Created by Rachael New
Lord knows there were several “lady detectives” bouncing around in the late 1800s that would make for a great film or television adaptation, but the Irish/Anglo producers of Miss Scarlet & The Duke decided to scratch build their own, no doubt eying the success of such period mysteries as Miss Fisher (Thumbs up!) and Frankie Drake (meh).
Like many of his Victorian predecessors, ELIZA SCARLET didn’t chose to be a detective, but she really had no choice. When her beloved father died, leaving her nothing but a struggling detective agency, what was the poor girl to do, except become London’s “first-ever female detective”?
But of course, no woman could ever run such an endeavour, and so, in a twist as fresh as a Remington Steele rerun, she enlists the aid of her father’s old friend, Detective Inspector WILLIAM “THE DUKE” WELLINGTON of Scotland Yardto front for her. The only problem is that The Duke’s a bit of an oinker, a drinker and a gambler– a Victorian-era David Addison. Even worse, though, is that he’s a bit of a hunk, and Eliza, no slouch herself in the looks department, is (surprise, surprise) attracted to him.
And hence… Banter! Sexual tension! Lovely dresses! A vaguely “feminist” message!
The series was quickly snapped up by PBS, and premiered in the States in January 2021, under their Masterpiece Mystery umbrella.
TELEVISION
- MISS SCARLET & THE DUKE
(2021, PBS)
TV series
6 episodes
Filmed in Dublin, Ireland
Created by Rachael New
Writer: Rachael New
Director: Declan O’Dwyer
Starring Kate Phillips as ELIZA SCARLET
and Stuart Martin as William “The Duke” Wellington
with Danny Midwinter as Frank Jenkins
Ansu Kabia as Moses
Andrew Gower as Rupert Parker
Matthew Malone as PC Honeychurch
and Cathy Belton as Ivy- “Inheritance” (March 31, 2020)
- “The Woman in Red” (April 7, 2020)
- “Deeds Not Words” (April 14, 2020)
- “Memento Mori” (April 21, 2020)
- “Cell 99” (April 7, 2020)
- “The Case of Henry Scarlet” (May 5, 2020)
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
So Kevin I’ve watched four of these and I think this is actually a Victorian Honey West. She inherits the agency from her father like Honey does. The duke is Mark Storm for sure. They are always annoyed and frustrated with Honey/Eliza. Both cops. The real difference is Eliza keeps her clothes on.