Agatha Raisin

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.

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.

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.

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.