Le inchieste di padre Dowling

This is a really great detective show,I have watched all the other ones aswell and have found Father Dowling to be the most enjoyable to watch.It has humour,a serious side at times and shows a side to religion that many people may not have seen or known.Tom Bosley and Tracy Nelson are excellent in this,both are funny with how they act and the looks that Tom's character Father Frank gives to Tracy character Sister Steve are brilliant,makes me laugh.I also think that James Stephens is brilliant as Father Prestwick.

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.

A delightfully refreshing mystery in the spirit of Miss Marple. The character of Father Dowling, as portrayed by Tom Bosley,,,was a real caring individual, giving a partial absolution to the horrible portraits painted about a few of the clergy, figured in the tabloids. My feeling is that it might help to eradicate some of the distressingly graphic illustrations of priests literally promoted by the media. True or not the mention of a catholic priest in some circles causes an unusual amount of animosity and disdain, for a group who preach that control is one of the responsibilities of every partitioner, their lack thereof is astonishing,,,in conclusion, I enjoyed the series.

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.