British Network Television
‘Father Brown’: S01.E02. “The Flying Stars”
When an alcoholic woman is found drowned near her home, Father Brown suspects murder
The Flying Stars, originally televised in the British Isles on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, opens with Father Brown (Mark Williams) and Mrs Bridgette McCarthy (Sorcha Cusack) in the middle of a disagreement as they make their way to the Adams family residence.
Mrs McCarthy is annoyed with the Catholic priest because he would rather walk to their destination than wait for the bus. Whilst Mrs McCarthy believes the people that are visiting is the “model family,” Father Brown insists that “nobody’s perfect.”
The camera momentarily focuses on something shining on the grass before transitioning to the Adams family residence. What could this object be? Whilst we rarely see anything escape Father Brown’s attention, as he is too busy with marching towards his destination, he obviously has other things on his mind.
The Adams family is dominated by matriarch Anne-Marie (Josephine Butler). Our first glimpse of Anne-Marie comes in a scene where she is dressing herself with the family diamond necklace. The name of the necklace, The Flying Stars, is where we get the episode’s title.
Noticing his wife might need assistance with the necklace, Colonel Adams (Julian Wadham) insists on helping Anne-Marie with her necklace. It doesn’t escape the colonel’s attention, because there is clear evidence of alcohol being on her breath, his wife had already been drinking. There is an almost finished bottle of vodka in a nearby drawer. Anne-Marie, at the disgust of her husband, finishes off the remaining vodka in the bottle.
An argument between them soon ensues. Angered by his wife having taken up drinking again, even though there was apparently a promise between them that she wouldn’t do so, Colonel Adams demands a divorce. Anne-Marie reminds her husband of their Catholic marriage vows. Marriage is till death. In her eyes, mainly because of her beliefs, there is no getting out of a marriage when it suddenly becomes troublesome.
Does Zuzanna “Susie” Jasinski (Kasia Koleczek) work for everyone in this series as their cleaner? In addition to working for Father Brown, as it turns out, she also works for the Adams family in the same or similar capacity. Unbeknownst to Colonel Adams and his wife, whilst the were arguing, their conversation is partially overheard by Susie. Her presence doesn’t become apparent to either of them until Anne-Marie storms out of her bedroom.
Meanwhile, somewhere outside, we find Ruby Adams (Amy Morgan) fooling around with John Van Ert (Ryan Hawley). John, Ruby’s mentor, is an American. Their fooling around is soon interrupted with the arrival of Ruby’s godmother. It really doesn’t take two guesses to establish the identity of this individual. It’s Lady Felicia (Nancy Carroll).
Ruby explains to her godmother that she and John are planning to make their relationship public. Ruby intends to marry John. Anne-Marie, Ruby’s mother, overhears the brief conversation and refuses to allow the marriage to go forwards. It will be over her dead body before she allows her daughter to marry John. With a series of drunken insults aimed at John, something which is obviously beneath a lady of her standing, Anne-Marie fires John.
By the time Father Brown and Mrs McCarthy arrive at the Adams residence, Ruby’s planned play has been cancelled. The reason given for the cancellation is Anne-Marie’s ill health. Father Brown insists that he and Mrs McCarthy be allowed to assist with clearing away any preparations that where made for the play.
John makes ready to leave the house but not Ruby. Colonel Adams gives his daughter an ultimatum. If she leaves the house with John, she will not be allowed to return home. He states going to her mother for a different answer will not yield her any joy. The scene transitions to a grim sight. Anne-Marie’s body is floating in the nearby boating lake.
Inspector Valentine (Hugo Speer), mainly because he doesn’t feel there is a need for a proper investigation, initially believes cause of death is accidental drowning due to Anne-Marie’s apparent intoxication. The presence of scratches being around Anne-Marie’s neck, even though Father Brown feels this is cause for alarm, doesn’t sway the police inspector.
Later, at the church as Father Brown and Lady Felicia wonder down the path together, it doesn’t escape their attention someone unknown to them is placing flowers at a grave. The grave belongs to a woman named Agnes Short. Father Brown, with nothing concrete to go on, initially concludes that the gentleman is somehow related to this Agnes Short and refers to him as Mr Short. Agnes was apparently his nanny when he was growing up.
