Agatha Raisin on Acorn TV follows a public relations executive who takes early retirement to a quaint village in the Cotswolds.
She soon finds a second career as an amateur detective investigating mischief, mayhem and murder in her deceptively devious town.
Full of silliness and great characters, Agatha Raisin is a cosy crime drama that has won our hearts.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Acorn TV show…
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Agatha Raisin originally aired on Sky One
Agatha Raisin originally began on Sky One with Agatha Raisin & the Quiche of Death, a one-off Christmas special.
The first season then aired on Sky in 2016, before Acorn TV took over production for the rest of the seasons.
Sky One continues to air the Acorn TV programme.
A successful second season led Acorn TV to renew the programme for a third and fourth season, which are both available to stream on Acorn TV.
These include a Halloween special, Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House, and a Christmas special, Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye.
While a fifth season has not yet been confirmed, it has been teased by the show’s creators so we can hope for a season five announcement soon!
Is Agatha Raisin based on books?
The series is based on a series of novels written by Marion Chesney under her pseudonym M.C. Beaton.
Like the series, the books begin with Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, published in 1992.
Throughout the series, the former press relations executive constantly finds herself in trouble incidentally solving murders and by the 15th book in the series, Agatha sets up her own detective agency.
A running gag in the series involves the police insisting that she solves crimes through accident and luck.
Since Marion Chesney died in 2019, three books have been published posthumously with RW Green, the most recent being Agatha Raisin and the Devil’s Delight, published earlier this year.
Who’s in the cast of Agatha Raisin on Acorn TV?
Ashley Jensen leads the cast, as Agatha Raisin.
The Scottish actress is best known for her role as Maggie Jacobs in Extras. She received an Emmy nomination for her role in the series.
She also played Christina McKinney for four years on the US series Ugly Betty.
Ashley also recently starred as Nurse Emma in Netflix’s After Life.
Other notable roles include Trust Me and Catastrophe.
Mathew Horne plays Roy Silver, Agatha’s former assistant.
He is also one of her close friends and continues to assist Agatha with her sleuthing in the Cotswolds.
The actor is best known for his role as Gavin in Gavin and Stacey.
His other recognisable roles include Bad Education, The Catherine Tate Show and Settling.
Katy Wix stars as Gemma Simpson in the first two seasons of the Agatha Raisin series.
Gemma is a reimagined version of Doris Simpson, who regularly appears in the original book series.
She is Carsely’s ever-present and on-the-ball cleaning lady, and one of Agatha’s close friends.
Katy Wix is known for her starring role in Horrible Histories and as Mary in the BBC series Ghosts.
Her other notable TV roles include Daisy in Not Going Out, Fergie in The Windsors and Carole in Steph Lets Flats.
The cast of Agatha Raisin on Acorn TV
Matt McCooey plays Bill Wong, one of the main characters in the Agatha Raisin book series.
He is a policeman who turns out to be a key ally for Agatha.
After Agatha opens her own detective agency, the two begin a friendly rivalry as they both investigate murders in the Cotswolds.
Outside of Agatha Raisin, Matt has done a lot of voice acting work including in Thomas & Friends and the Final Fantasy games.
He’s also had small roles in The Salisbury Poisonings, Midsomer Murders and Doctors.
Jamie Glover plays Agatha’s love interest, James Lacey. James is also one of the main characters in the Agatha Raisin book series.
He is Agatha’s neighbour, who has an on-and-off again romance with her.
Jamie’s best-known role is probably as Andrew Treneman in Waterloo Road, starring as the teacher for four seasons of the BBC show.
You might also recognise him for his role as Angus Farrel in Holby City.
He’s also recently played Harry Potter in the West-End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Jason Barnett plays Inspector Wilkes, another original character from the book series.
He is a rather incompetent policeman who’s not a fan of Agatha’s constant meddling in police business.
You’ll probably recognise Jason Barnett for his role as CSE Eddie Olosunje in The Bill.
He’s recently starred in Bridgerton as Jeffries, Simon’s Butler.
Who else stars in Agatha Raisin?
Lucy Liemann plays Sarah Bloxby.
