Father Brown

The 1974 version of G. K. Chesterson's Father Brown is chef's kiss aesthetically and intellectually. I have seen a few episodes of the 2000s remake, which is brightly lit and has a certain middle class sensibility compared to the mysterious darkness of this series, and that 21st century revamp is flat, bland and twee - like it was literally dumbed down for Americans. The 1970s original is magnificent BBC drama, replete with claustrophobic smoking parlours, be-wigged barristers in stuffy court rooms and delightful ornate antique light fixtures.

The Father Dowling Mysteries were an Americanized and modernized attempt at the original 1920s Chesterson books, and are for all intents and purposes absolute moronic trash in comparison (unless you were eight years old in 1989).

But this THIS is art and I am delighted that numerous episodes are available on streaming. Highly recommended to serious mystery fans.

Kenneth More plays father Brown in this series based on G. K. Chesterton's books. I cannot tell you how close this comes to the books themselves as I have not read them yet.

Each episode is a complete story in itself where we meet the characters, build up the mystery, try to second-guess father Brown, and wrap up in the end. The ending of his stories is not that neatly wrapped as he usually leaves it to the culprit to do the right thing.

Dennis Burgess plays Hercule Flambeau (Father Brown's friend); he is advertised throughout the DVD but does not show up for several episodes.

I have to admit that several times on my first viewing I had them stop and think about where I have seen the actor(s) before.

As with many series, there are guest actors. Some of the guest actors show once and others are peppered throughout the series.

The quality of each story varies widely so there will be some favorites and some duds depending on what you want to see. The production itself looks quite inexpensive and locations and production sets. The quality of the recording leaves something to be desired; I am not sure if it is the original recording or the media. In any case, you will be so wrapped up in the story that you will care about the production quality.

Catholic Priest Father Brown is on hand to investigate all manner of crimes, including murder, often assisted by his old friend Flambeau.

I'm an Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle addict, I was late to The GK Chesterton party, and only found the works through The BBC reboot. I struggled with the pacing early on, but decided to first read the books, then watch them with fresh eyes, it was the right move.

Intelligent mysteries, Father Brown is often an observer, an onlooker, in a similar way to Miss Marple I guess, he's observant and perceive, he's clever, but he's not over the top or dynamic.

Oracle of The Dog and Curse of The Golden Cross were my favourite episodes, but every episode offers something. It surprised me how little Father Brown appeared in some of the novels, the changes that were made in this series work very well.

Kenneth More is excellent as Father Brown, when you read the books, he's exactly the character you see in your mind's eye, he fits the bill perfectly.

As much as I thoroughly enjoy The BBC reboot with Mark Williams, this is a much more authentic offering.

8/10.

I've been listening to the BBC radio adaptations of the Father Brown stories with Andrew Sachs in the lead role. I have to say I much prefer Sachs' version of Father Brown, but this series is perfectly good with Kenneth More in the role. Considering when the series was made, the production is reasonably good, and the acting, while occasionally stiff, is fine overall. Some changes are made from the stories, which I have no problem with. Of the episodes I've seen so far, none have been damaged by the changes. It is important that Father Brown is a Catholic priest, and not just another amateur detective, and in this sense some of the religious reference seem to have been taken out of the stories. This subtracts from the distinctive flavor of the stories, but it plays fine on television.

You won't get the production values or the acting found in the later Christie series, but these are well worth trying if you favor British detective/mystery series. I'm certainly happy I found them, and I'll be watching them one per night until I've through the lot.

It was quite difficult for ATV to adapt the short stories of Father Brown by G.K Chesterton in the manner in which they were written. This is due to the fact that some of the original stories don't contain enough plot to make a 50 minute episode. The writers of the series are to be congratulated and the leading performance from Kenneth More effectively demonstrates that he was a more versatile actor than one realizes. He is truly cast against type and rises to the challenge tremendously. It is true that the production values aren't exactly state of the art but for sheer storytelling, this 1974 version of "Father Brown" is worthy of repeated viewing.