British Network Television
‘Father Brown’: S02.E09. “The Grim Reaper”
Dr Adam Crawford, in poison pen letters circulated around the village, is accused on murdering Alfred Tatton
This episode opens with farmer John Tatton (David Troughton) berating his son, Alfred (Adam Long), for apparently being a good for nothing scoundrel. Alfred has no real desire to be anything like his father. In many ways, not that you’d know it, they are like oil and water.
John, annoying his son, tells Alfred that he’s just like his dead mother. Alfred’s mother, before she met with an accident, was partial to a few drinks. This attitude, not liked at all by Alfred, causes him to threaten his father with tossing him into one of the farm’s machines.
John came very close to falling onto the sharp rotating blades. Not going to tolerate his father’s attitude towards him anymore, something certain villagers should have seen coming for years, Alfred tells John that ‘things are going to change around here.”
Elsewhere, at St Mary’s Catholic Church, Father Brown (Mark Williams) arrives to discover Mrs Bridgette McCarthy (Sorcha Cusack) in one of her moods. She had apparently been away from the church and her parish secretary duties for a week. Consequently, because of her absence, hardly anything had been done.
It doesn’t take long for Mrs McCarthy long to notice the state of a flower arrangement that had been prepared for the church. many of the prominent pieces within the arrangement are dead or close to death’s door.
Attempting to remove the flower display, something she should have asked someone else to do, fragments from the display fall into Mrs McCarthy’s left eye.
The next time we see Mrs McCarthy, at the local doctor’s surgery, we hear Dr Adam Crawford (James Fleet) wondering how flower arranging could be so dangerous. Oona Crawford (Maureen O’Connell), the doctor’s wife, arranges an appointment for the parish secretary to have her stitches removed.
There is a bit of a communication issue between Mrs McCarthy and the doctor’s wife. Mrs McCarthy, apparently not available Tuesday mornings, gets frustrated with Mrs Crawford when she said Tuesday afternoon. Does Mrs McCarthy not know Tuesday afternoon isn’t the same as Tuesday morning?
It is a completely different point in the same day. If Mrs McCarthy had meant she wasn’t available at all that day, something she didn’t state, she should have said so and not berated the doctor’s wife for it.
Mrs McCarthy’s attitude, as she does, reduces Mrs Crawford to tears. There is obviously something wrong and the parish secretary wants Mrs Crawford to tell her the truth. It turns out Mrs Crawford is pregnant with her husband’s baby and has yet to find the words to tell him of this exciting news.
It’s hilarious how Mrs McCarthy refers to herself as being the soul of discretion. The parish secretary, when it comes to the spreading of gossip, is the most productive person in the village.
Meanwhile, somewhere on a country road near to Tatton Farm, we find Lady Felicia Montague’s (Nancy Carroll) chauffeur Sidney “Sid” Carter (Alex Price) having technical difficulties with the car. Father Brown, on his trusted Bucephalus, amuses himself at Sid’s expense.
It is here, even though Father Brown chooses to assist Sid with his problem, Alfred rushes past on his motorcycle. Alfred’s attitude, as Sid correctly observes, is increasingly like his father. He’s not wrong. Both John and Alfred have a reputation in the village for being bullheaded.
As Mrs McCarthy makes her way out of the doctor’s surgery, noting Alfred’s impatience, it is clear he didn’t see the parish secretary when he rushed into the building. Alfred, from what we know of the character, wouldn’t have cared even if he had seen Mrs McCarthy. It is however surprising Mrs McCarthy didn’t give Alfred a piece of her mind.
Recognising how Alfred speaks to Mrs Crawford, noting the inappropriateness of the moment, we all know what it is the farmer’s son wants to give her and it isn’t flowers. Alfred seems to believe the doctor is incapable of satisfying his wife’s needs.
Alfred, speaking with Dr Crawford, wants pain medications. The tone of the doctor’s voice, other than drinking too much, suggests he knows there is nothing wrong with the farmer’s son. Dr Crawford, despite knowing better, agrees to provide Alfred with the medications. Frustrated with the doctor’s attitude, not that Alfred’s is any better, the farmer’s son storms out of the surgery without taking the prescription with him.
Elsewhere, in the local pub’s beer garden, Father Brown and Sid are enjoying a pint when Mrs McCarthy arrives. Father Brown and Sid find, with Mrs McCarthy wearing an eye patch, difficult keeping a straight face. Even though the parish secretary references Lord Nelson, Sid suggests a better comparison is Long John Silver.
