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British Father Brown TV Mystery Series – 2013 Version

I previously wrote an entry about the 1970 Father Brown TV mystery series – which my husband and I enjoyed. The 2013 series is quite a bit different. The current Father Brown mystery series is quite a bit Cozy-er than the original G.K. Chesterton‘s Father Brown television series. The current series does not concentrate on presenting the Chesterton stories although it is based on the original Father Brown character.

Mark Williams stars as Father Brown – a Catholic parish priest in Anglican England. When you watch this show you’ll have to suspend reality and think of England as a very, very Catholic country. It seems like everyone is a parishioner of Father Brown! (There are a few times when the shows focus on the Anglican church.)

This Father Brown series is produced by the BBC and, for those of you vintage lovers like me, the Cotswolds 1950 costumes, artifacts, and settings are terrific to see. A lot of the characters are recurring, however the Detective Inspectors changed a few times before seeming to settle on the current Inspector (Jack Deam) who has a very complicated relationship with the “Padre” (as he refers to Father Brown), the other meddling amateur sleuths, and also the Inspector’s underlings. 

One of my favorite characters in the show is Mrs. McCarthy (Sorcha Cusack). She’s the parish secretary and one of the Father’s crime-solving accomplices. She is the mother hen of the tight group of crime-solving friends. She is also a town gossip, good cook (especially of strawberry scones) and a wearer of terrific looking 1950 hats, necklaces, dresses, and sweaters. There are other fleshed-out regular characters: Lady Felicia (Nancy Carroll), Sid (Alex Price), Bunty (Emer Kenny), and Sergeant Goodfellow (John Burton).

If you have watched the 1970 version, you will notice that the majority of the current shows take place in the small, Cozy village. The actual G.K. Chesterton stories had Father Brown traveling the world. This series takes full advantage of the beautiful Cotswold settings. (My husband and I have also watched Footloose in the Cotswolds on our Amazon Prime and we think we have spotted a few of the show’s locations.)

My husband and I started watching this version of Father Brown on Netflix but are now watching the current season on our local PBS station. (I’m so glad I set up our DVR!) It is also available on BritBox.

If you’re looking for a truly Cozy Mystery series to watch – look no more. You’ve found it!

P.S. If you would like some other ideas about shows to watch, make sure to take a look at my TV and Movies page on my Cozy Mystery site.

Comments

  1. I LOVE Father Brown and his group. They are fun and Mrs. McCarthy is someone I think I would like to know. I miss Lady Felicia and Sid and I hope they bring them back. I watch this show every Thursday night on PBS. They come on right after the Dr. Blake Mysteries which is a great show too.

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    • We stumbled onto Father Brown, originally on Netflix. Fell in love with the stories which are NOT always predictable (GREAT writing), and with the characters. So well cast, so well written. The uplifting themes throughout the stories (and I’m not even Catholic) are refreshing, without swearing, and my hubby & I now subscribe to BritBox just so we can watch & rewatch. Fabulous show

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    • Plan my schedule around the current Father Brown on PBS & delight in the next day rerun. Wish PBS placed it On Demand!

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  2. I too have recently discovered the Father Brown series and love it. As you said the time period clothing and scenery is beautiful.

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  3. I recently discovered this Father Brown version, and I absolutely love it! Even my husband, who doesn’t quite understand my love of British mysteries, will stop and watch some and ask what certain characters are up to. We have a visiting hummingbird with a white band around its neck that he has named Father Brown ~

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  4. It is a lovely fun show. I’ve truly enjoyed the newer version. As you say, the costuming, the setting and the actors are very well a brilliant part to the story line. And Flambeau-what can I say about him. Fun and devious. I am totally hungry every time I see those strawberry scones.

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  5. Great review! As a devout Catholic, and a devout mystery lover, I’d like to add in my two cents and admit that this new series is IMO an even better Father Brown than the original! (I know a lot of people will disagree. Sorry.) G.K. Chesterton had an amazing, fertile, active imagination. But sometimes I thought his Fr. Brown stories were a little too contrived, or some, just a bit too odd for my taste. I guess I’m just more humdrum than him! But it’s nice to see a brand new Fr. Brown series, one that gives us an interesting and at the same time wholesome group of stock characters. And I think the guy playing Fr. Brown is perfect in the part!

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  6. Love the Father Brown shows. But I have noticed the difference between the shows and the books.

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  8. I totally agree with you. I love Mark Williams as Father Brown but then I also liked Kenneth Moore’s portrayal in the earlier darker series. Right now I am trying to acquire the movie THE DETECTIVE to see Alec Guinness playing Father Brown to see what he does with it.

