Father Brown (seasons 1-4)

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I have been familiar with GK Chesterton’s delightful creation, ‘Father Brown’, since my teens. This fictional Roman Catholic priest in the early 1900s is adept at solving crimes, with insight and local knowledge, combined with compassion and surprising energy. I last read one of the books about him in 2018. But I had somehow missed that Father Brown had inspired a lengthy TV series - I believe it’s up to 11 seasons now. 

One of our sons had seen the show, and liked it so much that he sent us a DVD box set of the first four seasons for Christmas 2022. We started watching it towards the end of January 2023, and have watched one episode most weeks (occasionally two episodes) since then. We finally reached the end of the fourth season last night. 

My first surprise was that the series is set in the 1950s rather than at the start of the century when Chesterton was writing. Mark Williams, whom we knew as Arthur Weasley in the ‘Harry Potter’ films, is excellent in the title role. However, he’s not at all as I had imagined Father Brown from Chesterton’s writing. Still, once I realised that the series is ‘inspired by’ Chesterton’s character rather than actually based on the stories, I was able to adjust and see the TV show for what it is. The TV Father Brown is certainly wise, energetic, kind and likeable. He’s also quite persistent, and has a lot of courage. 

His Irish housekeeper, Mrs McCarthey (Sorcha Cusack, whom I recall as a much younger ‘Jane Eyre’ in the 1970s adaptation) is an excellent addition to the storyline. She provides some stability to Father Brown’s life, cooking meals for him, dealing with church accounts, and generally accompanying him in his ministry as well as his criminal investigations. She is also responsible for some low-key humour now and again; although these are crime stories, they have moments of light-heartedness which we appreciated. 

Two other significant characters are the wealthy Lady Felicia (Nancy Carroll) and her driver Sid (Alex Price). Sid isn’t part of Father Brown’s congregation, and has some criminal tendencies himself, such as the ability to pick locks; this regularly comes in useful during investigations. Lady Felicia is a bit snooty but very generous, and she often clashes with Mrs McCarthey although the two are, deep down, quite fond of each other.

As always, what I appreciate most in a film or TV series is the characterisation, and I thought that excellent, particularly between the four principle actors. There’s also some banter - and some antagonism - between Father Brown and the local police inspector. In the first series this is Inspector Valentine (Hugo Speer), and in the second and third season he is replaced by Inspector Sullivan (Tom Chambers). Both gradually come to respect Father Brown, and reluctantly admit it in their final episodes when they are moved to other locations. 

The third inspector is introduced at the start of the fourth season: Inspector Mallory (Jack Deam) is the most cynical of all, but gradually develops a kind of grudging liking for Father Brown, despite calling him ‘Padre’, and regularly telling him to leave the scene of the crime. Sergeant Goodfellow (John Burton) makes a good foil for the inspectors, and usually has a lot of respect and trust in Father Brown. 

The stories themselves are widely varied. In forty-five episodes, we didn’t think any of the settings were the same. There’s an overall theme, of course: in most of them somebody dies or is found dead, and eventually Father Brown figures out who the perpetrator was. He uses his intuition, his excellent observational skills, and his knowledge of human nature to probe deeply into what has happened, and why. He saves many innocent men from execution - for this is the era when people were still hanged if believed guilty of a serious crime.

Most of the stories are set in the village of Kembleford where everyone knows everyone else, although some include visitors, and there are some residents whom we only meet once or twice. There are stories set in local homes, involving a variety of people from the Pope to visiting vagabonds. Some relate to former war crimes, some to family feuds, some to medical discoveries or abuse… and so much more. Each time we think the writers must surely have run out of ideas, yet another setting or motive emerges.

I very much liked the slow pace of the series, and the countryside images as well as the interactions between the main characters. I also appreciated the lack of gore; occasionally I had to close my eyes, but there was very little overt violence, and the bodies, when shown, mostly looked asleep. The overall rating of this box set is 12, which I think is about right, given the nature of the plots; it's unlikely to appeal to children anyway. 

I appreciated the way that God is taken seriously, too. It’s not a ‘preachy’ series, but, like Chesterston’s original, Father Brown comes across as a devout man with a living, vibrant faith. 

Still, having watched four series over the past twelve months, it’s time for a change. So although I would recommend this to anyone who likes light crime television, we’re not going to look for the later seasons on DVD. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews

Jane Eyre (Sorcha Cusack)

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Back when I was a teenager, my class at school studied the classic book ‘Jane Eyre' in English Literature. There was a new BBC mini-series broadcast at the same time, based on the book, starring Sorcha Cusack and Michael Jayston. I watched it avidly and developed quite a crush on Michael Jayston. I hoped, for years afterwards, that it would be repeated.

