''Mayo'' is a British television

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

-comedy series, adapted from the ''Gil Mayo Mysteries'' series books by Marjorie Eccles, first broadcast on BBC One on 12 March 2006. The eight-part series, produced by BBC Birmingham, starred

Alistair McGowan Alistair Charles McGowan (born 24 November 1964) is an English impressionist, comic, actor, singer and writer best known to British audiences for ''The Big Impression'' (formerly ''Alistair McGowan's Big Impression''), which was, for four years ...

as the titular character, alongside

Jessica Oyelowo Jessica Oyelowo (née Watson; born 1978) is a British actress and singer. Early life She was born Jessica Watson in Ipswich and spent her childhood in Suffolk, England. She attended Woodbridge School as a child and was a member of the National ...

, Huw Rhys and

Louise Brealey Louise Brealey (born 27 March 1979), also credited as Loo Brealey, is an English actress, writer and journalist. She played Molly Hooper in '' Sherlock'', Cass in ''Back'', Scottish professor Jude McDermid in ''Clique'', Gillian Chamberlain in ...

. The series was developed by Simon Booker, and directed by Metin Huseyin, Jonathan Fox Bassett and Fraser MacDonald. The series was filmed on location in and around

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

. Each of the eight episodes were based upon one of Eccles' novels, aside from the final episode, which was an original story for television by Joe Ainsworth. McGowan provided additional script dialogue for all eight episodes, and was also heavily involved in helping produce the series. Notable guest stars throughout the series run included former ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' Sylvester McCoy and actress and singer Paloma Faith.

Cast

as Detective Inspector Gil Mayo *

as Detective Sergeant Alex Jones * Huw Rhys as Detective Constable Martin Kite *

as SOCO Harriet 'Anorak' Tate *

Lucy Evans Lucy Evans (born 26 May 1985) is an English actress best known for playing the role of Lauren Wilson in '' Coronation Street'' from 2007–2008. Other roles include that of Debs in ''Mile High ''Mile High'' is a British television dram ...

as Julie Mayo

Broadcast

The series aired at 20:00 on Sundays, with the first episode drawing almost 4.5 million viewers. Across the series, no further viewing figures were recorded. The series broadcast in Australia on ABC1 in mid-2008, and was repeated on 7Two in 2011, under the pseudonym ''The Gil Mayo Mysteries''. On 23 March 2007 McGowan confirmed that ''Mayo'' would not return for a second series. McGowan commented on the series axing; "It was taking its time to find its feet, and by the end, we knew what we were doing. But sadly, decisions are made on the first episode, and we definitely didn't hit the ground running. We learnt how to make a very good programme and we were all really surprised and very disappointed that we didn't get another series. It is sad."

Episodes

References

External links

* * *{{IMDb title, 0757108, Mayo 2000s British drama television series 2006 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings BBC television dramas Detective television series English-language television shows