Father Brown suddenly realises that this gentleman is Anne-Marie’s brother. No one at the Adams residence is expecting him because it is a surprise visit. The gentleman had recently flown back to the British Isles from Nairobi. Word of Anne-Marie’s death, mainly because he couldn’t be contacted, had not reached his ears.
Ruby, unbeknownst to her father, meets with John in Kembleford. John finds himself needing to defend his actions when Ruby questions why it is he returned to the house and immediately left again when he saw police constables swarming the grounds. He’s not a British subject. There was obviously much rick for him being at a crime scene. John, as Ruby quickly picks up on in his voice, sounds glad Anne-Marie is dead.
Later, at the Adams residence, when Ruby arrives home she crosses paths with Uncle James. She doesn’t initially recognise him because it had been years since they were in the same room together. This lack of recognition doesn’t go unnoticed by Father Brown.
When Uncle James questions his sister’s death, Lady Felicia offers a plausible reason. Both the colonel and Ruby, as aristocrats frequently do, are seemingly eager to avoid the improprieties of scandal.
Not someone to allow the possibility of an investigation slip from between his fingers, instead of enjoying refreshments, Father Brown makes his way to the boating lake where he makes a startling discovery.
Father Brown, despite Mrs McCarthy’s objections at him being in the boat, realises Anne-Marie must have been hit with one of the oars. The oar, having been placed back in the boat after Anne-Marie’s murder, has traces of her blood. This is the working theory Father Brown is running with.
Back at the house, ignoring Father Brown’s request to speak with him outside, Inspector Valentine insists on speaking with the colonel. The police inspector, after having spoken with Susie in an off-camera conversation, is now of the opinion Annie-Marie was murdered and the murderer was her husband.
Taking their conversation into another room, noticeably away from the ladies, Inspector Valentine suggests to the colonel a possible motive. The police inspector correctly notes how Susie works for both Father Brown and the Adams family in the same capacity.
Elsewhere, as most of the men converse in private, we see the women and Uncle James engaged in a similar conversation. We learn from Lady Felicia that John was thrown out of these United States for being a “red.” Back then, not that things have changed that much in these United States, the term “ref” referenced being a communist. There is a strong possibility has a strong dislike for the upper classes. Lady Felicia believes John must have been the murderer.
Based on the available evidence, not that there is all that much to go on, Inspector Valentine arrests the colonel on suspicion of murder.
John, hiding in a confessional at the church, pulls Ruby inside and insists he had nothing to do with her mother’s death. Inspector Valentine, even though it’s a murder investigation, allows the colonel to attend the funeral.
The colonel, because of a war injury, is unable to act as a pallbearer at his now late wife’s funeral. It turns out, according to Lady Felicia, the colonel suffered a back injury during the Second World War.
This injury piques Father Brown’s curiosity because, if true, Colonel Adams would not have had the strength to lift the oar used to kill his wife. Father Brown makes this observation known to the police inspector. It is at this point where Inspector Valentine notices John slip out of the church almost undetected.
Later in the episode, as Anne-Marie’s will is being read, a few mementos are bequeathed to Lady Felicia. The Flying Stars, the family’s precious necklace. is bequeathed to Ruby. The lion’s share of Anne-Marie’s estate, with nothing left to Uncle James, is bequeathed to the church. Uncle James, not remotely hurt by his sister leaving him out of her will, is only interested in staging the play that was previously cancelled. Ruby thinks staging the play is a wonderful idea.
It doesn’t take long for us to realise why Ruby is onboard with uncle James’ plan to stage the play. Ruby and John is this as an opportunity for them to leave the house and elope.
Father Brown, with the scratches on Anne-Marie’s neck still playing on his mind, comes to believe the murderer was wanting to steal The Flying Stars necklace. John, because of his communist beliefs, wouldn’t have been interested in the necklace. Consequently, because of this, there would be no reason for him to have killed Anne-Marie. The only suspect remaining is Uncle James.
Back at the Adams residence, in the dead of night, Sidney “Sid” Carter (Alex Price) and Susie see Uncle James sneaking outside. He presumably thinks, because of the late hour, no one saw him. We learn from Lady Felicia, later in the episode, Uncle James had been sneaking out of the house to meet with her.
