Father Brown

... up to to a point and that point is season 9. Season 10 is where it all rapidly goes down hill. Father Brown himself stays the same, along with Goodfellow, but the replacements characters that were needed to fil the gaps left by Sorcha Cusack, Nancy Carroll and Emer Kenny are just dreadful. The only shining moment in this season was John Light as Flambeau, who put in a sterling performance as usual. How he never got his own series I will never know. My honest suggestion is, that if you haven't already watched it, then please do as it's very enjoyable, just stop at the end of season 9, you'll be doing yourself a favour.

Love father Brown, but season 11 is beyond boring. I used to look forward to new episodes, but this year I barely bother. It feels like Father Brown's actors just said "let's get through this year, pay us, and then we can retire." I love mysteries, police procedurals, etc. And just enjoy the ride without trying to figure out "who dun-it. But these episodes are so simplistic, I know who's done it without even making an effort.

The biggest problem, of course, was getting rid of Bundy and lady Felicia. There is now no access to the upper class with their peculiarities, their wealth, waywardness, mansions, free morals and the humor. No love/hate relationship between Mrs. McCarthy"s british steadfastness vs Lady Felicia aristocratic snootiness and Bundy's new found post-war bohemian wildness.. And all these quirky characters working with and against a setting featuring mid-century Catholic priest was the basis of Father Brown.

The two new protagonist, Mrs. Devine, a WW 2 war widow and new secretary and her assistant waif, although cute, really don't bring anything to the show...just middle class 1950 boredom. No drama, no tension, no surprises. So murders are no surprise either. The only brightness in this show is the wardrobe with the giant billowy skirts and tons of petticoats. Even the romance between Chief Inspector and Mrs. Devine is lackluster.

Flambeau finally shows up, and I was looking forward to his input, but this episode too was predictable and boring. Actually there is no mystery. The bad guy killed the guard.

Watch and rewatch seasons 1 to 10, jewel, or Mrs. McCarthy's strawberry but skip season 11. I never thought it could be this bad, Don't waste your time on season 11. . I would not be surprised if this show gets cancel, nobody is making an effort here.

I loved the early seasons. The introduction of Inspector Mallory made it less enjoyable, however. It isn't that he's a character we love to hate - that is pretty much a necessity in this type of show. It's that he is painfully overplayed, which is incredibly distracting. But if you can ignore his intrusion, the rest of the characters and the stories are a delightful way to step away from reality for a while. A lighthearted and clever show that I will often put on in the background as I'm working on projects.

The writing was good the first five seasons and I really liked the cast it was kind of like Andy Griffith with a little more of an edge. Everyone made fun of me for liking it but it didn't care.Then they got rid of Sid , lady Felicia and all the good writers. I heard season 7 is better than the last two seasons , I might give it a chance.I don't know the last two seasons were really bad.

We much more enjoyed the seasons staring Nancy Carroll as Lady Felicia and Tom Chambers. The character of Bunty is rather uninteresting and one dimensional, and Inspector Mallory is a stereotypical idiot. Also, the character of Syd is much missed in storylines, as well. Although Father Brown is, all in all, good entertainment, I do miss the earlier seasons.