Mrs McCarthy soon discovers she accidentally left her eye drops at the surgery. Despite the annual reports being important, Father Brown not being interested in the clerical side of anything, there is a visit from Bishop Talbot (Malcolm Storry) that is more pressing. The Catholic priest promises to pick Mrs McCarthy’s eye drops up from the doctor’s surgery.
Speaking of Mrs McCarthy’s eye drops, noting a stop at Tatton Farm before heading to the presbytery, Dr Crawford tells his wife he needs to deliver the medication to the parish secretary. The life of a village doctor is filled with deliveries of one kind of another.
Seconds after the doctor leaves in his car, Father Brown arrives and momentarily speaks with Mrs Crawford. With Tatton Farm not being all that far away, killing two birds with a single stone, the Catholic priest goes after the doctor. Father Brown, as well as needing to pick up Mrs McCarthy’s eye drops, hopes to have a word or two with Alfred.
Arriving at Tatton Farm, after telling the scarecrow to mind his bicycle, Father Brown discovers a horrid sight in the barn. Alfred, having seemingly met with an accident, is dead. Shortly thereafter, even though the doctor drove to the farm from his surgery, Dr Crawford arrives at the farm.
Inspector Sullivan (Tom Chambers), not surprised to see Father Brown at the scene, speaks with the Catholic priest regarding his presence. The police inspector notes whenever there is a suspicious death, something which had not escaped his attention, Father Brown is never far away. Inspector Sullivan. with Alfred having fallen backwards into the machine, suspects the farmer’s son could have been pushed. If Alfred had been loading the machine, as any experienced operator knows, he would have been facing forwards.
When Father Brown is asked about what brought him to Tatton Farm, remembering a conversation with the doctor’s wife, the Catholic priest informs Inspector Sullivan about the circumstances. The police inspector finds it interesting how Father Brown arrived at the farm first on his bicycle when Dr Crawford drove there from his surgery. Inspector Sullivan wants to know how it is the Catholic priest managed to arrive at the farm first.
Elsewhere, back at the doctor’s surgery, Dr Crawford tells his wife there was an accident at Tatton Farm. Before Mrs Crawford can tell her husband of her good news, something which has been playing on her mind, we find Inspector Sullivan arriving at the surgery. It is the police inspector’s intent to determine how the Catholic priest could have arrived at the farm first when the doctor’s mode of transportation is significantly faster.
Dr Crawford mentions having stopped on route to the farm so that he could admire the lavender. According to the doctor, noting how country lanes can be full of this particular flower, lavender is rather magnificent.
Meanwhile, arriving at the presbytery, Mrs McCarthy tells Father Brown she thinks Farmer Tatton is a crawl man. She suspects the farmer of killing his own son. Distracted by a letter placed on the front door of the presbytery, understanding how it was a bit late for the post to have arrived, Father Brown draws Mrs McCarthy’s attention to it. The letter reads “Alfred Tatton was killed by Dr Crawford.”
Later, when Father Brown exits the church, he crosses paths with Inspector Sullivan. Father Brown is naturally curious if the police inspector has seen the letters that had been circulated around the village. The police inspector thinks there is a strong possibility the information found in the letters could be true.
Father Brown, not completely convinced Dr Crawford is responsible for Alfred’s death, directs Sid to check every typewriter in the village for comparisons to the letters. Typewriters, like fingerprints, have a distinct pattern to the marks that are left on the page. Father Brown understands the importance of this information.
At Alfred’s funeral, shortly after Mrs McCarthy offers Farmer Tatton her condolences, a drunk Dr Crawford makes an appearance. Farmer Tatton isn’t amused by the doctor’s inebriated condition. Come to think of it, noting the various facial expressions, no one in attendance of the funeral is amused. The doctor’s condition doesn’t escape the attention of either Father Brown or Inspector Sullivan.
Father Brown, in the church, speaks with Farmer Tatton regarding his allegation. Farmer Tatton suggests he believes the letters that had been circulated around the village. The farmer regrets not a single word of what he said to the doctor. Farmer Tatton also blames the doctor for his wife’s apparent accidental death.
Unbeknownst to either Father Brown and Farmer Tatton, in the doorway to the church, Inspector Sullivan stands. He only partially hears the conversation. Mrs Crawford was apparently having an affair with Alfred. Father Brown, with a better understanding of human nature than most of the villagers, knows boasting of something doesn’t make it true.
