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Father Brown |
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The
Father Brown Stories were written by G. K. Chesterton in the early 1900s. "Father Brown É an innocent, guileless
catholic parish priest from East Anglia É small, bespectacled, absent minded and
invariably clutching an oversized umbrella and a collection of
brown paper parcels" Another
character, Flambeau (French for
"flaming torch") has a presence in most of the mysteries. He first
appeared in The Blue Cross as a
jewel thief. In succeeding stories, Father Brown foils his attempted crimes
and after exposure Flambeau himself becomes a detective, assisting Father
Brown in a number of cases beginning with The Invisible Man. Father
Brown was a natural for radio and
he has appeared in several series on both sides of the Atlantic, most notably
The Father Brown Stories which
were originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1984 and 1987. They starred Andrew
Sachs as Father Brown and Olivier
Pierre as Monsieur Flambeau. Andrew
Sachs is perhaps best known for his signature role as Manuel the Spanish
waiter in John Cleese's TV series, Fawlty Towers. In
all 13 episodes of The Father Brown Stories, each of 30 minutes duration, were produced: Series
One (1984-'85) consisting of 7 episodes, Series Two (1986) comprised 5
episodes, followed by a one-off special in 1987. Each
was dramatised by John Scotney and the series was produced by Alec Reid. Whilst
the above series is justly described as the "definitive edition"
there were two early Father Brown series. The
BBC produced a Father Brown series in the 1970s with TV actor Leslie
French as Brown and well known
comic Will Rushton in the role
of G. K. Chesterton, acting as narrator of the mysteries. These are quite
interesting presentations running for a little over 40 minutes each, however
only three episodes have survived. A
short lived series of Father Brown mysteries had also appeared in the USA in
the mid 1940's. Known as The Adventures of Father Brown, these 30-minute detective series starred Karl
Swenson as Father Brown, introduced as "the best loved detective of them
all." Bill Griffis portrayed Flambeau, and Gretchen Douglas was heard as
Nora, the rectory housekeeper. Only
two episodes of this series have survived Professor
Jeffrey Richards' Documentary in 2000 "The Innocence of Father Brown" is an interesting and informative examination
of Father Brown on film, TV and on Radio and provides a great starting point
for this collection Want
to check out Jeffery Richards's 30 minute BBC Radio documentary: The
Innocence of Father Brown? It
can be freely downloaded to your computer - just right button click on any
link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to that
effect). The file is about 18Mb - download time will depend on your
(broadband) speed BBCFB_2000-03-14
Doco - The Innocence of Father Brown.mp3 These
MP3 CD consist of a 30 minute documentary presented by Professor Jeffrey
Richards: "The Innocence of Father Brown", all 13 episodes of
Andrew Sachs' BBC series from the mid 1980s, the only 3 surviving episodes of
the 1970s BBC series and the only 2 surviving episodes of the mid 1940s US
series. A. Documentary 1.
A 30 minute BBC
documentary with Professor Geoffrey Richards BBCFB_2000-03-14
The Innocence of Father Brown.mp3 B. The
Andrew Sachs BBC Series 1.
BBCFB_1984-12-02 The
Blue Cross.mp3 2.
BBCFB_1984-12-09 The
Queer Feet.mp3 3.
BBCFB_1984-12-16 The
Eye Of Apollo.mp3 4.
BBCFB_1985-01-06 The
Invisible Man.mp3 5.
BBCFB_1985-01-13 The Honour
of Israel Gow.mp3 6.
BBCFB_1985-01-20 The
Hammer of God.mp3 7.
BBCFB_1986-01-27 The
Sins of Prince Saradin.mp3 8.
BBCFB_1986-10-05 The
Perishing of the Pendragons.mp3 9.
BBCFB_1986-10-12 The
Arrow Of Heaven.mp3 10.
BBCFB_1986-10-19 The
Mistake of the Machine.mp3 11.
BBCFB_1986-10-26 The
Curse of the Golden Cross.mp3 12.
BBCFB_1986-11-02 The
Actor and the Alibi.mp3 13.
BBCFB_1987-11-29 The
Absence of Mr Glass.mp3 C. The
1970s BBC Series 1.
BBCSVS_No. 1 The
Dagger With Wings.mp3 2.
BBCSVS_No. 2 The
Mirror of the Magistrate.mp3 3.
BBCSVS_No. 3 The Queer
Feet.mp3 D. The
US Series 1.
USAFB_1945-06-24 The
Mystified Mind.mp3 2.
USAFB_1945-07-15 The
Three Tools of Death.mp3 |