Stream On: Acorn TV has a big hit in Queens of Mystery streaming Monday

Queens of Mystery is a masterpiece

On Monday (April 8th) Acorn TV will begin streaming a brand new original mystery series called the Queens of Mystery and after seeing the first two shows I can say without fear of contradiction that we are looking at a big hit. Simply put it is like no mystery show that you have ever seen on television and that is a good thing.

The storyline is very fun, the acting is brilliant, and it is the most original mystery series that I have seen in years. Acorn TV has a winner on their hands and I can’t wait to see how the fans react to this amazing new twist on the mystery genre.

The opening two-part mystery, Murder in the Dark, finds the newly promoted DS Matilda “Mattie” Stone dispatched to Hiddledean Hall where all three of her aunts are attending the 15th Wildermarsh Crime Writer’s Festival. In a crime as strange as the fiction on display, the prestigious Golden Pick Axe Award has been found buried in the head of a prize nominee, and pages from his latest manuscript have been stolen.

Queens of Mystery, is a cleverly crafted whodunit style murder mystery that follows newly promoted 28-year-old Detective Sargent Mattie Stone (Olivia Vinall), and her three highly successful crime writing aunts – the motherly Aunt Beth (Sarah Woodward), the rebellious Aunt Cat (Julie Graham), and the book smart Aunt Jane (Siobhan Redmond). The four Stone women are a tour de force in this mystery/dramedy.

The three aunts try to help their niece not only in her role as a professional crime solver but in her love life. Mattie has all she can handle in her day job where her aunts do their best to try help solve the crimes but add to that the series of blind dates they try to set her up with and it is more than a she can handle, but in their own way her aunts do actually prove to be more help than she wants to admit.

The driving force behind the Acorn original series is New Tricks and Doc Martin writer Julian Unthank who told me by phone recently “I think we crafed a mystery program with enough fun and quirky elements that makes the show the perfect fit for the Acorn TV audience.”

Listen to “We talk with Julie Graham, Olivia Vinall and Julian Unthank from the Queens of Mystery a hit for Acorn TV” on Spreaker.

One of the first actress’ to jump at the chance at joining the cast was Julie Graham who plays aunt Cat, a far cry from her role as the buttoned up Jean McBrian on the worldwide hit The Bletchley Circle and The Bletchley Circle San Francisco. “I welcomed the chance to show that I have a wild side and playing Cat is such fun,” Graham told me. “As a matter of fact I actually got a tattoo while filming the first episode I was so inspired by my character.”

The key role of Mattie had to be someone who could handle three powerful aunts as well as three outstanding actresses’ and enter Olivia Vinall who was quick to offer me an explanation on why she got involved. “From the first moment I read the script I loved it was such a unique and quirky take on this wonderful mystery genre. But I was very inspired by the fact that Mattie loves her aunts despite their intrusion in her life and this really is a true female centric show which drew me even more want to be Mattie.”

Acorn TV will start the Queens of Mystery out with six 45 minute episodes. I had a chance to talk with the cast and creator of the series on this week’s edition of the podcast Stream On with Jim Williams.

 

Jim Williams is s seven time Emmy Award winning producer, director, writer and broadcast executive. You can listen to his weekly media and entertainment podcast. Stream On with Jim Williams can be found free at Apple Podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

 

Jim Williams is the Washington Bureau Chief, Digital Director as well as the Director of Special Projects for Genesis Communications. He is starting his third year as part of the team. This is Williams 40th year in the media business, and in that time he has served in a number of capacities. He is a seven time Emmy Award winning television producer, director, writer and executive. He has developed four regional sports networks, directed over 2,000 live sporting events including basketball, football, baseball hockey, soccer and even polo to name a few sports. Major events include three Olympic Games, two World Cups, two World Series, six NBA Playoffs, four Stanley Cup Playoffs, four NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship Tournaments (March Madness), two Super Bowl and over a dozen college bowl games. On the entertainment side Williams was involved s and directed over 500 concerts for Showtime, Pay Per View and MTV Networks.