‘Father Brown’: S06.E01-E10. “Series Six”
By: Shain E. Thomas
Tags: Television, BBC, Recaps, Period Drama, Father Brown

The Father Brown sixth series premiere, Paul Gibson’s The Tree of Truth, doubles as the 2017 Christmas Special. Father Brown, Bridgette McCarthy, and Lady Penelope “Bunty” Windermere all audition for the local amateur pantomime.

The pantomime auditions, for a production of the folk tale Cinderella, don’t go well. Father Brown, Mrs McCarthy, and Bunty don’t get the roles they expected. The Tree of Truth, further to the pantomime, revolves around the discovery of a skeleton the woods. The discovery, even though Inspector Gerry Mallory would rather focus his attention elsewhere, leads the local police inspector to re-open a seven-year-old murder case.

Benny Clough, seven years earlier, was convicted of murdering a young woman. Could this have been a mistake? The episode features everyone’s favourite chauffeur. Sidney Carter, having spent some time in Northern Rhodesia with Lady Felicia Montague, returns to Kembleford.

Lady Felicia has written letters for Father Brown and niece Bunty. There is also a special Christmas present for Mrs McCarthy. Inspector Mallory and Sergeant Daniel Goodfellow, wanting to keep a close eye on the thespians, are cast as the ugly sisters.

When an accident happens during rehearsals, noting a distinct link between the murder case and cast members, Father Brown realises the truth lies within the theatre.

Katherine Corven, a character series fans will recall from The Eagle and the Daw, makes a return in Gary Williams’ The Jackdaw’s Revenge.

Mrs Corven, scheduled for execution, sees a surprising reprieve when her former housekeeper confesses to have murdered Mr Corven. Father Brown, on receiving the troubling news, justifiably fears Mrs Corven will take revenge on his friends.

Former prison wardress Frances Whittaker, not long after Mrs Corven’s release, is found hanged in a locked cottage. Mrs Corven, being in training as a postulant at a local convent, is provided an alibi by the Mother Superior.

A local reporter, Eddie, openly accuses Father Brown in the press of impropriety with Mrs Corven. When Lady Penelope “Bunty” Windermere goes missing, coupled with Father Brown being blackmailed to confirm the story, her life hangs in the balance. A Jackdaw flying in the church gives Father Brown the clue to the death of the wardress.

Curiously, even though Vicky Entwistle plays Frances Whittaker in The Eagle and The Daw, the character doesn’t have an on-screen presence in The Jackdaw’s Revenge.

Kembleford Station, in Christiana Ebohon-Green’s The Kembleford Dragon, is threatened with closure. British Railways, having discovered the village railway station is not profitable, dispatched Deepak Chatterjee to Kembleford so that he could deliver the bad news.

The village residents, especially stationmaster Ben Webb, Father Brown, Bridgette McCarthy, and Lady Penelope “Bunty” Windermere, don’t take the news well. The closure news causes Mr Webb to experience a heart attack. A fate is quickly organised to save the station.

Not long after the fate begins, when blood is observed leaking from a trunk, Mr Webb’s dead body is soon discovered. What could anyone have against the now dead stationmaster?

The murder is complicated by the fact that Mr Webb died from drowning. Father Brown, seeing an opportunity for investigative work, learns from Mr Chatterjee that Mr Webb had a negative reputation with his fellow British Railways colleagues.

Mr Webb, a philanderer of the worst kind, had been playing away from home. Pandora Pott, St Mary’s new cleaner, is hiding a secret. Father Brown, after connecting certain unmistakeable dots, realises the truth.

Freda Knight, in Niall Fraser’s The Angel of Mercy, dies in her sleep at a care home. Mrs Knight had been one of Bridgette McCarthy’s closest friends. Father Brown, noting a distinctly unusual odour emanating from the body, suspects foul play.

Mrs Knight, before her death, had been engaged in a relationship. Her relationship with Charlie Coulter, because Seth Knight saw it as an affront to his father’s memory, was not looked at favourably by everyone. Mr Knight believed Mr Coulter’s interest in his mother stemmed from his desire to take her estate.

Father Brown’s suspicions increase when Mr Coulter dies in his sleep. After this second death, even though Inspector Gerry Mallory didn’t initially believe Father Brown, Mr Knight is arrested. Father Brown isn’t convinced Mr Knight has any involvement in the recent deaths. The only thing that connects each victim is the fact they were all terminally ill when they died. A single white feather is discovered next to each body. What could this possibly mean?

Lady Penelope “Bunty” Windermere’s friend and former nanny, Ellen Jennings, is terminally ill. Mrs Jennings, with only the use of a wheelchair to get from place to place, goes missing. Bunty fears the worst after finding a white feather in her room.

Lady Felicia Montague and Sidney Carter, with Monty being in London, take advantage of the situation and pay a visit to Kembleford. Lady Felicia, in Christiana Ebohon-Green’s The Face of the Enemy, finds herself being blackmailed by MI5 agent Daniel Whittaker.

Mr Whittaker, knowing Benedict Northam is a Russian spy, wants Lady Felicia to retrieve a roll of film from her not so secret lover. It is Mr Northam’s intent to deliver the film to the Russians. Not everything goes to plan. Lady Felicia has to choose between lover and husband.

Father Brown, Bridgette McCarthy, Lady Penelope “Bunty” Windermere, and Sid, fearing Lady Felicia might be in serious trouble, crash Mr Northam’s party. The party ends with sculptor Alfred Lane being shot and killed.

