The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Rosemary & Thyme series

Rosemary & Thyme: Complete Collection I discovered this series while reading a blog of a woman who happened to have a lot of my same cozy mystery book preferences. I am so glad that I found her blog online, otherwise, I would have missed this ITV series, and in doing so, miss seeing some of the most beautiful gardens that I have ever seen, and also, I would have missed seeing this mystery show. They are in the third season in Britain, but I don’t know of any channel here in the states that is (or was) airing it.

The series is about two women (Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme) who find themselves at crossroads in their lives. Rosemary (played by Felicity Kendal) has just lost her job at the university teaching some type of horticultural classes while Laura (Pam Ferris) has just been left by her husband, for a much younger woman. It is obvious from the very beginning, in Season 1 of Rosemary and Thyme‘s first meeting that they share a love for all things green, and, because they both have “inquisitive minds,” whenever they stumble onto a crime, they are interested in solving it.

As I said above, the gardens are absolutely exquisite. Sometimes, I am distracted by the beautiful colors, and need to go back on the DVD to catch up on the story line… that is how gorgeous the photography is. And, as anyone who follows mysteries knows, you can’t miss out on the clues just because the scenery is so beautiful.

Rosemary & Thyme reminds me a lot of the early Murder, She Wrote shows……… before Jessica literally had to move from Cabot Cove because almost everyone had died by suspicious means. Season 2 and Season 3 follow the two gardeners while they plant gardens and unplant clues.

Brian Eastman (the creator of the Rosemary & Thyme television series) wrote three Rosemary & Thyme mystery books:

And No Birds Sing   ’04
The Tree of Death   ’05
Memory of Water   ’06

Also, I see that the Rosemary & Thyme Complete Collection is now available.

If you would like to see more TV and Movies suggestions, click here.

*****I wrote this review way back in 2006, but we still think it’s a terrific series. If you are a member of Netflix, they have the DVDs. Also, your library might just carry the DVDs. It truly is an exceptional British television mystery series. May 2014

Comments

  1. I am trying, without success, to find out if there are any other Rosemary & Thyme seasons besides the first three. Do you happen to know if there are any more still being made or waiting to be released in America? Thank you very much–I am glad I stumbled onto your site. Love mysteries.

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  2. Unfortunately, season three was the last. I found some episodes on PBS but rented all three series from my library. I’m sad there aren’t anymore!

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  3. Do you know if there are any books written about the episodes of Rosemary and Thyme? If there are, where can I find them?

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  5. I love this series; it is unfortunate that it ended. The same with the Hetty Wainthrope series; another from Britain.

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    • Alana, the Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie are some of my VERY favorite books. Have you tried those?

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  7. Glad to find there are other fans of Rosemary and Thyme. My family and I absolutely love this series. In fact, it’s the reason we’ve become hooked on the Cozy Mystery genre. So far we haven’t been disappointed in the books we’ve been reading and for the first time in my reading life I am not flipping to the back of the book to find out the ending (sorry, I know that’s not good).

    In case anyone is wondering it appears that the Rosemary and Thyme complete series will be released in October at a lower price than previous releases. You may want to check out Amazon for this.

    Glad I’ve discovered this site.

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  8. Just wondering, seeing that the dvd’s seem to be popular, I wonder why publishers haven’t chosen to pursue the rights to publish further novels. I’d certainly buy them.

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    • I totally agree with you, Oscar. You would think that Brian Eastman would be able to publish more of the Rosemary & Thyme mystery novels. There are certainly a lot of us out here who love the television series.

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  9. Is there a book that speaks to and about each location that every episode is filmed at? I’d love to know where each show was filmed, something about the homes and gardens that were used. With, of course, beautiful photos of gardens!

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  10. I really loved the series and the beautiful gardens. I am searching for the beautiful paint color they used on the wall behind the vase of flowers at the opening of each episode during the theme music. Any info. on that would be great! I would like to paint a wall in my house that color. Thanks!

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  11. I too love the gardens they take your breath away and give me so many ideas for my garden.
    The show is amazing, i love both of these ladies .
    If only we had programs like this and midsomer murders, here in the states. If I never see another of our tired cop shows it will be just fine with me lol.

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    • Pat, I am going to get our Rosemary & Thyme discs out for my daughter to watch when she comes home on visits. She and I are currently making our way through our Hetty Wainthropp Investigates discs. This is her first time to see this mystery series and my third time. (And, no doubt I will watch them again!)