Later, at the doctor’s surgery, Mrs Crawford expresses her frustration at the doctor for his drinking. This is not like him to drink in the middle of the day or at any other time. Father Brown arrives and insists on speaking with the doctor. The Catholic priest mistakes a medical chart for an astrological map.
In short order, not longer after Father Brown’s arrival, Inspector Sullivan arrives and takes Dr Crawford to Kembleford Police Station. The police inspector, not wanting Father Brown to become involved, tells the Catholic priest to stay at the surgery.
Father Brown, having taken a typed document from the doctor’s desk, compares the print to that seen in the letters. It is a perfect match. Mrs McCarthy, always jumping to conclusions, believes Mrs Crawford wrote the letters.
Returning to the surgery, not finding Mrs Crawford, Father Brown picks the doctor’s locked desk and extracts the charts. Mrs Crawford, calling Father Brown on an obvious lie, reminds the Catholic priest of the sin he committed. In turn, not that she had anything to reveal, Father Brown accuses Mrs Crawford of lying about her relationship with Alfred. There was no relationship. It only existed in his head.
The episode flips between scenes set at the surgery and at the police station. Father Brown addresses the letter with Mrs Crawford. It turns out Mrs Crawford couldn’t have written the letters because she doesn’t know how to read or write in English.
Mrs Crawford is Scottish. All Mrs Crawford’s education, as she shows Father Brown her hand written notations, was in Gaelic. English isn’t a language she understands.
Inspector Sullivan questions the doctor about the letter and his possible involvement in Alfred’s death. Dr Crawford admits to killing Alfred. The police inspector gets his confession.
Back at the presbytery, whilst Mrs McCarthy continues her accusations against Mrs Crawford, Father Brown examines the charts he took from the doctor’s desk. Sid, having just arrived, has nothing new to tell Father Brown because he has already guessed what it is he came to reveal.
Inspector Sullivan, not surprised to see Father Brown, tells the Catholic priest to leave the investigation to the professionals. The Catholic priest, in his own way, reminds us that the Titanic was built by professionals. The Arc, in contrast, was constructed by an amateur.
Father Brown, suggesting the doctor take up a new career as a pulp fiction writer, thanks Dr Crawford for his story as it is obviously not true. The doctor, revealing he has cancer and not long to live, tells Father Brown that he decided to take the blame for Alfred’s death.
Alfred fell into the machine’s spinning blades when he became distracted by the doctor’s presence. Despite it being an accident, with Dr Crawford not willing to commit suicide, allowing the state to kill him felt like the better option.
The Catholic priest, as the doctor correctly observes, can’t tell Inspector Sullivan any of what he said because it would mean breaking the confessional seal. Time and again, throughout this series, we have seen Father Brown use the confessional seal to his advantage. This is the first time where we see it used against him.
Back at Tatton Farm, operating the machine that killed his son, Farmer Tatton is hard at work. He calls the harsh words he had with his son. Father Brown arrives shortly thereafter. Farmer Tatton, not completely believing the doctor killed his son, admits Alfred had a drinking problem like his mother. The farmer believes he drove his son to his death.
Later, at St Mary’s Catholic Church, we find Mrs Crawford praying with Father Brown. It is here that Father Brown learns Mrs Crawford is expecting her husband’s child. Father Brown tells the doctor’s wife that Farmer Tatton will be accompanying him to court.
The chaff on Father Brown’s clothing becomes visibly annoying to the Catholic priest. Mrs Crawford, noting how she washes her husband’s clothing, recalls not once seeing chaff on his suit. She determines her husband didn’t kill Alfred because he obviously never went anywhere near the machine that killed the farmer’s son.
Farmer Tatton, Mrs Crawford, and Father Brown are at the courthouse when Dr Crawford is brought to trial. Mrs Crawford tells her husband she’s pregnant. Feeling the weight of having a baby, in the courtroom docks, Dr Crawford pleads not guilty.
Later, at the police station, Mrs Crawford meets with her husband whilst Father Brown and Inspector Sullivan are left conversing. The Catholic priest believes there are such things too important to be left to the professionals. Inspector Sullivan, lost for words, clearly doesn’t agree.
The episode closes with Mrs McCarthy, having finished knitting a garment for the coming baby, stating she never believed the circulated letter. Father Brown notes that the women of Braemore are frequently known to have twins. Whilst Mrs McCarthy believes it an old wive’s tale, Mrs Crawford confirms the Catholic priest’s comment.