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    • Oh, that is a fantastic movie. It’s probably the most true to the original characters that Chesterton created, while also being a genuinely good film on its own merits. I really like the way Alec Guinness portrayed Father Brown’s quirky personality but also his compassionate faith. In fact, I wish they had made more films. It’s that good! 🙂

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  9. Because you mentioned the Father Brown series on PBS a few months back, I became interested in watching it and have really enjoyed each episode. I look forward to next the Thursday evening’s show each week. I was also intrigued by Mark Williams–he looked very familiar. Then I realized he had played the role of Mr. Weasley in the Harry Potter movies. The other characters are very entertaining, too–I do like Mrs. McCarthy. Thanks again for putting me on to “Father Brown!”

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  10. I have watched a lot of the more recent “Father Brown” stories and enjoy them very much. I love the characters, especially Bunty and Mrs. McCarthy.

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  11. I enjoy the Cotswold scenery, fashions, and way of life in the Father Brown series. The atmosphere does a whole lot toward furthering the coziness. I like the black and white, older Sherlock Holmes series chiefly because of the cobblestone streets, horses and carriages, and the costumes. I also enjoy a good thunderstorm in the show, thunder, lightning, and shivers.

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  12. Danna, thanks for the recommendation.

    For a long time, I have been a fan of much across the pond, and have been quite the Anglophile for some time now.

    Both my life partner and I are major Whovians (fans of “Doctor Who”), and I must admit, it has been a while since I have watched any British TV series, and since I have both Amazon Prime and Neftlix, I can watch both at the same time.

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  13. I enjoy the “new” Father Brown series, too!

    At first, I thought Fr. Brown was a bit harsh, but he lightened up as the series progressed and became a wonderful character. As you mentioned, he has a great supporting cast with Mrs. McCarthy, Lady Felicia and don’t forget his nemesis, Hercule Flambeau.

    The episodes are so well-written, that sometimes I forget that the episodes are only one-hour! I love the time period (1950’s) and the Cotswold setting.

    I started watching on Netflix as well, but they only went up to season 6. We will have to save to subscribe to Britbox, as our local PBS station doesn’t carry it.

    I highly recommend Father Brown to cozy lovers! So enjoyable!!

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    • Lydia, it’s a great series worth picking up! Unfortunately it looks like it has left Netflix for now – but BritBox is a good service for any lover of British television. We often subscribe to this sort of service for short periods, often alternating with Netflix.

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  14. I’m still awaiting the 2020 season of Father Brown on our local Arizona PBS station. Still playing those from 2017, 2018, 2919. Would love to see the new series.

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  15. I’ve never watched the 1970 version of Father Brown but I have watched all of the 2013 series. It is one of my favorites. I think there is an older version available thru Britbox that I subscribe to so I might give it a go.

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    • Cindy, the older series is definitely worth watching! Though it might seem a bit dated to anyone more used to modern television – it is definitely very British ’70s in film quality, which can be an acquired taste.

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  16. Awww…I love Mrs. McCarthy too! I started the other way around & am making my way through the 2013 series on Britbox. This is one of my favorites! Enjoy!

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  17. I love the Father Brown series. I didn’t know there was an earlier one. I love G K Chesterton Father Brown mysteries. They are much deeper than the TV show. I love it because it keeps me guessing until the end. I think Mark Williams(Father Brown)
    was in the Harry Potter movies.

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  19. I’ve got to admit, I love the updated version, Mark Williams is excellent as Father Brown. I think the whole cast is very good but my favourite is the interaction between Father Brown and Flambeau, the actor who plays Flambeau is perfect and funny with a dark streak. All in all its brilliant.

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  21. I love Father Nrown, it helps to forget this world and enjoy another.
    Mark Williams is by far the best Father Brown since it started, the older shows I used to watch years ago but love this father.

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  23. The actual Cotswold village mostly used is Blockley in Gloucestershire and it’s parish church although other places are sometimes used as far as Warwick and Princethorpe College in Warwickshire. It is most evident that Father Brown is filmed in Blockly and is currently aired on BBC1 and free on i-Player

    Steve C

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      • I have been watching it for a few years, it is pretty good.
        Recently I have also started watching Dom Matteo, which is pretty much the same story (priest solving crimes) but is Italian and relies more on the comedy and on the other characters.
        Funnily enough, on one of the episodes they mention G K Chesterton several times.

