We are delighted that the television adaptation of Sally Andrew’s beloved Tannie Maria series, RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER, has been shortlisted in the Comedy Drama and Sitcom category at the Rose d’Or Awards. Established in 1961, the prestigious Rose d’Or Awards celebrate excellence and achievement in International TV and Audio programme making. The nominees for Rose d’Or 2022 will be announced at the start of November, ahead of the Awards which will be presented on November 28th.
Originally broadcast in South Africa on M-Net, RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER is available for streaming on Acorn TV in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, United States, Canada and Latin America. The engaging 10-part series can also be watched on Acorn via Amazon Prime.
Irish actor Maria Doyle Kennedy, whose credits include OUTLANDER and THE TUDORS, stars as series heroine Tannie Maria alongside Tony Kgoroge (INVICTUS), and newcomer Kylie Fisher. See Maria Doyle Kennedy talking about preparing for her role (filming in South Africa, but with a Scottish accent – and with a chicken co-star too!) here.
The series has already received glowing reviews. Christopher Vourlias describes it as ‘a quirky, colourful murder mystery’ and his Variety piece includes an interview with producer Thierry Cassuto. Roslyn Sulcas praised it in The New York Times writing: ‘The TV series offers the same mix of human drama, gorgeous landscape, local colour and mouth-watering cooking, quietly threaded through with the more serious issues of domestic abuse, racial inequality and the legacies of apartheid… Despite the murders and simmering racial undertones, the show keeps its warm, humorous tone through the quiet, grounded character of Maria, with her empathetic, practical advice – and recipes – in response to the letters she receives.’
Based on the bestselling series debut by Sally Andrew, RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER follows Tannie Maria, a South African advice and food columnist, who finds herself caught up in the death of the husband of one of her correspondents.
What to Watch reviewer Ian MacEwan called the series ‘an unusual mix of food porn and murder mystery, in which cook turned agony Tannie (‘auntie’ in Afrikaans) Maria (Maria Doyle Kennedy) solves crimes, in between sharing her mouth-watering culinary creations.’ You can watch many of the recipes, which also feature in the novels, being prepared step by step onscreen!
As an example, you can catch a glimpse of an episode here – and watch out for Morag’s entrance!
Filmed in South Africa and Scotland, the series is a co-production between M-Net, AMC Networks’ Acorn TV, and Both Worlds Pictures, in co-operation with Global Screen. Thierry Cassuto, who founded the International Emmy-nominated Cape Town-based Both Worlds Pictures, produced the series in collaboration with Scotland’s Pirate Productions, with development support provided by Creative Scotland, and Paris-based Paradoxal.
The show was adapted for TV by Karen Jeynes, who is also executive producer, along with Scotland-based writer-director Annie Griffin. The series was directed by Christiaan Olwagen and Karen Jeynes.
The full Tannie Maria book series – RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER, THE SATANIC MECHANIC, DEATH ON THE LIMPOPO and THE MILK TART MURDERS – is published by Umuzi (Penguin Random House SA) in South Africa, and the first two books are available from Canongate in the UK and Ecco Press in the US among others – with more news to follow. The Tannie Maria series titles are all bestsellers in South Africa – regularly in the Top 5, with the fourth book, THE MILK TART MURDERS, shooting straight to the top of the combined fiction and non-fiction charts on publication in March 2022.
See here for a letter to Tannie Maria asking for advice, along with Tannie Maria’s response, excerpted from RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER – along with a lamb curry recipe.
And you can watch Sally Andrew herself talking about the film adaptation, the script, some of its characters and stars and what’s she learned from Tannie Maria here.
About Sally Andrew
Sally Andrew divides her time between the Cape Town coast and a nature reserve near the small town of Ladismith in the Klein Karoo, South Africa, the setting of her hugely popular Tannie Maria novels. She lives with her wildlife artist partner, among various wild creatures (including, as she says, ‘a giant eland and a secretive leopard’). Sally has also published a number of non-fiction books on adult and environmental education.
Praise for RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER TV show
‘The TV series offers the same mix of human drama, gorgeous landscape, local colour and mouth-watering cooking, quietly threaded through with the more serious issues of domestic abuse, racial inequality and the legacies of apartheid… Despite the murders and simmering racial undertones, the show keeps its warm, humorous tone through the quiet, grounded character of Maria, with her empathetic, practical advice – and recipes – in response to the letters she receives.’ – Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times
‘A quirky, colourful murder mystery set in the South African outback.’ – Christopher Vourlias, Variety
‘The highly watchable Maria Doyle Kennedy takes the lead in this very fun and quirky crime series, which is based on the book of the same name by Sally Andrew. Tannie Maria (Doyle Kennedy) is a recipe-creator-turned-advice-columnist who gets caught up in a murder mystery based on one of the letters she receives for her column. Teaming up with an investigative journalist to get to the bottom of the case, the pair clash with local police as they run amok across crime scenes.’ – Jenna Guillaume, Flicks, ‘7 TV shows arriving in September that we’re excited for’
Visit Sally’s website.