Chesterton was a great debater, artist, thinker and writer of his time. He became interested in the spiritual and occult at an early age, and many of his stories conceal parables, abstract ideas, and symbolism. His character, Father Brown, has a penchant for setting straight the misaligned vision popularly held at the scene of a crime, and after solving the mystery, he gently wanders off the crime scene to exercise his sober priestly role of repentance, confession, and absolution.
Father Brown is often accompanied by his friend, Private Investigator Hercule Flambeau (Dennis Burgess, The Elephant Man), who was persuaded by the good priest to abandon his life of crime as a jewel thief, imploring that youth, honor and humor do not last in that trade, and stating that you might maintain a level of good, but no man has ever been able to keep on one level of evil. Many actors make appearances such as Charles Dance, Rupert Davies, Philip Stone, Peter Copley, Angela Douglas, and Geraldine Moffat. Father Brown's simple, logical and conclusive crime-solving talents are more spiritual and philosophical due to his experience as a priest-confessor and a keen observer of human behavior.
Father Brown: The Complete Collection is a mild and entertaining afternoon of mystery. Father Brown has a sober and concentrated demeanor that always reveals the criminal mind. I found these episodes of an unassuming parish priest to be similar to the American-made Father Dowling Mysteries. The video was technically customary for the 70's; the Dolby Digital mono soundtrack audio falters ever so often; there are no subtitles, so it is sometimes difficult to understand the dialects, but the beat goes on, and as the plot unfolds, these incidentals become minor to the experience. There is a text-only Biography of Chesterton and cast Filmographies.
All-in-all, Father Brown: The Complete Collection is a pleasant and engaging series, nostalgic of a simpler and kinder day. The scenes are mild and touch on subjects of that time: the occult, spiritualism, and pagan cults; jewel thieves, runaways, status and class; with a murder in a secret garden, and a mysterious Coptic chalice with a curse, among other topics. The historical background of these mysteries give a vision into a former time, complete with costumes, and political and personal opinions. I found it appealing and informative.