The Hairdresser Mysteries, a brand-new BBC detective drama starring Sally Phillips, launches today, Friday 17 July, offering a perfect treat for fans of Death in Paradise. The complete six-part series drops on BBC iPlayer in its entirety, with episodes also airing weekly on Fridays at 2pm on BBC One.
Plot and Characters
The drama, crafted by Jim Cartwright, follows Lily Petal, a modern-day hairdresser with an all-consuming love for everything 1970s. She leaves behind her high-profile career in a trendy London salon for the charm of a small shop in a sleepy northern market town. However, her quiet life is short-lived when murders begin happening right on her doorstep. Along with her brilliant assistant Clary, the town's nosy but well-meaning gossip Wincey, and eager Police Constable Adam, Lily is pulled into the unexpected role of amateur detective, as she discovers her hairdresser's intuition and eye for detail make her surprisingly good at untangling clues.
Sally Phillips takes on the lead role of loveable and stylish hairdresser Lily Petal, while Charlotte Jordan portrays Lily's brilliant and analytical assistant Clary Coombs. Ben Castle-Gibb plays eager young village copper PC Adam Watson, and Sunetra Sarker takes on the role of Wincey Evans, the town's local gossip. Further characters include Lonnie, the jovial manager of the local charity shop, portrayed by Clive Rowe, and Race Runard, the village's eccentric antiques dealer with a penchant for prized teacup and saucer sets, portrayed by Guy Henry.
Production and Executive Producers
Father Brown's Will Trotter, who has previously worked on Sister Boniface Mysteries, has served as an executive producer. Also joining Will as executive producers are Sanditon's Oliver Kent and Alex Coffey. Discussing how the new series came to fruition, executive producer Will Trotter said: "20 years ago, I was making TV films for the BBC, one of which was Johnny Shakespeare by Jim Cartwright. We got on famously; I'm Northern, he's Northern. I've worked in cosy crime for a while with Father Brown and The Sister Boniface Mysteries, and I wanted to break the mould to create a new style of cosy crime. I immediately thought Jim's unique voice and his colourful characters would be a rich world for a new style of cosy crime. I had spoken to him a decade prior about a TV project and he declined, which I understood because he's a playwright by nature. But I got back in touch with him around two years ago, both of us discussing how we'd love to work together. I spoke to him about the success Father Brown and The Sister Boniface Mysteries were receiving and asked him to have a think about what world he might want to create - that revealed itself to be a hairdresser."
What to Expect
Executive producer Oliver Kent revealed what fans can look forward to: "One of the things that the audience can look forward to is lots of singing and dancing in every episode. They can also play along with each episode's crime and work out the logic of that. If they can work it out faster than their best friends, better. If they get it wrong, even better. Ultimately, it's a show for everyone, which makes the BBC the perfect place to play it."
The Hairdresser Mysteries is perfectly suited for fans of other cosy crime programmes such as Death in Paradise, Father Brown, or the Sister Boniface Mysteries. The series is available to watch in full on BBC iPlayer, with episodes also airing weekly every Friday at 2pm on BBC One.
