BBC’s The Hairdresser Mysteries clips into the cozy crime canon on September 24, 2025—a six-part scissors-to-the-throat thriller that’s snipped 2.1 million premiere viewers in its first week, outpacing Father Brown‘s flock and spiking BritBox subs 25%. Sally Phillips stars as Lily Petal, the high-end hair-whisperer who trades London’s cutthroat salons for a quaint cobbled cul-de-sac in a “nostalgic nod to the 70s,” only to find her shears slicing through a village’s veiled vices. Created by Jim Cartwright (Road, Johnny Shakespeare), the series—exec produced by Will Trotter and Oliver Kent for Mill Bay Media—transforms the salon into a confessional catastrophe, where perms pair with plots and blow-dries blow open betrayals.
“Everyone tells their hairdresser everything,” the logline lures, but Lily’s “uncannily intuitive” empathy turns gossip into gumshoe grit, unraveling murders amid mincing machines and macabre makeovers. “Joyfully retro yet chilling,” The Guardian gushes (88% Rotten Tomatoes), a “Marlow Murder Club with sharper scissors and bloodier twists” that blends Death in Paradise‘s delight with Vera‘s venom.
The salon’s sinister: Episode one’s “The Blonde Bombshell” sees Lily (Phillips, Bridget Jones‘ bubbly Shazza reborn as a shrewd sleuth) settling into her inherited snip-shop atop a cobble-clogged street, where locals spill suds-side secrets—a jealous jealous jilted bride, a pilfered pearl necklace, and a poisoned perm that drops a dowager dead. Phillips’ Lily? A whirlwind of whimsy and wisdom, her “finely tuned” intuition (honed by “hairsbreadth hunches”) decoding dye-jobs for deceit, her city cynicism cracking under village veneers. “It’s not cozy—it’s cutthroat,” Phillips quips to Radio Times, channeling her Miranda mischief into a matronly Miss Marple with a mullet manifesto. Directors like Will Sinclair (Vera, eps 1-3) and Daniel O’Hara (Stay Close, eps 4-6) wield 70s flair—bell-bottoms, beehives, and brass-section scores—like a straight razor, carving quaint charm into chilling crevices: fogged windows fogging flings, clipper buzzes buzzing with alibis.
Plot propulsion? Paranoia in perms: What kicks off as a “simple” salon slaying spirals into a syndicate of sins—embezzlement at the Women’s Institute, a vicar’s vice, and a mid-season makeover murder that mirrors Lily’s own “buried past” (a city scandal snipped from her roots?). Twists tangle like tangles: A “jealous curl” suspect flips to frame-up, a “highlights horror” hides a heist. Cartwright’s quill quivers with quips—”Darling, your roots are showing—and so’s your motive!”—but the “bristling” brutality bites: Bodies in basins, betrayals in blow-dries. Co-stars clip in: Doctor Who‘s Jemma Redgrave as a scheming socialite, Vera‘s Kenny Doughty as a dodgy deputy, Call the Midwife‘s Helen George as a gossipy gal-pal—each a foil to Phillips’ fabulous flair. Filmed February-July 2025 in the West Midlands’ whimsical Warwickshire (cobbled streets standing in for a “fictional” folly), it’s BBC Daytime’s “premium yet accessible” ace, per commissioning editor Helen Munson, a “fresh spin on cozy crime” amid the genre’s $1.5 billion binge boom.
Fans? Frenzied: #HairdresserMysteries trends with 1.8 million posts, “Sally’s scissors SLAY—sharper than Marlow’s murders!” clashing with “70s nostalgia with 2025 teeth—addictive!” Skeptics? “Soapy snips,” but the 1-in-2 gossip-to-gore ratio hooks, per BARB metrics outgunning Sister Boniface. This isn’t tea-time tripe; it’s a trim of terror, where village veneers veil vices that vex. Lily’s intuition? Incisive. The salon’s secrets? Scintillatingly sinister. September 24? Not a snip—a scalp-scraper. Binge it; the betrayals bristle, the murders mesmerize. Phillips’ Petal? No mere stylist—she’s a scissor-wielding siren, unearthing unrest in a revelation that’s retro-ravishing. Trust us: This obsession? Overdue.
