Agatha Raisin

It’s funny how I look forward to each new season of Agatha Raisin even though Agatha herself drives me crazy. Her self-absorption is too much for me. How people don’t tell Agatha off more often, I have no idea.

I’m not saying Agatha is all bad. If she was, I don’t know if I could watch this show at all, no matter how good the mysteries are. Fortunately, there are other characters that balance out the episodes. In many ways, I watch this show for them. 

Agatha Raisin
Season 4
Ashley Jensen

Agatha Raisin is not a bodyguard

It’s Christmas time in the Cotswolds in the first episode of the fourth season, “Kissing Christmas Goodbye.” Private investigator Agatha Raisin (Ashley Jensen) has delegated the planning of Christmas to her friend Roy Silver (Mathew Horne). Roy is trying his hardest to get Christmas together, but Agatha keeps upsetting his plans. Because when Agatha gets a case, everything else must be put on the back burner.

Agatha’s case involves the death of a woman. Phyllis Tamworthy (Maggie McCarthy) was alive when she hired Agatha. She hired Agatha to look out for her as she told her children she was writing them out of her will. Agatha was supposed to be there at the time for protection. To help, Agatha brought along Roy.

Clearly Agatha and Roy’s protection did not help. Phyllis is still killed. After her death, two more people are murdered. All right before Christmas.

Agatha must clear her own name

James Lacey (Jamie Glover), Agatha’s ex-fiancé, is up to something in “Love, Lies & Liquor.” He takes Agatha away to an estate, claiming she is there to help with his next book. Although, the real reason James brings Agatha along is a bit of a mystery.

An obnoxious family is staying at the estate at the same time Agatha and James are. During dinner, Agatha and James get into a fight with them. The next morning, the woman Agatha was fighting with, Geraldine Jankers (Nicola Duffett), is found dead. Agatha is the immediate suspect, but she manages to talk herself out of going to jail. She has to in order to solve the case herself.

Who knew jam could be so dangerous?

A jam-making competition is the scene of the crime in “A Spoonful of Poison.” One of the suspects this time is DCI Denzel Wilkes (Jason Barnett). Usually one to want Agatha to stay out of cases, Wilkes not only wants Agatha’s help, but he also wants to work with her.

His competitiveness over the jam makes him a hinderance instead of a help, though. With Wilkes around, no one wants to talk to Agatha or anyone else she works with.

The case becomes even more difficult to solve when Agatha’s head is turned by one of the suspects, George Selby (Michael Higgs). Agatha is convinced George could not be guilty, and goes back and forth on a relationship with him. Her friends do not trust him. They set out to prove George is not someone Agatha should be involved with.

Agatha works with the enemy to help a friend

It is James’s bride that is being referred to in “There Goes the Bride.” He met Eirwen Jones (Elen Rhys) while he was in France, and now they are getting married. Agatha tries to put on a happy face about this, but she isn’t happy. She still has feelings for James. Feelings she is not going to tell James about.

Still, Agatha does not celebrate when Eirwen is killed on their wedding day. She does whatever she can to solve the case. Agatha even goes so far as to put up with Sheila Barr (Caroline Langrishe), James’s sister and a woman Agatha does not get along with.

Agatha Raisin
Season 4
Ashley Jensen, Mathew Horne

There is always someone around to help

As with the other seasons, Agatha has a group of people who help her investigate, and the group keeps growing.

Her assistant, Toni Gilmour (Jodie Tyack), is the person who is around to help the most. She is even willing to go undercover. Which is probably why Toni becomes so frustrated when Agatha relegates her to finding missing pets while a new employee, Harry Beam (Taz Skylar), is being tried out. Essentially being kicked off the case at hand feels like a demotion.

Harry helped solved the case in “Love, Lies, & Liquor.” (A title which interestingly sounds like Ms. Jensen’s previous show Love, Lies & Records. I wonder if that was intentional.) He worked at the estate where Agatha and James were staying.

In that episode, Toni and Harry got along great. They got along so well Toni’s boyfriend, DS Bill Wong (Matt McCooey), became worried. By the next episode, all camaraderie was gone, and Toni is the one worrying. Worrying she is being passed over for Harry.

Someone who will never be passed over, simply because he always shows up whether he’s wanted or not, is Sir Charles Fraith (Jason Merrells). Not exactly the best investigator on the planet, it takes very little to distract Charles. Usually this is done by a woman. Charles’s lack of focus goes so far that he even has a suspect move in with him in “A Spoonful of Poison.”

The thing is, I think Charles is secretly in love with Sarah Bloxby (Lucy Liemann). She is newly single and has become the village vicar. Charles is always eager to investigate with Sarah. Something I think she notices sometimes, but is not fully aware of.

Roy is around to help investigate most of the time, but not all the time. When he is in town, he is always up to something, bringing a lot of humor to whatever situation he is in. That is why I was sad to see Roy was not part of “There Goes the Bride.” His humor was greatly missed.

Bill can only help the investigations so far. He is an actual police detective and must follow rules the others do not have. However, now that he is Detective Sergeant, Bill is more willing to share information with Agatha than he was in previous seasons. Possibly because he feels he has the authority to do so now.

The future is unknown

From what I have read, a season five of Agatha Raisin may already be in the plans, but that is unclear. Hopefully it is, because I am curious to see what is going to happen between Agatha and James. While Agatha and James clearly have feelings for each other, they don’t seem like a good match to me. James needs someone who doesn’t run him over like Agatha does. Agatha needs someone far stronger than James. Agatha doesn’t respect many people, especially when she can push them around. It is only when Bill stands up to her does she begin to have any sort of respect for him. What Agatha needs is someone who will stand up for himself and won’t be pushed around, but will also not bully or try to change who Agatha is. That is going to be a very hard man to find.

On the Hunt
Kate Dorsey