💇‍♀️ “I only meant to watch one episode…” 📺 “…and suddenly I’d finished the whole thing in a day.” That’s the reaction many viewers are sharing about a charming new BBC crime drama that’s quietly winning fans with its mix of mystery, humor, and heart.

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Bridget Jones star Sally Phillips plays a hairdresser who swaps city life for a charming rural village populated by eccentric locals in this feel-good BBC drama

he BBC‘s new cosy crime drama, The Hairdresser Mysteries, has finally arrived on our screens – and viewers are loving it.

Written by acclaimed playwright Jim Cartwright, the drama stars Sally Phillips as Lily Petal, a hairdresser who trades city life for a charming, 1970s-style salon in a rural village.

Sally Phillips in a patterned shirt and brown pants, smiling in a retro salon setting.© BBC/Mill Bay Media/Gary Moyes
Sally Phillips stars as Lily Petal

If you love cosy crime shows like Midsomer Murders and Sister Boniface Mysteries, it’s worth checking out this feel-good drama.

But first, find out what viewers have said about the series below.

What have viewers said about the show?

The series has been hailed as “brilliant” and “an absolute joyfest” by viewers, who have been binge-watching all six episodes on BBC iPlayer.

Taking to social media, one person wrote: “Watching the first episode of #TheHairdresserMysteries and I absolutely love it! So many talented actors I recognise, such a cosy atmosphere too,” while another described the drama as “easy-watching”.

Clary Coombs (CHARLOTTE JORDAN); Lily Petal (SALLY PHILLIPS) in The Hairdresser Mysteries© BBC/Mill Bay Media/Gary Moyes
Charlotte Jordan plays assistant Clary Coombs

A third person demanded a second season, writing: “Need S2 already! Loved it.”

What is The Hairdresser Mysteries about?

The series follows Lily Petal, who “opts out of the competitive city scene to buy a small village hairdressing salon at the top of a cobbled street”.

The synopsis continues: “Everyone tells their hairdresser everything and soon she becomes the hub of her new village’s secrets and revelations. Using her own brand of uncannily developed hairdressing intuitive, empathy and understanding, Lily begins to solve the mysteries of the village.”

Chatting with HELLO! and other press ahead of the show’s release, Sally described the premise as a “really funny idea.” She joked, “I spend a lot of time at the hairdresser because my hair is a nest – my ex-husband, in fact, used to call it ‘the nest.’ It takes a lot of taming.”

Lily Petal (SALLY PHILLIPS); Clary Coombs (CHARLOTTE JORDAN); PC Adam (BEN CASTLE-GIBB)© BBC/Mill Bay Media/Joss Barratt
Viewers are binge-watching the series

Sally also noted how hairdressers are often at the centre of local gossip. “Hairdressers just know everything,” she said, explaining how a friend of hers who works as a hairdresser had once styled the hair of everyone involved in an affair.

“She had done the hair of the mother-in-law, the mother, the wife and the mistress, and was trying to remember who she had told what to,” said the Bridget Jones star.

Who stars in The Hairdresser Mysteries?

Sally Phillips leads the cast as Lily Petal, while Charlotte Jordan (Coronation Street) plays Clary Coombs, Lily’s assistant and the “Watson to her Shear-lock Holmes”.

Ben Castle-Gibb (You) plays eager cop PC Adam Watson, who falls for salon assistant Clary and Sunetra Sarker (Ackley Bridge) plays Wincey Evans, the village’s local gossip.

Sally Phillips stars as Lily Petal© BBC/Mill Bay Media/Joss Barratt
The six-part crime series is available to stream on BBC iPlayer

Rounding out the cast are Clive Rowe (The Addams Family UK Tour) as Lonnie, the flamboyant manager of the local charity shop, and Guy Henry (Holby City) as Race Runard, the local village’s eccentric antiques dealer.

The Hairdresser Mysteries is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.