Father Dowling Mysteries

I really like this show. While I do slightly prefer Murder She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder, Father Dowling is an entertaining watch. Tom Bosley is superb in the title role, a performance of great warmth and dignity. Tracy Nelson does show real promise as an actress, she has a likable and quite bubbly personality, and it was a pleasure to see her develop as the series progressed. My favourite has to be the late Mary Wickes as Marie, Wickes was a very underrated actress, and I enjoyed her here. The episodes are benefited by some nice camera-work, lovely locations, a beautiful title tune and good scripts, not to mention a number of funny moments. Of course you may find some over familiarities in the story lines, but overall this is a very entertaining mystery series, probably not the best out there, but worth a watch. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Like Perry Mason, this series wasn't an original, it was based on a (still ongoing) series of books by Ralph McInerny. Unlike Perry Mason, though, the producers took almost nothing from the books but the characters of Fr. Dowling and Mrs. Murkin, and of those two only Mrs. Murkin bears any resemblance to the character in the book. I'd advise anyone who likes mysteries but was disappointed in Fr. Dowling on TV to read the books, they are excellent.

okay, the theme to this series was a bit far fetched (a priest and a nun investigating the goings on in the criminal underworld indeed!) but nevertheless, it was enjoyable, funny and easy going to watch. It was first shown on British TV around 1989/90 and I instantly became hooked! To me Father Dowling himself was the inspiration I had been looking for. When I was a teenager I had only two ambitions in life; to become a priest or a criminal investigator. Father Dowling was both these rolled up in one! brilliant! Although I must admit, he didn't seem to take Mass all that often considering what his job was. As for Sister Stephanie, she too is the perfect model any young woman could want to follow if they were thinking about becoming a nun. Dressing up like a penguin does not necessarily you won't look pretty, as Stephanie managed to show! It's a pity the Catholic Church can't churn out more people like these two in real life. If it did, its future may look a bit more rosey too!

I wish I had DVDs of the early years, I would use them in my Sunday School curriculum. Yes, I know that Sister Steve had some odd undertakings, but I don't think they detracted from the day-to-day exploration of Catholic Christian theology. The site requests additional lines so I'll commend Tom Bosley's warm performance as Father Dowling. Tracy Nelson had the look and personality of a young woman settling into the religious life. I enjoyed the Chicago setting as well. Around the time this show was canceled, I pretty much quit watching television as so much of it was so offensive. This show was substantive without being corny.

Father Dowling Mysteries is a who-done-it series in the vein of Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, Ellery Queen, Nick and Nora Charles, Miss Marple, et al. The "gimmick" or "twist" here is that our protagonist is a Catholic priest and the pastor of an inner-city parish.

Tom Bosley plays Father Frank Dowling, an amateur sleuth who just "happens to be around" when someone is murdered, abducted, disappears, etc. He then takes it upon himself to investigate the crime and prove that the police department's number one suspect is innocent. Tracy Nelson plays Sister Stephanie (a.k.a. Sister Steve), a young streetwise nun and Father Dowling's partner in crime-solving.

The show is formulaic of the genre:

1. Obvious clues that the police overlook.

2. The police, anxious to "wrap it up," arrest an innocent person based on flimsy circumstantial evidence.

3. Only Father Dowling and Sister Steve possess the analytical minds and cunning to solve crimes.

4. Our sleuths get into all sorts of life-threatening situations only to escape/be rescued at the last minute.

5. Someone makes a benign eleven-o'clock-hour statement about potato salad that triggers a lightbulb moment within our crack sleuths. Father Dowling says something like, "That's it's! Marie, call the police, and tell them to meet us at the loading dock. Come on Steve."

6. The guilty party is subjected to a Father Dowling monologue at the denouement about how he pieced all of the evidence together.

7. Crimes are solved based on hunches and enigmatic clues (and a lot of snooping) rather than forensic evidence (e.g. DNA, fingerprints, trace evidence).

Despite the cliches, however, the show boasts likable characters, interesting plots, and a top-notch cast, particularly Tracy Nelson, who gets to play a wide range of undercover characters who are on the other side of the moral spectrum of Sister Steve's religious beliefs (e.g. Prostitute, pool hustler, card shark, beauty contestant, etc.).

Rounding out the cast of series regulars is the wonderful character actress Mary Wickes as the wisecracking parish rectory housekeeper (a role she's played many times before), and James Stephens, who provides just the right amount of comic relief as a young befuddled priest forever looking for ways to suck up to the (unseen) diocese Bishop.