Father Brown renewed for two series as Cotswolds filming begins

Comedian Bill Bailey and actor Clive Mantle are set to guest-appear in the next series of the hit BBC show, which follows a Roman Catholic priest played by Harry Potter star Mark Williams.

Season 14 of the series will see Father Brown and the team back in the fictional village of Kembleford, solving cases involving magicians and meals on wheels, avant-garde artists and deadly spiders on the loose.

Popular cast members Tom Chambers, Claudie Blakley and John Burton will return to screens as their characters Inspector Sullivan, Isabel Sullivan, and Sergeant Goodfellow, respectively.

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Actress Hannah Bristow is set to join the cast as Rita Flint, Father Brown’s new housekeeper, and other semi-regular cast members are set to return, including Nancy Carroll as Lady Felicia, Roger May as Bishop Fox and Kieran Hodgson as Father Lindsey.

Father Brown’s most dangerous enemy, Father Lazarus – played by Lex Shrapnel, is also due to reappear in the show.

Williams said: “We started filming series 14 of Father Brown in the first week of April, and while it’s always a wrench to leave my garden at home when it’s just burgeoning, the Cotswold countryside makes up for it.

“The trees are wearing their swank coats of blossom: hawthorn, apple, pear and blackthorn – and the splendid white and pink cherries.

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“There are lots of magnolias too, looking like enormous wedding bouquets, and all the trees are coming into leaf. I love the horse chestnut leaves still drooping, not yet plumped up.

“The grass looks worthy of the salad bowl, and the arable fields are greening. If you are not careful, you could come over all poetic, but we’ve got 10 shows to make – no time for versifying. Cassock on, let the sleuthing begin.”

Helen Munson, commissioning editor at the BBC, said: “He’s back. We are delighted to be working with BBC Studios again to give the devoted fans two more series of our crime-fighting cleric.

“With top-notch writing, fabulous cast and the beautiful Cotswolds as the backdrop, it’s no wonder that Father Brown continues to be a firm favourite with audiences all over the world.”

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Neil Irvine, executive producer for BBC Studios Drama Productions, said: “I’m delighted that Mark Williams is returning as Father Brown for a further two series and that his creative contribution has been recognised with an EP (executive producer) credit.

“With Hannah joining us to play the intriguing new housekeeper Rita, and Father Lazarus returning for a thrilling endgame, this series promises to be the most exciting yet.”

Father Brown is the UK’s number one daytime drama of the last 10 years, and is viewed by audiences in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Italy, Denmark, Finland and Belgium, among others.

Season 13 of the show recently concluded on screens, and season 14 will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer early next year.

Father Brown star Tom Chambers was recently in Oxford playing Inspector Morse in the House of Ghosts play at the New Theatre.