The #1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
I subscribed to HBO because of this series. I own most of the McCall Smith “Precious” books, and respected media critic Eric Deggans wrote a favorable review of the two-hour series opener.
A funny culture note: I had always thought of Precious’s “tiny white van” as an enclosed box-on-wheels, but it turns out, according to an Australian friend, that “van” there can also mean what we would call a “pickup truck,” so Precious’s tiny white Datsun (with the D missing on its tailgate) in the HBO version, is truly a “van,” not a producer’s mistake.
The Speedy Motors garage, the two indolent apprentices, and Grace were all exactly as I had imagined them — but McCall Smith specifically describes Maketoni as a tall man, while on HBO he showed up as a shortie. Wrong!
And I don’t feel the business with the two half-working typewriters was necessary. It wasn’t in the book, in which her typewriter is given to her by Maketoni, who was not only tall but a mechanic perfectly capable of repairing a typewriter.
These are quibbles no one who hadn’t read the books would notice. But there was a lot of background and description inevitably left out of the TV version. I strongly recommend the books, which are quirkier, funnier, and in some ways sadder than the generally excellent HBO/BBC adaptation.