Jill Scott's a hot shot

Jill Scott, star of The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, has revealed that she had to be trained to use a rifle for the BBC1 drama.

The 36 year-old actress, who spoke to TV Times News during filming on location in Africa, needed to be a crack shot for a scene where her character, Mma Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's top female detective, tackles a crocodile.

"It was a fake croc, but it looked exactly like a real one," laughed Jill, who's seen everything from donkeys to baboons wandering across the set.

"Precious has to shoot it, so I had to be trained how to hold and fire a rifle properly. I play a lot of computer games which helped – I was a pretty decent shot!"

The new six-part series is a follow-up to the pilot screened last Easter, which was directed by Oscar-winning Anthony Minghella, who died shortly before the show went out.

Fans of the books by Alexander McCall Smith will be able to look forward to some big plot developments this series, particularly in the relationship between Mma and Speedy Motors engineer JLB Matekoni (Lucian Msamati).

Jill hinted: "Mma's life's changing dramatically. The love interest is definitely getting stronger..."

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