‘The Girl from St Agnes’ breaks Showmax record

In 2014, I had my first taste of a modern South African murder-mystery noir cum British detective series on the small screen. The kykNET show, Die Boland Moorde (The Boland Murders), was a mesmerising blend of suspense and an enjoyable detective team with a well-constructed pace of six episodes with episodic and a seasonal arcs.

But singing its praises wasn’t that easy because, in a sense, it was limited to Afrikaans speakers. The first Showmax Original drama, The Girl From St Agnes, proved this week that South Africa is craving this kind of content in English for everyone to watch.

It broke an important record on its debut on the service this week with the number of viewers in the first 24 hours exceeding that of the previous record-holder, the Showmax Original comedy series Tali’s Wedding Diary.

In addition, the number of views was more than double that of the most popular Hollywood series on its debut. This is no surprise to me. If you have watched a YouTube video recently, you likely saw an ad for the show pop up. On Instagram? Yes, you saw it there too.

Showmax pushed the release of the show effectively with a somewhat eerie ad that immediately had you hooked. Thanks to free two-week deals, it also allowed more people to check out the show. If you have seen it already, you know why you loved it – it’s that good. The series was commissioned, produced, written, directed and largely edited by women.

Candice Fangueiro, Showmax’s head of content, was commissioning editor. Harriet Gavshon, Quizzical Pictures’ managing director, and Catharine Cooke and Cindy Lee are the co-directors.

Five-time SA Film and Television Award winner Gillian Breslin is the head writer and Aluta Mlisana, Marcelle Mouton, Natalie Varoy, Melanie Jankes Golden, and Mmapula Letsoalo make up five of the six editors.

To put that in context, some of the cast, like Celeste Khumalo (The Queen), had never worked with a female director on a series before.

Strictly Come Dancing winner Zakeeya Patel believes you’ll feel the impact of this female gaze. “I’m a raging feminist, so I loved the fact that it’s a female-driven story – one of the few. All the women are three-dimensional characters. “

Whether they’re antagonists or protagonists, they are light and dark, they have shades, they are nuanced. This particular show has such beautiful arcs for women. That, for me, is revolutionary.”

Co-director Lee is quick to point out that The Girl From St Agnes is first and foremost a murder-mystery drama.

Cooke adds: “It’s also an investigation into toxic masculinity, where it comes from and how it’s either consciously or unconsciously enforced. It’s about a history of violence that is taught within families and school environments, passed down from fathers to sons and reinforced at school among peers.

“It’s also about how women respond to violent environments as teenagers, as mothers and as teachers.”

On the heels of global movements like #MeToo and a shift in the way women are talking about their place in society, the show is timely.

It also inadvertently explores classism. As part of their research, the filmmakers spoke to private school pupils accross the board to find out about their issues and include them in the show.

“These issues aren’t just in private schools; they are universal. The difference is just that with the money involved, they try to hide things more at private schools,” says Cooke.

Lee revelled in the fact that Showmax isn’t forced to stick to specific broadcasting rules and regulations. “I really love that nothing is out of bounds with Showmax. I have sex scenes. I have swearing. I have nudity. I was like, ‘Really? I can direct all of this?’ Showmax just let us go for it; no one is holding back.”

Fangueiro is jubilant about this success. ”We’re over the moon. This shows without a shadow of doubt that local content is a major differentiator and that African productions can not only hold their own against the best in the world, they can come out on top.”

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