Jill Scott just scored a regular gig on HBO now that her two-hour film, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," will serve as the pilot for a 13-episode run on the cable network.

The film was shot on location in Botswana by director Anthony Minghella ("The English Patient") from a script he wrote with Richard Curtis ("Four Weddings and a Funeral").

Based on the best-selling crime books by Alexander McCall Smith, the series stars Scott as Precious Ramotswe, the owner of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana. Anika Noni Rose plays her quirky secretary, Mma Makutsi, and Lucian Msamati stars as Ramotswe's devoted suitor, JLB Matekoni.

HBO has secured U.S. and Canadian television and home video rights, and the BBC has taken U.K. television distribution, reports Reuters. The Weinstein Co. controls all other international territories.