Bereft Woman

This is my first view of South African television, and I am enthralled at the view so far. I had my doubts about the Tannie Maria character in the first episode. I remembered Marie Doyle Kennedy in her harder edged roles from Outlander and Downton Abbey. But she has proven to be quite convincing as the chef with a soft heart for lovers in need of aid and comfort. I trust we will see following episodes in swift succession. The remaining cast are unknown to me so far, but they perform convincingly as an ensemble, and the setting of small town life in Karoo plays as authentic to my knowledge and taste so far. I found the trist between Martine and her friend as she named her gifted ducks a delight and then a tragedy as plot showed its ugly side. Perhaps we shall see if justice finds its way home to roost.

Not a fun story. Having a cozy Murder mystery kick-off with a major theme of spousal abuse is not fun viewing. We're done after one episode. The whole thing seems a little to rural. Like only 100 people live in town. Plus, it appears the entire law enforcement team are the three stooges. Chickens on the food counter, yikes. There was way too much food preparation in the mix. Maybe they should put a Q-code on the screen so we could look up the recipes. Not a fun story. Having a cozy Murder mystery kick-off with a major theme of spousal abuse is not fun viewing. We're done after one episode. The whole thing seems a little to rural. Like only 100 people live in town. Plus, it appears the entire law enforcement team are the three stooges. Chickens on the food counter, yikes. There was way too much food preparation in the mix. Maybe they should put a Q-code on the screen so we could look up the recipes.

Talented cook Tannie Maria Purvis loses her job as recipe writer on a small newspaper, to stay employed she takes in the role of agony Aunt, her first letter, from unknown, Bereft woman, speaks of a violent husband, she fears for her life.

It's like a mix of Ladies or Letters and Shakespeare and Hathaway, it shouldn't really work, but it does. Easy going, easy to follow afternoon drama, the kind of show I like to watch teatime on a Sunday.

I can't think of many South African dramas, but this one held my attention, I really look forward to more.

It's quirky, and a little bit different, there's lots of third wall dialogue, cooking and chicken ob a table scene.

The big mystery, what is Tannie hiding, what on Earth is her secret?

Strong female characters, unfortunately all of the men are quite hapless, including the camp butcher, violent husband, and incredibly handsome, but dim uniform officer.

7/10.