Mma-Ramotswe finally airs on Btv

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Thursday January 7, 2010 00:00

 

Batswana were given festive cheer when Btv aired the full movie on November 30, ahead of the subsequent seven part series, which was shot a year after the first installment.

The seven part series, according to Btv's acting director, Lesole Obonye is running on Mondays and Wednesdays. The channel has already aired twice, with the seventh and last episode scheduled to air on Monday, January 25.

The series air on Btv on Mondays and Wednesdays at 930pm. Btv says they did not have to pay for the series adding that it is free airing made possible by Weinstein Company and the producers of the show Tim Bricknell and Amy Moore.

The producers of the movie had in 2008 emphasised that Btv can only air the movie within Botswana radius, something that proved problematic since Btv's waves broadcast in several African countries, including on Dstv channels and free to air decoders. However this time the producers have been lenient, allowing Btv to air both the movie and the series without restrictions.

The No.1 Ladies detective is a film based on a series of 11 books of fiction about Botswana, written by Zimbabwean born Scotsman Alexander McCall Smith.  The books are about a feisty detective heroine, Precious Ramotswe also known as Mma-Ramotswe.

The film was commissioned by the BBC and HBO, marketed and distributed by Weinstein Company, and shot entirely in Botswana, with many Botswana citizens taking part in the series and the movie, both in front and behind the camera.

The film follows the adventure of Mmaramotswe, Botswana's only lady detective, played by Jill Scott, a famous American R&B award-winning singer. She is helped by her friend Mma Makutsi, Anika Noni Rose, shy mechanic, JLB Matekoni (Lucian Msamati) and flamboyant hair-dresser BK, played by Desmond Dube.

McCall Smith's No.1 Lady's Detective agency series have sold well over 20 million copies world wide, with the books also translated in all major European launguages. They first became popular in the USA following a review in major newspapers.