these reviews. In the mean time, I loved this show and am looking forward to a second season.

Agatha Raisin is a lighthearted crime comedy about a PR guru turned into amateur sleuth. The titular Agatha, having spend years working in PR industry, abandoned her career to enjoy simple life in a remote village. The place she moves to is quintessentially British - tea parties, garden competitions and so on...everybody is happy and friendly. Oh, this village made me wanna cry and scream. I wanna sell everything I have and move to England (dream on, after all these refugee crisis and the Brexit referendum it is hardly possible). OK, life seems perfect for Agatha but time and again some of her neighbors are found dead. The bumbling police officers are of no use and Agatha investigates the murders on her own. The problem with this series is that it just does not work as detective. All Agatha's investigations follow the same pattern: she sneaks into the crime scene and finds some important clue the police fails to notice. Then some brilliant idea suddenly comes to her and she knows who the murderer is. This is it. If seen as comedy the series is well done. There are lots of funny situations and dialogues that made me laugh. Some of the characters are really funny. But if compared to such masterpieces as Midsomer Murders or Inspector Lewis, Agatha Raisin may look rather silly. But all in all the series provides the audience with 45 minute worth of light entertainment.

I really enjoyed this series. The village it is shot in is beautiful and the characters who live there in the show are a real hoot. It's great that Acron produces shows like this, no nudity, profanity, drugs or gun play, just snappy dialogue and funny situations. Each episode has much the same form but how the crime is solved is far from formulaic and no matter how desperate the situation Agatha manages with the help of long suffering friends, to come out on top. This series has the potential to enjoy many future seasons much like the Midsomer Murder franchise.

It is difficult to rate Agatha Raisin because the first 2 seasons are so really great, but season 3 is awful. I can't even finish season 3. I don't know if they got different writers or if there is a different show runner, but so many fundamental aspects of character and nuance were completely changed in season 3. If season 3 was season 1, I would never have watched it. I so want Agatha Raisin renewed for a 4th season with a return to the 1st 2 seasons thoughtfulness, skills, etc. Seasons 1 and 2 and so fun, Agatha is very observant, she and James have amazing chemistry and work so wonderfully together, and they care for each other. I'm not saying she was a perfect person, she's not. She's prickly, and even though she understands how people think and react, it is difficult for her to behave like a normal person. She'll blurb out inappropriate comments without any sense that those words are hurtful or inappropriate. Yet she does care about James and her cohorts. Bring Agatha Raisin back but only as she was and not as she was tweaked.

Not a good show. The characters and storylines are tedious. It's not even amusing, if you want a comedy crime solver, there are some far better alternatives out there.

I am a huge fan of the books. I am excited that they turned it in to a series. Yes, she stumbles along but that's what I like. Not a fan of the blond hair and the casting of the Bloxby's. Love the upgrade of Miss. Simpson. Total fan and hope the series continues. It's a fun murder mystery show. I like how each episode is not rushed. Some murder mystery shows drag out then rush at the end. I also like the change of DCI Wilkes and the Boggle's. Wilkes isn't such an arse and the Boggle's are a regular feature. I also like the fact that the main characters don't live in different villages. The changes from the book are totally acceptable and work. Still love the books and looking forward to the next one.

If Jessica Fletcher was a bit younger, more fashionable, and a lot more full of herself, she'd probably be Agatha Raisin. Ashley Jensen and her co-stars make this series work as the plots themselves (with a couple of exceptions) are rather pedestrian (and some are downright bad). But it's mainly watching Agatha Raisin trip about the Cotswolds in her high heels and high ego doing the investigating thing. Mathew Horne is a kind of gay Watson to her Sherlock. Matt McCooey is wholesomely self-effacing as DC Bill Wong and I quite like Lucy Liemann as the vicar's wife as she seems the most level-headed of all of them (I could see a mystery series built around her sensible character). And the other co-stars are good, too. But none of it is to be taken seriously. P. S. I also quite liked Katy Wix who leaves the series half way through. I don't know if it's coincidence but her last episode was the execrable Fairies of Fryfam where she spends the entire episode inexplicably carrying around a duck. I'd leave, too.

Again I watched season 4, why ? I guess I keep hoping it gets better. What a waste of time, characters are nothing close to those in Beaton's books and the acting tells you they just needed to make a payment. Watched it last night and this morning my wife asked if we had finished the episode and if so who was the killer. Honestly I couldn't give her an answer. Spoiler, the show will spoil your evening.

I've been reading the books since the 90's and have enjoyed them quite a bit. While not great literature, they are an entertaining, light read. You'll have to excuse some very glaring continuity issues - hello, what are editors for? - but still a lot of fun.

The TV series is the same - entertaining, light fun. I know many are disparaging the TV series as not being enough like the books, but I don't agree. I don't think it matters if the characters are exactly like the books. In a book, you can spend very little space getting into a character's thoughts and motivations, something really quite hard and often boring to do in film. Updating from the 90"s to now means that quite a bit has to change including how Agatha would operate in PR and the world at large. Like the Hamish MacBeth TV show (which is fabulous, by the way) I think the writers for this series took the fun and the spirit of the books, without some of the nastiness or unbelievable plot devices, and have created something entertaining.

This Agatha Raisin is a character for "now" not the 90's and is well-written and acted. I'd really like to see another series.