      (I, too, love the British television mystery series.)

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  12. 5+Stars …. I truly love all of the British films … I lived in Wellington, NZ for 2.5 years …. and started watching British films … came back to the USA and continue to embrace each and every film made … I am hoping Rosemary & Thyme will surface again some day – Midsomer Murders – Foyle’s War – Poirot – too many to mention, I watch them all … hope more series will be on their way …. Thanks for making TV watching interesting! Linda S a huge fan …..

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    • Linda S, whenever my daughter visits, the two of us watch British mysteries together. We are currently making our way through New Tricks and Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. She isn’t able to visit very often, so it will take us a while to finish both of these very different mystery series. I plan to introduce her to Rosemary & Thyme next.

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  13. The reason we tried Acorn tv was for all the great British mysteries. Then we found rosemary and thyme on Netflix and we were hooked. I’d remember loving the series years before on PBS. I wish there had been more. Also check out Kingdom with Stephen Frye. Great one.

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    • Nikki, we tried Kingdom, but it just didn’t click for us. I know it has a lot of fans, though.

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  15. I heard that 2 more episodes of Rosemary and Thyme were released. Apparently, these 2 episodes were not included in the complete box set. Do you know if this is true and,if so, can I buy them to play on an American player? Also, I have watched several great British shows like Ballykissangel, Keeping Up Apperances, and Doc Martin. Just wondering if anyone knows of other British shows along these lines?

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  16. We only watch BBC/Scot/Ireland shows. Period. There is nothing produced in our country that even resembles culture anymore. We love R & T, but we cannot find filming locations! Does anybody know where any of the shows were filmed?, i.e. The Tree of Death…….gorgeous!

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    • I think that a lot of us have wondered the very same thing over the years, Brigid. I have no idea where they filmed, and until just this week, I didn’t know about the costumes used on Rosemary & Thyme either.

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  17. I also want the color of the wall behind the vase in the opening of R & T. We watch it on Net Flicks and love the show. We have watched three times now and are on our 4th go round. The British mystery shows are so much more interesting and less disgusting in detail of gross parts. Would also like to know about the locations of filming. Beautiful gardens and lovely homes.

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      • I’m just adding myself to the thread. I’m also fascinated by locations. The home in Ep. 1 appears to be ca. 1930s; I want to find out if I’m right, & see more of it. So glad this blog exists – I just finished watching the first episode & am already hooked. 🙂

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  18. I love Rosemary And Thyme. I would like to find the books written by Brian Eastman. Where would I find them?

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  19. I was just online looking for the location of The Tree of Death and I came across this site. It’s nice to know there are others out there who feel like I do about Rosemary & Thyme! I have watched it over and over for years and plan my whole Friday night around R & T and Midsomer Murders. Every time I watch it I get frustrated that they didn’t film more episodes! Still haven’t found the locations yet though. If anyone finds details, please share!

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    • Welcome to the Cozy Mystery site, Sharon. It sounds like your television viewing is quite similar to a lot of our viewing.

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  20. is there any way to request that rosemary & thime be started as a new show? i love it and hate to see it wither away. i would love to see it anew. i dont watch much tv or re-watch things iv seen but i have watched this over and over i would like to see new ones.

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    • Tammy, I doubt it, since they stopped producing these shows almost ten years ago. It would be nice to see them again. (I always think of the television series Rosemary & Thyme when I see either of the actresses in other shows…)

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  21. Well, better late than never I say! I stumbled onto the Rosemary & Thyme series on BBC while channel surfing one night. I only saw one episode and could never figure out when it aired. So when I got Netflix this year, I requested that for my list and now I just finished all 3 seasons and want more. I might have to just start over again. Sigh….

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  22. Hi. I just watched the last episode of season 3 of Rosemary and Thyme on Netflix. Just happened to run across it a few weeks ago while browsing netflix. Seldom watch tv, so I did not realize what an old series this was until I told my aunt about it in a phone conversation. She laughed at me for being so out of touch and told me the show was old news ! I was so sorry when Netflix informed me I’d just watched the last episode, and began to search information about it. Landed on this page. Ahhh others who loved it too! Wonderful. I loved watching a show with TWO women as leads! I loved the gardens. And, I too have always been attracted to British mysteries. Still, very sorry that this show was so short-lived. . . .

