IF you're going to fritter away almost two hours of the precious Easter break watching a detective show, then it might as well be one that's filmed against the beautiful backdrop of Africa's Botswana and stunningly directed by the late Anthony Minghella.

These days Bank Holiday television is all about ratings wars being won and lost, and this time - what with hysterical weather alerts about non-existent Baltic blizzards, Siberian snowstorms and hailstones as big as Easter eggs heading our way and (in reality) it being a bit nippy and all - telly bosses would have been rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of all those stay-at-home audiences, wrapped in blankets and promising record-breaking viewing figures.

But the fight was over before it began. The other channels need not have even bothered entering the arena as the premiere and pilot of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Sunday BBC1, 9pm) was always going to nab the biggest audience share, on account of the fact that millions of people are utterly addicted to Alexander McCall Smith's novels about Precious Ramotswe and her gentle trouble-solving.

So the BBC had an instant and captive audience, eager to see how their heroine would come across in the flesh (of which, in the books, she has rather a lot). Then there would be the uninitiated hordes - i.e. me -who wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Thus, gazillions of viewers and a guarantee that the rumoured further 13 episodes will materialise.

Great news.

Or is it?

Now, I shall tread very carefully here, for I am well aware of the universal adoration lavished on McCall Smith's novels about this quirky, female private dick. And in a world where life often seems so stressful, so complicated, too fast-paced and often downright nasty, I can appreciate why they are popular.

But I wonder at the wisdom of a 13-episodes series. You see, this pilot had the very best of everything thrown at it.

The immensely watchable Jill Scott, who brought Precious to life with her huge, spontaneous smiles and hypnotic sing-song delivery.

Anika Noni Rose as Mma Makutsi, her prim-and-proper secretary, who is actually too beautiful for the role, but was talented enough to nail it.

Then there's the incredibly gorgeous scenery, all lovingly shot with endless attention to detail and suffused in that fuzzy amber-gold light, essential to Sunday night favourites.

Writer Richard Curtis's safe-as-houses hand was obvious throughout the script, for me a bad thing, but for the legions of fans of the likes of Notting Hill and Love Actually, a marvellously wonderful thing. If only they could have found a way of getting Hugh Grant and someone either deaf or in a wheelchair or both in it, it would have been perfect.

Then, of course, it had the winning ingredient: the magic, light-as-air touch of the late Anthony Minghella sprinkled all over it.

And, call me fussy, but even then I didn't think it was all that.

I am told the books are all slow-paced whimsy and take time to get to their finales, but it was still far too slow and lumbering.

And I know Precious is more into problem solving than crime solving, but I could have solved the first two in a couple of minutes, without an agency or her old van.

Towards the end, her bush-tea-drenched sleuthing took her to an altogether darker side of Botswana culture, where she exposed some evil-doers involved in the abduction of children for use in witchcraft or some such thing. And that's when it started to get good - and also when it came to an abrupt end.

Tragically, just as everyone was getting excited about No.1 hitting the small screen, Oscar-award-winning Minghella died unexpectedly at the age of just 54.

Sad, not just because he had so much talent and was a very nice person, but because it means that he will not be involved in the rest of the series.

Which means it will probably end up being a bit like Hetty Wainthropp Investigates - in a batik kaftan.