HBO takes on "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency"

And I, in turn, take on the Anthony Minghella production in my review in the Boston Phoenix. I quite liked it, largely because Minghella was quite respectful of the books. That said, he did change some things. One difference that I couldn't fit into this review was a new character, an openly gay hairdresser (in the picture to the right of Scott). He's a good character, but I found it a little odd that when the books deal quite openly with AIDS (Mma Makutsi's brother dies of it), the TV adaptation has a gay character and it is never mentioned. Also, the agency's first home is a lot nicer than it is in the book -- I felt a little bit as if the producers wanted to make Gabarone nicer and more open even than it is in the book. Well intentioned, but why?