I’ve been enjoying the series even though they’ve deviated from the original stories and created a lot of dysfunctional families that weren’t in GKC’s stories–but they set it in a small village (ala Miss Marple), so what else do they have to work with but families?
As each episode airs my dh and I sit and parse it, comparing it to the original or pointing out that there is no story like that in GKC’s canon. Still, we like the people playing the parts, especially Mark Williams as Fr. Brown. They made a great choice there.
I too love that they’ve kept Fr. B’s main concern the souls of those he is hunting down for their crimes. If it were up to him many would have gone free if repentant, but he doesn’t want to go against the law or further rile the Inspector Valentine, who isn’t happy to have Fr. B looking over his shoulder and usurping his efforts. Their relationship gives the stories a nice comic touch with a bit of needed tension.
As a series done by worldly people struggling with spiritual issues moderns simply know little to nothing about, it’s really very good. They seemingly know nothing about Church law (Fr. B would never have been laicized nor would the parish have been shut down over losing a relic, for instance). Or they wanted to create a crisis for Fr. B. to spice up the story, after all it’s fictional. Still, it’s much better than most other efforts offered on series TV. Best of all, it might get people reading Chesterton. He deserves to be widely read and appreciated.
I like it, as well, and playing FB helped bring AG into the Church. I’m sure GKC and he are rejoicing together over that!