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  24. I do enjoy the series, but I have mixed feelings about it because it’s so different from the original stories. Just a pet peeve of mine. It seems like TV producers or movie folks want to use the writer’s name and characters without staying true to their novels, but then why not just make an entirely new TV series with new characters instead? It happens a lot nowadays. But I do like the show and Father Brown is still a likable character, and I can always quell my misgivings by pretending he’s a distant descendant from the 1920’s original who is just carrying on the tradition of the first Father Brown. Or maybe I’m overthinking this. LOL

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    • Donna, it can definitely be a challenge separating two different versions of the same story, such as with a TV adaptation of a book series like this one. If it helps you, I’m glad it works… but I’m not so certain if Father Brown would have any direct descendants, being a Catholic priest… at least, I don’t recall him having any children, presumably from before taking his vows.

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      • Oh dear, I didn’t think of that! LOL! Perhaps nephews or cousins, though. It seems like he did have a nephew, or maybe that was Miss Marple.

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  25. I love Father Brown! My friend and her husband and I would watch it every weekend on PBS. Then she moved 350 miles away to Chicago but we still watch it “together”. Texting each other about who dun it!!!
    It is back on and our Friday night special event during the virus!!

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  26. I discovered Father Brown quite recently and I love the show! It’s something I look forward to watching every Saturday night. It’s such a quaint and cozy village, I love the characters and everything about this series.
    So enjoyable!

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  27. I have enjoyed the recent Father Brown series on my local PBS channel and may try to find the older one on Amazon Prime or Acorn. I also enjoy Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries; don’t know if it would be considered cozy but 1920s costuming is great.

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  28. Oh, yes…..love Father Brown and all the Kembleford community! Can easily become engrossed in each broadcast!

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  29. Hi Danna,

    Based on your mention I am going to try Campion, as I loved The Last Detective. Thanks!

    Have you ever watched Striking Out? It’s an Irish show I am currently watching. Quite good!

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  30. I love Father Brown, l look forward to watching it. My favourite character is Mrs McCarthy, she’s a gossiper, best scone baker, secretary and a no nonsense person when she needs to be…Everyone else is brilliant as well. Mark Williams plays the Father Brown character very well..

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  31. Maureen D … it is now nearly May of 2022 and I am just discovering your blog and decided to add a message – hope OK so far beyond 2020 – to say I discovered the 2013 Fr. Brown series during the pandemic and in the midst of a transition period from 43 years in small town close to NYC to a small town in upstate NY… TV became my window out, plus balm for my loneliness… The show provided me with “friends” with whom I could spend a little evening time … same people, repeated in episodes that not only solve crime but portray their deep and kind relationships with one another… I am still watching the re-runs, and finding more depth in them with each time spent… Mark Williams portrays what I believe to be fundamental Catholic spirituality (to me), a Catholic, in his humility, kindness, refusal to indulge in vengefulness when he suffers abuse in his efforts to help… I have learned a lot from his character, as well as having truly enjoyed “evenings spent” with him & friends …. I hope there will be a continuation of this wonderful “Cozy” series (though I’m not sure what a “Cozy” is, not being British (but from the good old USA!)

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    • Maureen D, I know exactly what you mean! I find that the characters in the Cozy television mystery series seem to become fleshed-out friends that you spend time with each time you watch an episode. They just started airing Sister Boniface – which I hope will run “along with” the Father Brown series. I hope Covid just put a pause to the Father Brown series and that it will start up again soon…

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    • Diane Harpist here. Maureen, Also agree, love Mark Williams as Fr. Brown his deep spirituality, showing his struggles and all (another Catholic here; in fact, I’m a former theology professor). It’s hard to find sensitively-written, accurate representations of this type, but his Fr. Brown is one such. I also love Mark Williams as the butler in a short-lived but wonderfully funny series, “Blandings” which is streamed on Acorn. Anyway, long live British OR American cozies… which give us so much fun and pleasure!

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  32. I’m glad to see the Father Brown series is entertaining our American friends. As a Brit, there’s just one thing which really irritates me about it. After the Scandinavian and Baltic States, Britain is the most solidly Protestant country in Europe. This series gives the impression that it’s a Catholic country. In that case it would have made more sense to locate it in Ireland.

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    • Michael, You’re making me think of Ballykissangel! I take your point, I just think of the Father Brown setting as a little enclave of Catholics in that particular village… like some I’ve visited in England. I’ve seen almost all of the episodes, and actually a number involve Anglican vicars, rectors, or curates. (I’m a Catholic w/ a theology degree from an Anglican college in Canada, so I get a kick out of seeing Fr. Brown’s ecumenical-fraternal relationship with the local Anglicans–prob. a little overdrawn for the 1950’s setting!)

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