Calling all mystery buffs...
Private eyes Shakespeare & Hathaway return with a fourth series full of quirky cases
Skulduggery at a slimming club, a missing manuscript, the drowning of a former beauty queen… they’re just some of the quirky cases in store for private detectives Shakespeare & Hathaway when the light-hearted daytime whodunnit returns this week for a fourth series.
Former Ackley Bridge star Jo Joyner appears as hairdresserturned-sleuth Luella Shakespeare, with Mark Benton as her detective partner, disgraced former policeman Frank Hathaway, in the show that’s been a runaway hit since it began in 2018. It became the most streamed daytime show on iPlayer and has since been sold to countries across the world including the USA, Australia and Italy. It even has its own Facebook fan club with more than 9,000 followers, one of whom donated the most beautiful diamante brooch to the costume department in recognition of Lu’s love of fine jewellery. ‘She wears it towards the end of the new series, a nod towards our loyal fans,’ says Jo.
That loyalty is partly down to the fact that the series has always been delivered with a knowing smile on its face, so would it be right to assume the joviality’s been ramped up after two difficult Covid-hit years?
‘That’s a nice idea but I don’t think it’s true,’ says Jo. ‘Ahead of the first series in 2018, people on high at the BBC were slightly dubious about how funny the show should be because, after all, we are talking about murder a lot of the time and we really didn’t know how much comedy we could get away with. Now I just think everybody feels more comfortable with the idea of the serious and the funny rubbing along beside each other.’
Jo provides the giggles herself in episode one, and picked up a painful injury to boot, when she unwittingly went for a burton as the duo investigate a mole — and a murder — at a tech company. ‘There’s a scene in the first episode where Mark and I have to sit on these yoga balls that are alternatives for chairs in the boss’s office,’ explains Jo (44). ‘I knew I wanted to fly off this thing for comedic effect, but I sat down with such gusto that I went flying off backwards much too fast. I could hear my neck tear as I landed and I ended up requiring physiotherapy. There was no way I could have shot the scene again because I was too sore, but I’m told the one and only take looks good so it was worth the pain!’
Later episodes in the new ten-part series, set in leafy Stratford-uponAvon, feature an investigation into paranormal activity at the home of a lottery winner and a curse at a dance school, which is supposedly destroying the business of its owner Beattie Delamar (Ruthie Henshall). When Shakespeare and Hathaway’s only employee Seb goes undercover and then one of the dance teachers is found dead, the case takes a darker turn. The episode also features Danny John-Jules as Beattie’s ex-partner Ben, which means that two former Strictly Come Dancing contestants — Danny and Mark Benton — as well as acclaimed West End dancer and singer Ruthie Henshall are central to the action.
Jo has turned down offers to appear on Strictly and wasn’t persuaded to change her mind by working with a pair of former contestants and a star of theatre shows such as A Chorus Line, Cats and Chicago. ‘You do see me dance at the end of that particular episode, and I’ve got to give credit to Mark and Patrick Walshe McBride, who plays Seb, for leading me so brilliantly and making it such an enjoyable experience.
‘But it’s still a no to Strictly. Mark is always telling me to do it having taken part himself in 2013, but I have so many good friends who have done it which means I’m too well-informed and know for certain that it’s the most terrifying thing on Earth! I’d take part in shows such as Celebrity MasterChef or Catchphrase and I would love to present a gardening show... just not Strictly, I’ve got two left feet!’
−Tim Oglethorpe Shakespeare & Hathaway returns on Monday at 2.15pm on BBC1.