HEAD OVER HEELS
Why ASHLEY JENSEN is delighted to return as stiletto-wearing sleuth Agatha Raisin
ALL THE GREAT TV detectives have their hallmarks: Columbo has his raincoat, Poirot has his moustache, even Line Of Duty’s Steve Arnott has those waistcoats. For former PR executive turned private investigator Agatha Raisin, it’s her stiletto heels – however impractical they may be for the Cotswolds.
But Ashley Jensen, who plays her, wouldn’t have it any other way.
‘I love bringing Agatha back to life,’ says Jensen. ‘She’s one of the most fun characters I’ve ever played. To be able to put on Agatha’s stilettos again and walk around the English countryside on gravel, sand, dirt and cobbles, and climb fences and walls is a joy for me. I love the challenge. I always enjoy the costume fittings and deciding on what she’s going to wear.’
In this third series of mysteries, based on the novels by
MC Beaton, Agatha is now a fully-fledged private investigator with her own detective agency. However, her business is slow getting off the ground.
‘She has now passed all her exams and is a proper private investigator,’ says Jensen. ‘She’s official – she’s not an amateur sleuth any more. And she has a wonderful new office, which is of course bold, out there and a little bit too much – probably a bit like Agatha, really.’
OPPOSITES ATTRACT
Last time out, Agatha reconciled with former fiancé James (Jamie Glover) after their wedding didn’t work out, and the couple agreed that they were far better suited to living together. With James also helping Agatha to solve cases, the pair have proven to be a formidable force both professionally and personally.
‘We start off with Agatha in a very happy place with James, having “consciously coupled” at the end of series two,’ says Jensen. ‘They are polar opposites and yet they are just drawn to each other, against their better judgment. But in the new series – well, for the most part – they are in their happy place for once.’ In this week’s double bill, James Dreyfus guest stars as Agatha and
James visit Ivy Hall, a house said to be haunted since the English Civil War. Are the strange sounds heard at night truly supernatural, or is someone trying to scare the obnoxious owner out of her home?
The series has proven a hit on both sides of the Atlantic thanks to its intriguing plots, chocolate box visuals and likeable heroine – and Jensen still delights in getting to film on location in the Cotswolds.
‘It’s such a beautiful part of the country,’ she says. ‘I imagine that’s why we appeal across the world, because it’s quite spectacular.
I even get excited about the way they make the dry stone walls in the Cotswolds. Obviously it doesn’t take much to please me
– I get excited by a wall!’