Gil Mayo mysteries: ha ha ha. Wait, that’s not funny!

Elena Tucker
7 min readJun 24, 2022
I just took a screenshot.

It’s no secret that I watch a lot of British mysteries. I watch so many, I consider myself a connoisseur (pardon my French), which is really just a classy word for snob. And because I am spoilt for choice — so many streaming networks, I usually give new shows (new to me) a very quick look. I either like it or not. The chemistry is either there or it is not. And if I don’t like the characters, the writing, the actors, or the setting, I don’t suffer for long.

But, in comes . . . The Gil Mayo Mysteries.

This was a one-season, 2006 detective dramedy starring Alistair McGowan in the lead role, with Jessica Oyelowo, Huw Rhys, Louise Brealey and Lucy Evans in the supporting roles. There were only 8 episodes made, which makes perfect sense.

Just now, I did some research and found out that the show was based on a series of books by Marjorie Eccles. I am going to order the books through the library, because I am genuinely curious,

But the show! Oh, the show! OK, I feel compelled, indeed called, by the Universe itself, to write about this show.

I do not, personally, know the writers of the Gil Mayo show, but I feel safe to say that I have figured it out: These very old men (and there must be at least two to three of them as co-lead writers per episode — that’s…

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Elena Tucker

Writer and storyteller, immigrant, wife, mom, knitter, collector of jokes, lover of cheap, sweet wine.