Sally Phillips to Headline 1970s-set Cozy Crime 'The Hairdresser Mysteries'

It was mid-July 2025 when we first got word of The Detection Club, a forthcoming mystery series reportedly in the works from BritBox and the BBC. However, at the time, neither production studio would confirm the series, which was reportedly going to be based on the real-life group that included some of the most famous mystery writers of the day, including Agatha Christie, G.K. Chesterton, and Dorothy L. Sayers. It turns out the BBC was holding back on confirming the series because there were actually two shows in the works. The second will be The Hairdresser Mysteries, a completely original series starring Bridget Jones' Sally Phillips.

As we've been reporting, cozy crime series starring actors whose careers broke big in the 1990s and 2000s have been ratings magnets in 2025, with Acorn TV seeing some of its biggest successes to date with a lineup of them. While Sally Phillips is not a household name in the U.S., the Bridget Jones movies are beloved favorites on both sides of the pond, and Phillips has also turned up in popular series like the 2018 adaptation of Vanity Fair and HBO's Veep. More recently, audiences have seen her in supporting cameos in Hulu's Queenie, and Tubi's Big Mood.

The Detection Club half of the announcement notably does not list any cast as yet playing the members of the legendary 1930s-era society; it continues to only list Christie, Chesterton, and Sayers as the show's central trio. However, the group had dozens of members, and previous fictionalized stories about their exploits usually include several other major members. Here's one of the more recent rosters, from Europe Comics' 2020 graphic novel.