On the set with 'Father Brown' in the Cotswolds
Today is our last day in Moreton-in-Marsh on the set of principle production filming for the forthcoming series 3 of Father Brown. Having spent a week on set with the production team behind the camera whose faces you never see but who bring Father Brown and the drop-dead brilliant visual settings of the Cotswolds to life has been nothing short of magical. The end result of our journey will be seen in the States in early 2015 with a 60-minute ‘behind-the-scenes’ special on public television that, hopefully, will be a visual feast for fans of the series.
Our endless thanks go out to the entire production team who have given us unprecedented access to the set from the former Moreton-in-Marsh Hospital to the new home to the Kembleford Police Station and Inspector Sullivan to the Stanway Cricket Club, which is where one of the episodes in series 3 was partly filmed yesterday (and today), to the church in Blockley that is the home to St. Mary’s and all points in-between. While I will never understand cricket, cast and crew has done their best to explain this gentleman’s game which dates back to the 16th century. The fact of the day I learned yesterday was that, originally, overhand bowling was illegal with the ‘bowler’ pitching the ball to the batter underhanded. As the story goes, overhand bowling came to evolve when Christina Willes, sister of Kent cricketer John Willes, was bowling at him in their garden, and unable to bowl underarm because of the voluminous skirts that were the fashion of the time. She raised her arm in a more overhand fashion and the rest is history.
In addition to the entire crew, the regular Father Brown cast of Mark Williams, Nancy Carroll, Sorcha Cusack, Tom Chambers and Alex Price have been priceless in sharing their thoughts and insights as to the characters that they bring to life on the BBC and public television each year for the past two seasons. While the show that will air in 2015 will give fans a look at ‘how the sausage is made’, it will also give you a sense as to the beauty of the English countryside, we’ll hear from writers of the series and learn where the ideas come from for each script and also the endless efforts of the costume department who spend countless hours making sure everything is spot on 1950’s.
Principle filming ends in October with the series set to transmit on the BBC tentatively in January 2015. U.S. broadcast on public television is not far behind with, most likely, a Spring 2015 broadcast. While we’ll be leaving the Cotswolds tomorrow, all of us look forward to getting back and putting a show together that will, if nothing else, show you the incredible passion that every person has whose name is listed on the credits of each <em>Father Brown</em> episode to make brilliant telly. More to come on Tellyspotting on our trip back in time with Father Brown in the coming months so stay with us as we put the show together.