Mr Whittaker, to Inspector Gerry Mallory’s chagrin, makes his presence felt. The MI5 agent orders Inspector Mallory and Sergeant Daniel Goodfellow to treat Lady Felicia as a prime suspect.

The Catholic priest becomes involved with spies, British and Soviet, not knowing who is friend or foe, traitor or patriot.

Inspector Gerry Mallory, in Niall Fraser’s The Devil You Know, is taken off a case because he was present at the time the crime was committed.

Alec Frobisher, deputy commander at Scotland Yard, is garrotted at Kembleford Bowls Club. Inspector George Ironside, placed in charge of the investigation, seeks to step into Inspector Mallory’s metaphorical shoes as Kembleford’s senior policeman.

Mr Frobisher, formally with the War Crimes Commission, had been pursuing Nazis that had tried to hide in plain sight. War time memories for both Father Brown and Inspector Mallory, when it is discover Eric and Christina Worcester are hiding a secret, rise to the surface.

Whilst Mr Worcester had apparently been a member of the SS, noting the tattooed number on her arm, his wife is apparently a concentration camp survivor. When Mr Worcester commits suicide, as Father Brown digs a little deeper, the Catholic priest discovers clues pointing him towards Mr Frobisher’s murderer.

Father Brown, Bridgette McCarthy, and Bunty, in Piotr Szkopiak’s The Dance of Death, attend a ballroom competition. One of the contestants, Lucy Dawes, is murdered. Miss Dawes’ her blind dancing partner, Alexander Walgrave, believes he knows who the murderer is and seeks help from Father Brown and Bunty. Could he be right?

A necklace Lucy was wearing is missing and Inspector Mallory arrests Lucy’s fiancé Oliver when he is found in possession of it. Father Brown realises the answer lies some time ago when Alexander was blinded when pushed downstairs. To continue his investigation Brown, Mrs McCarthy and Bunty join the competition.

Piotr Szkopiak’s The Cat of Mastigatus was originally televised in the British Isles on Wednesday, 10 January 2018. Series co-developers Tahsin Guner and Rachel Flowerday, when it comes to addressing tricky issues, don’t shy away from doing the right thing.

The episode opens with Father Brown, Bridgette McCarthy, and Lady Penelope “Bunty” Windermere attending Kemble Martyrs’ end-of-term fête. A pupil from the neighbouring St Saviours School for Girls, Mary Lewis, is discovered unconscious in the boiler room of the adjoining boys’ school.

May, with a significant head injury, is rushed to the local cottage hospital. Father Brown, after doing a little investigative work, finds the weapon used to attack May. The weapon, a cricket bat, belongs to Kemble Martyrs pupil Daniel Gates.

Daniel, May’s boyfriend, is not surprisingly arrested by Inspector Gerry Mallory. May, when still at the hospital, is attacked for a second time. It is assumed St Saviours School gardener Jack Coll attacked the pupil.

Shortly thereafter, when seeking answers to important questions, Father Brown and St Saviours School deputy headmistress Sheila Barnett find the gardener’s dead body.

he Roman Catholic priest, uncovering years of bullying at Kemble Martyrs, is shocked to discover a modified cat o’ nine tails had frequently been used.

Father Brown and Bridgette McCarthy, in the opening scenes to Gary Williams’s The Flower of the Fairway, can be seen with Raylan Reeve at his new golf course. Mr Reeve, obviously conservatively minded, is an ostentatious American.

Father Brown, even though he is gifted a membership to the new golf club, believes the Scottish sport spoils a good walk. During the inaugural competition, The Flower of the Fairway, it is quickly revealed Lady Penelope “Bunty” Windermere is a serious rival to aspiring golfer Morgana Reeve.

Miss Reeve, a St Saviours School for Girls pupil, is Mr Reeve’s granddaughter. The teenager had been taken out of school so she could compete in the competition. Bunty, as the competition progresses, finds a body in the reeds. Inspector Gerry Mallory, hoping to secure a membership at the new golf club, arrives on the scene shortly thereafter.

Curiously, after a gunshot is heard, Mr Reeve is discovered dead in his study. He had been shot in the head. Inspector Mallory, because of a dispute with Mr Reeve over him diverting water away from her property, seeks to arrest Hermione Harvey on suspicion of murdering the American.

There was clearly no love lost between Mrs Harvey and her new neighbour. The Roman Catholic priest, when investigating father, daughter, and granddaughter, discovers a dark family secret.

Paul Gibson’s The Two Deaths of Hercule Flambeau sees the return of a series fan favourite. Father Brown, when reading the newspaper, discovers something most disturbing.

Hercule Flambeau, everyone’s favourite French master thief, apparently died in Italy. Flambeau, before his death, wrote a letter to the Roman Catholic priest. A woman claiming to be his wife, Lisandra Flambeau, wants the key her late husband had sent to Father Brown. The key is stolen while the presbytery is empty.

omething else that catches Father Brown’s eye, also referenced in a newspaper article, the Iron Crown of Lombardy is on display at Gloucester Cathedral. The crown apparently contains an actual nail from the True Cross.

Father Brown, becoming part of an elaborate plan to steal the crown, quickly realises the French thief isn’t dead. Mrs Flambeau, understanding she had been double crossed, injects Father Brown with a slow-acting poison. Is Father Brown doomed?