Father Dowling Mysteries

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.

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 loved this show as a teen. My life didn't revolve around TV as my friends did, but this was one of the shows I loved. Murder she wrote, The Equalizer, Quincy MD, Spencer Tracy, all these shows were awesome but Dowling was the best. Anyone thinking otherwise has no understanding of imagination or logic. This show was a great way for a kid in the slums to see that they didn't have to stay there. Sister Steve was an inspiration for me, and her intuitive thinking was astounding. Father Dowling's way of observing the facts taught my friends and I that there is more than one way to see anything. That was great.

This is an awesome show.

The concept of a Priest who spends his spare time solving murders and crimes is nothing new of course, Father Brown had been doing it for decades before Father Dowling arrived on the scene, but this is an American slant on the thing, and good leads like Tom Bosley and Tracy Nelson make it work, back before crime shows got too dark and gruesome, this one has plenty of humour, and plays like some of those wonderful old 'B' movies of the 30's & 40's, in other words, just plain old fashioned good entertainment. How many people I wonder realize that 20 years before this, Tom Bosley and Tracy Nelson appeared in the same movie together? 'Yours, Mine and Ours' with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, of course Tracy was only about 4 years old at the time, neither could have imagined one day they'd co-star in the same series.