Based on a novel by mystery specialist P.D. James, the British drama series
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
starred Helen Baxendale as the attractive title character. Employed by a seedy private detective agency, Cordelia Gray (Baxendale) was obliged to take over the business when her boss committed suicide. With next to no detective experience, Cordelia stumbled her way through a variety of life-threatening cases, managing to keep alive and to round up any and all culprits with the assistance of protective office assistant Edith Sparshott (Annette Crosbie). A co-production of Britain's HTV and America's WGBH-TV,
debuted in England on October 24, 1997, yielding a total of six hour-long and two two-hour episodes as of 2002.