Shakespeare & Hathaway stars two main private detectives: Frank Hathaway and Luella Shakespeare. Frank (played extremely well by Mark Benton) is an ex-Detective Inspector who owns the business. He reluctantly allows Lu (beautifully played by Jo Joyner), a hairdresser, to buy into his business. The real treat is their assistant Sebastian – bravo Patrick Walshe McBride! Frank & Lu do the leg work associated with being private detectives and Sebastian does the undercover work. Sebastian is a total hoot >>> a joy to watch as he dons costumes while pretending to be different professions. Good thing he’s friends with a costume maker and that he aspires to being in the Royal Shakespeare Company!
The chemistry between the three regulars is terrific. Frank is sort of a grump, Lu is a ray of sunshine, and Sebastian is simply adorable. This is an upbeat show – as upbeat as a show can be that deals with death, betrayals, liars, cheats, and – well, you know, very bad people.
The show takes place in Stratford-upon-Avon -> and it is so beautiful that I find myself wondering why my neighborhood can’t have beautiful parks, historic buildings, flowers blooming, etc. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. And the actual detectives’ office is very realistic – exactly what you would expect — given that the main private detective doesn’t put much thought to the importance of order (vs. clutter)!
This series is truly a Cozy Mystery series – a lot of the things they investigate aren’t murders. You never see a mangled body – there are no morgue visits. This is a BBC production which started in 2018. As of 2022, they are in their fourth season. Each 45 minute episode is a self-contained mystery – which I much prefer over long-running mystery shows.
I totally recommend Shakespeare & Hathaway to everyone who wants to enjoy a truly Cozy Mystery show. Unfortunately it is only available on BritBox – however if you look at their lineup of shows – you’ll see that they offer a lot of Cozy Mystery shows.