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  23. Oh my gosh, I totally loved the Rosemary and Thyme series. I was sad to find out that there are only three seasons. I am watching also, the Last Detective, which I am loving.

    What got me started was it stars two actresses that were on Doctor Who. I wanted to see more from them and this show totally rocked.

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    • Holly, if you’re a Peter Davison fan, you might enjoy All Creatures Great and Small, also.

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  24. I, too found Rosemary and Thyme while searching through Netflix. What a wonderful series I will have no problem viewing over and over again trying to make my hubby watch so I can show him the wonderful gardens!!! And now that I have found you all I can check out some of these other shows listed as well!!!!

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  25. I know for certain, the church scenes in “The Tree of Death” were filmed in Turville, Buckinghamshire, at St. Mary the Virgin Church. Turville was also where scenes for The Vicar of Dibley was filmed, and Midsomer Murders filmed a few as well.

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  26. OOOHHH Thanks for the heads up about the R&T novels! “Officially” I’m skeptical of novelizations of TV or movies, but this series was SO SO SO charming that I was longing for accompanying cozy mystery novels (and I admit, I’ve read more than a few of the Murder, She Wrote paperbacks…). Now the trick is FINDING the books! My local library doesn’t seem to have them, and Amazon seems mostly to be sold out, so it could be tricky. Hmm….

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  28. I absolutely LOVE this show. I bought the DVD set and watch it all the time. I’m so glad to find that others are as enamored as I am. I also wish they made more episodes.

    I have found another story for Rosemary & Thyme written by the show’s story consultant, Peter Lovesey. It’s part of a short story collection called “Murder on the Short List”. You can find it on Amazon, although I did find it at my library.

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  29. I’ve been watching R&T for over ten years now. I was pregnant with my first child and I used to hold her in my arms while nursing her and watch it too..lol! Fond and cozy memories.

    I would LOVE to compile a detailed list as to where each episode is filmed at. I remember when R&T was on air that they had a website for the show. It was quite a charming website and it gave detailed information to all the location (I believe only season 1 and maybe season 2). Anyhow, IMDB does have some locations listed, but many are not listed. Perhaps, I shall come up with a list of sorts and I can post it here. If anyone was to know a location that was not available it can be commented on perhaps.

    I enjoy your website. Such fun!

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  30. I was able to locate the filming location for the “Up the Garden Path” episode. It is in Haddenham, UK. The location of the church where R&T park their car and use as a home base is located at the intersection of Aston Rd and Church Way. Using Google Earth you can zoom down to the Street View and find the church and the pond. Also in that area are the gardens for the Westwards and the Skinners. The Westward garden is almost directly south of the church pond – you see a formal garden laid out with brownish paths – that is also seen in the show when Mrs. Westward walks into the garden R&T are working in. She walks from the formal garden into the other one which is directly south of the formal one. It’s kind of difficult to describe where the Skinner garden is, it’s just next door to the west, but hard to make out. There is also a road in Google Earth called “The Paddocks” and that leads to the Monkton’s house, or at least the show made it seem like it was that way. You can also see “Maple Cottage” where Vilma Hockham lived. Once you are in Street View, you can “drive around” and explore the area a bit to compare it to the episode.

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  31. Happy New Year!

    To Janet: Fantastic!! I’d seen this village in an episode of Midsomer Murders as well, and recognized it as the village in the R&T series due to the center pond area. Thank you!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I’ve had little luck with finding locations. I will go ahead and share a little of what I have found.

    The home and gardens in “They Understand Me in Paris” was filmed at Jardin Serre de la Madone “Hill of the Madonna” ~ The garden was created by Lawrence Johnston, who had prior to this garden created a lovely one in the Cotswolds Hidcote Garden Manor. The Jardin Serre de la Madone is located at It is located at Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France.

    From IMDB
    The hospital scene in “The Gongoozlers” was filmed at Ashford Hospital, Ashford, Middlesex, England, UK

    “The Cup of Silence” Chenies Manor House, Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

    As already noted “Up the Garden Path” Church Pond, Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

    The episode “Swords into Ploughshares” had filming done at the Old Gorhambury House, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England ~ This is where the ruins were located for the archeological dig.

