Developing Father Brown for ±«Óătv One
Tahsin Guner & Rachel Flowerday
Writers
Father Brown - ±«Óătv One Drama
TG: First, as is apt, a confession: before working on Father Brown, Iâd never read a single word of GK Chesterton. Or written a murder-mystery. Or a period piece. Or developed a new TV series. Iâd written numerous episodes of Holby City, as well as Casualty, Eastenders, and Doctors, but this was new territory. I was well outside my comfort zone â but I think thatâs a good place for a writer to be.
RF: Well, Iâd done nearly all those things, but Iâm not sure it made it any easier! Itâs such a major undertaking, adapting a well-loved character and set of stories that work brilliantly as they are â but that need complete revisioning to shine in a TV drama format, especially for daytime. Creating a precinct and a gang of supporting characters were key, both financially and to give our audience a familiar welcome each ep â but they had to work with Chestertonâs tone and themes. And there are an awful lot of Chesterton fans out there (my mum included!) who would be rightly furious if we got it wrong.
TG: Rachel and I were approached independently about developing Father Brown. Our paths had crossed, briefly, in 2009, when I was attending a Writersroom residential course on continuing drama, and Rachel was a guest speaker, having come through the ±«Óătv Writersâ Academy (unbeknownst to me at the time, later that year I too would be ensconced in the writing boot camp that was the Writersâ Academy).
RF: In fact I had also been on a Writersroom course, aimed at developing original drama, and weâve both been heavily involved with ±«Óătv Continuing Drama since leaving the Academy. I canât express how amazing an experience the Academy was â it gets a bit of stick in writing circles, but it gives you such a valuable lexicon to use when talking about story, and a really robust understanding of how stories have worked for generations, in all formats (not just soap!). I certainly drew on it for Father Brown.
TG: We both wrote treatments for âFather Brown â The TV Seriesâ, creating the precinct and a cast of supporting characters. Quicker than you can say âvespersâ, we were off to the Cotswolds to scout locations. Over a pub lunch with John Yorke (exec), Will Trotter (exec), Ceri Meyrick (producer), Sam Hill (Series Producer), and Neil Irvine (script editor) we decided on the period and nailed down our supporting characters.
RF: We settled on a gang of six regular characters, including Father Brown, trying to introduce different elements of â50s society and an even age/sex mix. Inspector Valentine was a Chesterton invention, though heâs written out of the stories early on, and Sid, our ducking-and-diving chauffeur, was loosely inspired by Chestertonâs master-criminal-turned-crimefighter Flambeau â in fact, in early treatments, his name was âFlamâ. Renaming him âSidâ was a nod to the Sid James character in the Alec Guinness film â never say weâre not Catholic in the breadth of our source material! Susie brings a touch of will-they-wonât-they romance, and introduces the world of Polish immigrants in the 50s â a nice parallel with today â and Lady Felicia adds glamour, and gives Father Brown an âinâ to all sorts of interesting worlds. Mrs. McCarthy is the parish secretary â Catholics out there will know how important that role is in any parishâŠ
Lady Felicia reveals that Annie Marie had a drinking problem.
TG: Rachel and I had two weeks to amalgamate our treatments, which became the âbibleâ for the show, containing biogs for all the characters, and guidelines on the format and tone of the series. We then had about a month to write our first drafts â Rachel chose âThe Flying Starsâ, whilst I went with âThe Hammer of Godâ.
RF: Thereâs a blog out there somewhere where someone, when our series was first announced, decided to review the five stories he considered most likely to be adapted⊠letâs put it this way, âThe Flying Starsâ and âThe Hammer of Godâ did not feature! It probably tells you a lot about us as writers that we chose those two. I think Tahsin was drawn to the religious conflict in âHammerâ (no spoilers, Iâll say no more), whereas I was intrigued by the interaction between appearance and reality in âStarsâ â it even has a play-within-the-play, like classic Revenge Tragedy!
TG: Theyâre challenging stories to adapt. Father Brown is described by Chesterton as being almost invisible, someone who fades into the background. Not exactly jumping off the screen then! Whilst not losing this aspect of his character â the quiet observer of things â we re-imagined him as somewhat more playful and outgoing, as well as tolerant and forward-thinking. In addition, for the stories to work for television, they needed more suspects, more twists and turns â in short, more story!
RF: I think both episodes will nonetheless be instantly recognisable to fans of the stories â weâve created new twists, conflicts and motives, but the heart of the mysteries is still beating loudly inside! Of the series of ten, five are adaptations, five are new stories â itâll be interesting seeing whether people unfamiliar with the source material will be able to tell which is whichâŠ
TG: Now, a couple of days away from transmission, itâs thrilling â and a huge relief â to see the show getting such great previews in the listings magazines and newspapers. Mark Williams brings so much charm, compassion, intellect, and humour to the character. Sorcha Cusack, as Mrs McCarthy, is a force of nature. Hugo Speer, as Inspector Valentine, brings a working class integrity, both a foil and ally to Father Brown. The rest of the cast â Alex Price, Nancy Carroll and Kasia Koleczek â inhabit their roles. Debbie Wisemanâs music is luscious. Oh, and the show looks gorgeous â not a hint of its daytime budget. Now, letâs just hope the audience gives the show its blessing.
& are co-creators and writers on - the brand new ±«Óătv One daytime drama based on the stories by GK Chesterton, about a crime-solving Roman Catholic priest.
Father Brown starts on ±«Óătv One today at 14:10 and you can watch on ±«Óătv