'Agatha Raisin' season 2 kicks off

Actress Ashley Jensen as "Agatha Raisin". Picture: Supplied

Actress Ashley Jensen as "Agatha Raisin". Picture: Supplied

Published Jun 29, 2020

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Actress Ashley Jensen, reprises her role of city PR-guru-turned-amateur-sleuth in a new season of "Agatha Raisin"  and her gang of wanna-be amateur detectives join her. 

Over the course of season, Agatha will attempt to solve a number of mysteries in the Cotswolds, from the death of a local witch to the demise of a flirtatious young vet.

Season 2 started on Friday, June 26 on BBC First. 

We spoke to Jensen to find out more about her role and the new season. 

Tell us about Agatha Raisin in Season 2?

Agatha Raisin is a modern woman. She is a woman of a certain age in that she’s not twenty-five. She was a very highflying PR executive in London who decided to throw it all in and live the quiet life in the Cotswolds. 

But she just can’t put her high flying ideas behind her and wherever she goes she noses into people's lives, she’s not afraid to say what she feels and sometimes she can be a little blunt - she’s confident, she’s intelligent, she’s articulate, she’s witty and she’s a lot of fun to play.’ 

What drew you to this role?

She's an interesting conundrum. Although she is confident and strong and a feminist who values her own opinion, possibly a little too much sometimes, she is not unashamed about who she is. 

She ultimately wants to be loved and that doesn’t make her any less of a modern woman or a feminist because essentially we all want to be loved somehow by someone. She is a hopeless romantic underneath it all.

Tell us about the wonderful band of characters who make up Agatha’s crime busting gang of misfits?

Something so wonderful about this show is its eclectic mix of characters. When an event or crime takes place in the village it is never too long before this Scooby Doo style gang descends. 

One of Agatha’s main partners in crime this season is the brilliant character Charles Fraith (Jason Merrells), who just relishes in playing that part. 

Charles is an English aristocrat, he has got all the money in the world and is basically a playboy who simply loves life, good wine, women, cars and having fun. Charles and Agatha’s relationship this season takes a flirtatious turn, which has been fun to play.

Playing this character your showing people that it's okay to switch up life. 

People always ask a child ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ and I always say, ‘you can do that but you can also change your mind’.

 There is such a pressure on young people to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives when they’re only sixteen. 

Agatha as a character has basically gone, I did that, that’s that section of my life and this is the new section of my life and it’s okay to do that. It’s okay to change your mind about things in life. I wanted to be a vet until I realised I had to stick my hand up a cow’s arse!’ 

What was the best part of this season? 

Filming in the beautiful English countryside was the icing on the cake. I call this style of television Cotswold Technicolor. We’re living in a world now where there is a lot of very bleak drama on TV and Agatha Raisin is a real breath of fresh air. 

It’s a pure escapism, people can jump on the roller-coaster and take a ride with us and just enjoy it. 

The countryside setting definitely plays a huge role in that. Quite often in a show, the location is very important because it almost becomes part of the show's identity. 

This show is very much about the Cotswolds and the beautiful stone masonry and the little cottages which, for Agatha, is rather exciting because she’s very city, very urban and although she’s in this rural landscape, she’s absolutely not giving up her stilettos for anyone. 

It’s a nice, opposing image of this very chic woman with an angular haircut and high heels against this beautiful countryside.  

"Agatha Raisin" season 2 airs on Fridays on BBC First at 8pm. 

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