She is one of Agatha’s close friends and the vicar’s wife.
Lucy Liemann had a starring role in the 2007 film The Bourne Ultimatum.
Since then she’s starred in Moving Wallpaper, Reggie Perrin and Rev.
Jason Merrells stars as Sir Charles Fraith, another original character from the book series.
He is a charming and well-connected Blue-blood who lives and owns land in Carsely.
He has become a close friend of Agatha’s and often assists her in solving local murders.
Another Waterloo Road star, Jason Merrells played the popular Jack Rimmer in the first three seasons of the show.
Jason is also known for his roles as Matt Hawley in Casualty and as Declan Macey in Emmerdale.
Finally, Jodie Tyack joined the cast in season three as Toni Gilmour, the junior detective at Agatha’s agency.
Her photographic memory makes her a great asset to the team.
The young actress recently starred in BBC’s adaptation of Noughts + Crosses. She also had a small role in Unforgotten back in 2017.
She’s also soon set to star in the new BBC series Wrecked.
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Who has guest starred on the show?
Recurring cast members include Marcia Warren as Mrs. Boggle and Richard Durden as Mr. Boggle.
Lovejoy actress Caroline Langrishe plays Shelia Barr, Agatha’s hostile neighbour.
Taz Skylar as Harry Beam joined the cast is season 4 in a recurring role too.
Agatha Raisin has had some great guest stars!
The Witcher and Poldark star Jason Thorpe featured as Agatha’s ex, Jimmy.
Rashan Stone starred in season one as Jez Bloxby. He recently starred in ITV’s drama Hollington Drive.
Marc Bannerman also recently guest starred on the show. He’s best known for playing Gianni in EastEnders.
Casualty favourite Suzanne Packer guest starred in the recent season of Agatha Raisin.
The Mallorca Files star Elen Rhys starred as James’ fiance in Agatha Raisin: There Goes the Bride.
Coronation Street star Sian Reeves featured in the same recent episode.
Finally, another soap actress, Nicola Duffet also featured on the most recent season of the Acorn TV show.
Where is Agatha Raisin on Acorn TV set?
The show is set in the fictional village of Carsley, in the Cotswolds.
In the books, Carsley is described as a large village nestled in a fold of the Cotswolds Hills and is a short drive from Moreton-in-Marsh.
Carsley has many neighbouring villages where some of the events of the series also take place, including Dembley, Ancombe and Hebberdon.
Author M.C. Beaton and her husband retired to the Cotswolds after her son finished university, which inspired her to set the book series in the Cotswolds.
The main filming location is the village of Biddestone in northwest Wiltshire which stands in as the fictional Carsley.
Other filming locations include Upper Wraxall near Marshfield, Corsham and Bristol.
Agatha Raisin – everything to know about the character…
Agatha’s back story revolves around her tiring of busy London and her job as a PR executive and leaving for a quiet retirement in the Cotswolds.
In the first episode of the show, Agatha reveals one summer when she was a child, Agatha’s parents took her to Carsley on a camping holiday. She found the countryside to be magical and knew she wanted to live there someday.
In her 20s, Agatha was married to Jimmy Raisin who was good-looking, drunk and always asking for money.
She assumed that he had died after his disappearance but the first season finale revealed that he was alive, but he turned up on the day of Agatha’s wedding to James Lacey.
Agatha worked as one of London’s top PR’s and represented many people for her company including the popular band Boyhood; they were part of her last work as a PR.
In Season 3, Agatha finally becomes a licensed detective and opens her own private detective agency.
In the most recent season, her ex James announces his engagement to his welsh fiancee Eirwen, but she turns up dead on the morning of their wedding.
So, will Season 5 finally be the season where Agatha and James seal their relationship?
Where you can watch Agatha Raisin?
All episodes are available to watch on the streaming platform Acorn TV.
So, if you have a subscription with the streaming site, you can binge-watch the first four seasons of the show.
All seasons are also available for purchase on Amazon Prime.
Sky One also airs the episodes at a later date than Acorn TV.
Agatha Raisin is available to watch on Acorn TV.
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