Don Matteo

I just love this show but the constant change in casts & stories from season to season is difficult for me. I just finished season 10. First, it broke my heart to learn that they took Patrizia off the show. But now there will be no more Lia & Gulio. They broke up Laura & Tommaso and I'm guessing they will be gone too. 😢 It is just making me so sad but I'll keep watching when Season 11 is available.

Don Matteo is a charming Italian television series about a priest who investigates crimes in the little town of Gubbio, Italy. The interaction between characters: the priest, police, mayor of the town and others is delightful with some comedy. The mayor of the town who is a stunning, bright woman is dating the head of police. There are funny episodes with the housekeeper and her husband. There's no blood and guts, sex or profanity: Just good stories each episode. The scenery is lovely. The theme music is really enjoyable. The English subtitles are absolutely excellent. And, in my opinion, Terence Hill, who plays Don Matteo (Father Matthew) has the charisma of Cary Grant.

As good as the first 3 series, with Terence Hill, who gets better every series. Sicilian Nino Frassica (Maresciallo Nino Cecchini) is great and Flavio Insinna from Rome (Capitano Flavio Anceschi) has a fine art of acting. They are the best characters of the series. In the fourth series, the appearance of Milena Miconi (Sindaco) is a new way of fun. Nathalie Guetta plays the dragon of Natalina very really. Francesco Scali (Pippo) is one of the best characters. The producers of Lux Vide and Rai Fiction made the best series of this this years. There is not any violence in the series, but if you want to have fun and a little bit of action, you must see it.

Fr. Matteo is fine family fare and always has a moral or two to make one think. I do enjoy all of the characters, but I would not recommend binge watching more than one season at a time. It is more enjoyable to come to it fresh.

One huge distraction -- or, rather, attraction, perhaps -- is watching Mr. Hill's hairline recede. It would not even have entered my mind, except in the first episode, the Bishop tells him that he is too good-looking and implies that if, among other things, he were bald, he would be less of a temptation to women.

Each episode, it becomes more and more obvious that his hair is "thinning"; and each episode, the makeup folks try other ways to conceal that fact. A fun pastime in itself! Plus, the camera folks zoom in and take off the top of heads, so that we see less and less of Fr. Matteo's less-and-less. Perhaps related to this issue, Mr. Hill's character has less of a role to play and the feuding officers become more prominent. That is a bit of a shock, and sad, because the show is supposed to be about Don Matteo.

Although I have not been fortunate to see older Don Matteo shows I have been lucky to see Don Matteo on MHZ (worldview TV). I immediately was drawn to this show subtitles and all. In spite of the difference in language it is now my favorite scheduled show on TV. (I have been searching for subtitled older shows and have not been successful.) Don Matteo is akin to a Father Miss Marple, giving Sergeant Chekkini the accurate killer instead of the unfortunate suspect they usually lock up. Each character in the show from the housekeeper to the mayor has a side plot occurring which typically provides the source of the show's humor. My greatest draw to the show of course is the wonderful scenery and architecture, heritage not withstanding.