    Other finds I came across:
    “Enter Two Gardeners” was filmed at High Elms Manor, near Garston, Hertfordshire, England.

    “In a Monastery Garden” ~ Chichester Cathedral and surrounding area are the location for this episode

    “The Italian Rapscallion” was apparently filmed in Cervo, Ligura Italy according to one source I came across online.

    I do believe we will have to become detectives ourselves, seeking out clues in the scenery and checking out details online. lol! I do wish that they still had their old website up. As I had mentioned before it was very detailed as to where the gardens and home were.

    All the Best!
    Melissa

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  32. I fell into the R&T series about a year ago and am watching the whole thing for the 2nd time. I love to see beautiful flowers, but have no gardening /horticulture experience what-so-ever. Does anyone know the names of the flowers (other than the star-gazer lily) in the opening of each of the shows? I’d be very grateful to find out what they all are.
    Kathy

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  33. I am delighted with this blog! I have been through Midsomer Murders, then found Rosemary and Thyme. I am hoMe resting after a busy week and storms outside, making for a perfect mystery fix! I haven’t found some of these on Netflix. (Oh been through Bletchley Circle). I will try to find the Hetty Mysteries online.

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    • Oh my gosh, I LOVE The Bletchley Circle!! Speaking of mystery shows with great female characters, did any of you ever watch the TV adaptation of James Patterson’s The Women’s Murder Club? Sadly it was only one season, but it starred Angie Harmon (in her post-Law and Order, pre-Rizzoli and Isles days) and it was pretty darn good. I think it would have gotten better with age, given the chance.

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  34. Here in the USA love-rosemary and thyme !!! We would appreciate it if they could possibly continue making more shows. They are absolutely adorable . Thank You, Kay in Georgia

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  35. I realize this thread started a long time ago, but if you like Call the Midwife, which feels cozy even if it’s not a mystety, you should know that Pam Ferris (Sister Evangelica) is in R&T

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  36. I just happened on this series Monday via Netflix. I have been binge watching. LOVE IT! Like most of you, I wish this was still in production. For those looking for similar mysteries, I highly recommend the China Bayles series. Sadly, these aren’t on film but they are excellent books. And at the end of most chapters and at back of book are recipes or ways to use the herbs or plants that were mentioned. But def consume all of Agatha Christie first!!

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  37. Hello,

    I did a little more snooping (okay, A LOT) and found out that both the “They Understand Me in Paris” and “Italian Rapscallion” episodes were filmed in Menton, France.

    Yes, it’s a little disappointing to know that that the Italian one was filmed mostly in France. The garden in that episode is in fact in Italy. It’s the Giardini Botanici Hanbury. The area outside the “Hotel Garibaldi” in the episode is filmed in front of a building near the Basilique Saint Michel. The place Celia lived is close to that plaza (Google maps: 2 Montee du Souvenir). If you look up Menton online you will see that the cityscape is the same that is used in the opening scene of the Italian episode. There are a few other places I found where they filmed in the “old town”.

    The French episode was also filmed here and if you look closely at the opening shot of the city (when they stop at the side of the road) you can see that it is Menton. There were a few scenes filmed at a little square located on Rue Saint Michel (the pastry shop is at #13). The garden is Serre de la Madone (as mentioned in a previous post). I found a few other spots, but I won’t bore anyone with details (unless anyone wants to know 😀 ). Just thought it’s interesting to know where they were filmed.

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    • Janet, thank you so much for the information about Rosemary & Thyme’s beautiful locations. I don’t know how you managed to find out the origin of all of these places >>> but you did a great job. All of the people associated with this television series must have enjoyed themselves seeing all of these wonderful places. Again, thank you!

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      • Somehow it’s easier to figure out where they are when in foreign places than in England. I did also find the house (or area of the house) they stayed in. It’s directly north of the Hanbury Garden. I can only make out the bell tower that you can see in the long shots of the house. I can’t see the exact house.

        It’s been kind of fun figuring it all out – like solving a mystery! Seeing this area also makes me want to go. It’s so beautiful there. However, it’s probably not at all how it’s depicted in the episodes. I’m sure there are loads more people and tourists traps around every corner. They just leave those out of the shots.