So I was extremely pleased when I discovered, back in 2006, that this series had been published on DVD. I watched it in 2007 with my husband and teenage son, one episode at a time, and we all liked it very much. My husband had not read the book, although he had at some point seen a different adaptation. My son, like me, had read and enjoyed the book, and we all thought this version excellent.

I don’t re-watch DVDs very often, preferring a gap of at least eight or nine years between viewings, and this is a long adaptation. There are five episodes of nearly an hour each. But after thirteen years it seemed like a good idea to see it again. So my husband and I re-watched it over four evenings in the past two weeks.

The first episode is a bit slow-moving. We meet Jane at the age of ten, excellently played by Juliet Waley. She lives with her cruel aunt and spiteful cousins, and is treated worse than a servant. She is constantly reminded of her aunt’s ‘charity’ in taking her in, and is struck and bullied badly by her cousins - who can do no wrong in their mother’s eyes.

Jane is not a docile child, and she fights against her tormentors, earning herself some quite cruel punishments. Eventually she’s sent away to school, where she even has to stay for holidays. And even though it’s an extremely unpleasant school for orphans, run by the selfish Mr Brocklehurst, where Jane is often hungry and cold, she prefers it to her previous life. It’s a sad and insightful picture of the horrors of some institutions in this era. But eventually it is given to kinder managers, and Jane grows up to become an assistant teacher, and then applies for - and gets - a job as governess to a young French girl.

The second and subsequent episodes are mainly based at Thornfield Hall, where Jane endears herself to the other household staff, and becomes very attached to the master of the house, Edward Rochester. He is unpredictable, often rude and abrupt, but there’s a chemistry between the two which works extremely well. There’s even some humour now and again, albeit quite low key.

Thornfield Hall has its dark secret, one that is quite well-known, but which was a huge shock to me the first time I read the book. Jane is convinced that one of the servants is rather dangerous and somewhat unhinged; there is a nasty scene when a visitor is attacked, and one in the fourth episode where, even knowing what was coming, I hid my hands.

We watched the fourth and fifth episodes together. The end of the fourth was quite a cliff-hanger, and even though I knew what was coming I wanted to see the end by that stage. And it’s all very well done. The BBC was always excellent at making period dramas. The costumes are authentic, the house realistic, and the conversation is mostly taken straight from the book.

There isn’t a huge cast, but they are all fully believable in their roles. To me, Sorcha Cusack is Jane Eyre. Michael Jayston in the role is exactly how Mr Rochester should look. And Megs Jenkins as Mrs Fairfax is delightful, with some wonderful facial expressions that communicate her thoughts perfectly.

There are other film adaptations of this classic novel, though as far as I know I’ve only seen one of them. It’s hard to imagine anything coming as close to the original as this mini-series, however. So much would have to be cut out for a two-hour film version.

Definitely recommended if you like films to stay close to the books from which they’re taken.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Jane Eyre (Sorcha Cusack, Michael Jayston)

(Amazon UK link)

Charlotte Bronte's classic novel Jane Eyre has been one of my favourite books ever since I first read it as a young teenager, for English Literature at school. Shortly after I had finished reading it, there was a five-episode BBC television adaptation of the book, which I enjoyed very much. However, there have been many other films made of this classic, and I did not think I would ever be able to watch this particular version again.

So I was delighted when, in 2006, this BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre was finally brought out on DVD. I watched it with my husband and teenage son, just one episode at a time, and we all enjoyed it very much.

Knowing the basics of the story in advance (as my husband did) did not spoil it, any more than knowing it well after re-reading several times over the years. There is melodrama, and some moments of extreme tension, even when I knew exactly what was coming.

With an episodic version of a book, made for TV, it's possible to keep much more closely to the original story than can be done with a 90-minute movie. I felt that this series kept very well to Charlotte Bronte's story, omitting little, and including much of the actual text of the book. Michael Jayston is excellent as the craggy Mr Rochester who employs Jane (Sorcha Cusack) as a governess for his ward.

The BBC always seems to do a superb job with period drama of this kind, even with a limited budget, and I was very glad to have been able to watch this again.

Definitely recommended. Rated PG in the UK, and unrated in the USA, but unlikely to be of much interest to children under the age of about 10 or 11.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews