BBC’s Newest Detective Drama Stars Hanin Zoabi & Margot Wallstrom

By The Daily Freier Staff

Last Updated 1/15/2016 at 12:30 PM

London- The BBC unveiled its newest show for the Spring lineup with the coming premier of “Wallstrom and Zoabi: Root Causes“ a riveting drama starring Hanin Zoabi and Margot Wallstrom as two no-nonsense detectives who solve crimes while trying to find the perfect work-life balance in a male-dominated world. In addition to Swedish Foreign Minister Wallstrom and Member of Knesset Zoabi (Balad Party), the series also features George Galloway as their gruff but lovable boss at the Police Precinct, as well as MP Jeremy Corbyn as a comically inept Crown Prosecutor who inexplicably receives a big promotion in the season premier. (It is also rumored that he may develop into a possible love interest in future episodes)

Produced by Roger Waters, the series has a unique twist in that no matter what the crime or the suspects, the final result is that Israel is the culprit. Mr. Waters explained his early concerns for the show. “At first I was afraid that the fact that Israel is always wrong might be a turn-off to the Network Execs, but then I was like, ‘Hey! It’s BBC!’ Am I right?” For their part, BBC is feeling confident that they have a bonafide hit on their hands with “Root Causes”. “We felt that despite the slight predictability of their approach, it would have a strong appeal to its core target audience.” BBC Spokesperson Stewart P. noted. “Besides, with Al Jazeera America going out of business, we see a real opening to capture more of our target demographic.”

In the pilot episode (Spoiler Alert!!!), Hanin and Margot are assigned to find the “underlying reasons” for a series of killings in Paris. After an hour of grueling detective work and a car chase, the duo determined that the guilty party was Israel all along!

The on-air chemistry between the stars definitely shines through, with the hotheaded Zoabi sometimes calling Israeli Arab policemen “traitors” and the more nuanced Wallstrom still finding a way to amazingly get declared persona non grata both in Saudi Arabia and Israel! While the pair definitely use a “brains over brawn” approach, they’re not afraid to kick ass when necessary. In one scene from the second episode, a Security Guard tries to escort Ms. Zoabi out of a room, so Hanin shoves her.

A planned episode where the pair were to investigate whether Sweden’s police killing of a sword-bearing assailant in a school violated international law was cancelled due to lack of interest.

As part of the promotion for the series, the series is offering a free app that can be downloaded from I-Tunes.

Episodes start February 1^st, at 10:00 PM GMT following “Hard Talk”.