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        • Janet, I think you’re right about the amount of people and tourist traps that must be around some of these places. I went to a site that showed the island they tape Doc Martin on, and there were hordes of tourists all over the place…

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  38. I’m so happy to discover that lovers of Rosemary and thyme are out there. Found the series by rooting around in Netflix, watched them all, love everything especially the scenery, camera work and of course the the adorable stars. And so disappointed when the 3rd season came to an end. As opposed to the female protagonists in American tv z and mystery novels, who must admit always be stunning, young, and brilliant, the Brits do real people, always attractive, but couldn’t be a playboy model or a cover girl. I have looked for and couldn’t find the British series based on the novels of Elly Griffiths.

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  39. I hope someone from the UK can tell me the filming location of the FIRST EPISODE of Rosemary & Thyme, And No Birds Sing — the brick country house captured my imagination.

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  40. I absolutely love Rosemary & Thyme. It is my all time favorite. I am also watching Lovejoy which is also very good. It is set during the 90’s and it does show in the dress but a very good show. Not a murder mystery, it centers around the antiques business. My next to check out is Good Neighbors which stars a young Felicity Kendal. I hear it is very good as well.

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  41. Another short but very good American series is The Snoop Sisters. It is very good. Stars Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick and filmed in 1972. I really enjoyed this short series and wish they had made more.

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  42. Hello again,

    I have found another filming location. It is a home that has been used in other British series, so I thought it would be easy to find, but not so much. It is the manor house in the episode “Swords into Ploughshares”. The house was also used in Grantchester as the home of Sir Edward Kendall (played by Pip Torrens who was in another R&T episode “Up the Garden Path”). The house is called Munden House and I believe it’s in Watford. There is a website for the house since it is also used in many other TV shows. http://munden.co.uk/

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    • Thank you for this information. It’s a lovely place! I’m often seeing actors of R&T on other British programs. It’s a bit fun when spotted.

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      • I was determined to find this house since I recognized it in Grantchester as the same one in R&T. It took a looooong time to find it. I finally figured out that since it was used in more than one series it had to be near the studios in England. I just kept looking and one day clicked on a link that had images of the house. I had been using Google Earth to look at the area. I’ll have to find another place to look up now. Hmmmm…. So many to choose from.

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  44. I think Up The Garden Path was filmed at

    Church Pond, Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK, also used in Midsomer Murders.

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  45. I am definitely a fan of Rosemary & Thyme.
    I’m sad it’s ended. I watch over again on YouTube. I looked through all the other comments to possibly get the names of the flowers in the opening of the show. Other than renniuculous, that’s the only one I know by name. Can someone help please.
    Thank you

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  47. I love Rosemary & Thyme. I watch it on dvd nearly every night. The gardens are beautiful and I love the characters. I think it would be great if someone would write a series of books about Rosemary and Laura. Another favorite British series of mine is Agatha Raisin taken from the books by M C Beaton. I have the first series on dvd. I’m hoping that there is a second series. Does anyone know?

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  49. Watched the entire season on YouTube as listed above. Another enjoyable Brit tv series. British television is my favourite.

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  50. A British cozy mystery series with two female leads (one whom you may recognize from the Doc Martin series) is Murder in Surburbia. Not as pretty of settings, but another cozy mystery series.

    I also highly recommend the first 6 seasons (esp the first 3 seasons) of New Tricks. Great cozy-style mysteries, and the four “senior” investigators make me chuckle, and I’ve returned to watch these again and again over the years. New Tricks is widely released on DVD; I found Murder in Suburbia on disc from Amazon.co.uk and we have a region-free DVD player for them. My husband really likes the Jonathan Creek mysteries (an older cozy series), and I’ll sometimes watch with him.

    If anyone happens to know where to purchase the CD of the soundtrack for the Rosemary & Thyme series, please let me know. I need that music for my evening commute nerves.

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  51. Hi I see nobody has posted to this thread in a few years, but as a watcher of R&T, I wanted to pass some information off to any fellow fan that has previously posted here or might come here in the future.

    A couple people left comments about being sad that they no longer maintain the website. That’s true, but thanks to the “internet archive wayback machine”, you can view what the website looked like when it was operational. To do this you just navigate to https://archive.org/web/ and put rosemaryandthyme.tv in the bar. From there you can select a date on the calendar and see what the website looked like on that date. Note: the later dates that have been archived don’t seem to work, but the early ones (i.e., 2003-2008) that have been archived ARE still working. How neat!

    Reply

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