The following morning, as Father Brown digs deeper into his suspicions, the Catholic priest learns there were no flights to the British Isles from Nairobi the morning he met Uncle James. Inspector Valentine reminds Father Brown, because Uncle James was in Nairobi when Anne-Marie was murdered, his prime suspect had an ironclad alibi.
Shortly before the play is set to begin, noting the police inspector’s arrival at the house, we see Father Brown and Inspector Valentine engage in conversation. Inspector Valentine plans to question Lady Felicia about her whereabouts at the time Anne-Marie was murdered.
Susie is behind the stage when Lady Felicia asks her if there are any shoes Uncle James could use. A curious issue arises when Susie reveals that the shoes she had given Uncle James to wear were actually his.
James’ name is found stitched into the shoes. When Uncle James enters his room, noting Lady Felicia is waiting for him, she gives him the shoes to wear. The shoes are obviously too big. Consequently, because of this, it is soon discovered the Uncle James that had been with the Adams’ for the past few days was an impostor.
Before Lady Felicia can call for the police, trying hard to not break character, she is called to the stage. Father Brown notices there is something wrong with the way she presents her character. It doesn’t fit with the play. None of the other audience members notice the inconsistencies in the performance.
Uncle James, dressed in drag, walks on to the stage and subdues Lady Felicia’s character. She is quickly locked into a crate. None of this seems unusual because the action flows with the play’s script.
The play is soon interrupted when Colonel Adams rushes on stage with news that the Flying Stars necklace has been stolen. Father Brown exits residence and speaks with Sid outside. There is a reference to a woman having left the performance moments earlier. She had taken a taxi to the railway station. The woman was obviously Uncle James in drag.
Meanwhile, inside the house, John is discovered and the plan for him and Ruby to elope is revealed. The Flying Stars is not located. Neither is Lady Felicia.
Did no one think of checking the truck Lady Felicia was tossed into during the play? This, out cold because Uncle James had used a a chloroform rag to subdue her, is where they find Lady Felicia.
Meanwhile, on board the train heading out of the village, Father Brown catches up with Uncle James. It is here that Father Brown tells Uncle James to reveal his true identity because the Catholic priest knows he isn’t the real Uncle James. This impostor killed Anne-Marie for the necklace.
The Italian coin Inspector Valentine found near the jetty, even though Father Brown had initially thought it had dropped from his pocket, came from the impostor. The coin places this fake Uncle James in Italy rather than Africa.
When Father Brown and Lady Felicia saw him in the graveyard placing flowers, even though he said he was paying respect to his nanny, it was really his mother. The impostor’s real name is revealed as Michael Short. Michael is Agnes Short’s son.
Michael, having returned to the British Isles after a long stay in Italy, discovered his mother had died and had been buried in a pauper’s grave. His anger is, relatively speaking justified. His mother had been cast out to die in poverty whilst the family lived in the lap of luxury and wealth. Michael had gone to Anne-Marie and demanded some kind of payment. There was a struggle over an oar and Anne-Marie received a significant blow to the head. She fell into the water. There was no way for Michael to save her because he had never learned to swim.
Father Brown reveals to Michael that the Adams family have no money to give him. The few items Annie-Marie left to the Church were more of sentimental value. Instead of listening to the Catholic priest, not wanting to relinquish the necklace, Michael flees from the train compartment. Father Brown and Sid give chase down the train corridor.
Michael jumps from the back of the train. Momentarily, noting the seemingly quick escape, Michael’s efforts to evade capture are meaningless. He is hit by a train travelling in the opposite direction on the next track. It is here that Sid reveals to Father Brown there was no rush getting the necklace back to Ruby as the diamonds in the piece are fakes.
The colonel comes clean about the family’s financial troubles and the necklace being a fake. The real necklace, because of significant debt, had been sold off years ago. To save face, something certain people are prone to doing, a replica was designed.
Colonel Adams was hoping his daughter, Ruby, would one day marry into a wealthier family. Father Brown, understanding how much Ruby is in love with John, urges the colonel to allow them to wed. Ruby and John get married in Father Brown’s church.
It doesn’t escape our attention that Michael’s name has been added to his mother’s cross. Lady Felicia regrets falling for Michael’s charms. That is of course until she sees another handsome face in the crowd. This is the real Uncle James. The whole group pose for a photograph to mark the happy occasion.
