Archie Panjabi Boards Anisha Accidental Detective

Emmy Award-winning actor Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife, Blindspot) has joined the BBC Studios Kids & Family comedic mystery series Anisha Accidental Detective as an executive producer.

Based on the books of the same name, the ten-part live-action adaptation will follow 10-year-old Anisha Mistry, whose life is upended when her aunt’s fiancé disappears a few days before their Bollywood-style wedding. Anisha must then use her sleuthing skills to discover what happened to the groom and get him to the wedding on time.

The Anisha Accidental Detective book series was written by Serena Patel and illustrated by Emma McCann. The adaptation is being developed by BBC Studios Kids & Family in a deal optioned by Emily Hayward-Whitlock at The Artist Partnership and Kate Shaw at The Shaw Agency, with up-and-coming screenwriter and children’s novelist Nikesh Shukla (Two Dosas, The Council of Good Friends).

“BBC Studios Kids & Family have pulled together an amazing team to bring these utterly delightful books to life,” Panjabi said. “With a British Indian family at the heart, it’s a wonderful celebration of British-Indian culture. Anisha was the character I yearned to see on screen when I was a 10-year-old. The series is a refreshing comedy-mystery about friendship, family and growing up, packed with vibrant characters. It’s delightfully intriguing and will keep the whole family craving for more—just like Anisha’s granny’s parathas!”

“I was thrilled when I heard that Archie Panjabi was coming on board as executive producer for the series,” said author Patel. “I have huge admiration for her career as an actor, and for her to be involved in bringing my books to the screen feels like a dream come true.”

Edward Barnieh, BBC Studios Kids & Family’s VP of development, added, “We’re thrilled to be working with industry leaders like Archie Panjabi, alongside exciting new talent like Serena and Nikesh, to bring Anisha Accidental Detective to a global audience. The series will feature fresh, diverse characters and will be bursting with clues, suspects and hilarious mishaps and, with a ticking clock counting down to a big family wedding, it’s sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.”