Father Brown (TV Series) The Hammer of God (1974) User Reviews

Justice done.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 5 March 2020]

Colonel James Bohun is a brash, womanising bully, openly carrying on in the Village. Brother of the local Vicar, Bohun is brutally killed outside The Church, fortunately Father Brown is in town.

I am now so used to watching The BBC series with Mark Williams, and it is so different, but this is one story where we almost have a comparison to make. I'll be honest, I like both versions equally, The BBC series has of course been freshened up for a modern audience, this first episode is exactly as I pictured, and it's close to the original text.

It's a fine start to the series, it is a great story, brought to life very well here, Kenneth More is excellent in the role, a particularly fine delivery, he is well supported by William Russell and Geraldine Moffat, the standout however has to be Graham Crowden.

It's been in my collection for about nine years, cellophane wrapped, of course the visuals and production values are a little dated, but the writing and acting are terrific. Will work through the series, this is a fine start.

8/10.

Like a green beetle...

[greenf74 · 8/10 · 11 December 2014]

A fine series opener, and its excellence makes the travesty of the more recent BBC version of the story (with Mark Williams) seem even worse. Graham Crowden seems, to those who know him best from "Waiting For God", to be unlikely casting for the vile bounder so bloodily murdered, but he throws himself into the role with great gusto and makes a villain loathsome enough to raise the hairs on one's neck. The friendship between Father Brown and his Protestant opposite number is deftly portrayed and there's an alarming portrait of puritanical hypocrisy from John Forgeham as a resentful cuckold. Also in the episode is a young Alun Armstrong, only just recognisable as the village idiot; perhaps the best work, though, comes from Geraldine Moffatt as Forgeham's desperate wife.

Of Its Time

[andyjg67 · 8/10 · 20 January 2019]

Whilst I agree with the previous revie that this is indeed a fine series opener, I cannot agree that it is better than the Mark Williams version. the current father Brown is on Series 7 for a reason. They are well written and acted short dramas. This Series with the superb Kenneth More is indeed excellent but very dated and sometimes overly wordy. Perhaps more faithful to GK Chestertons original story and historically accurate but no more watchable than the current series. Recommended for fans of Chesterton but a very different beast than the Mark williams led series.

far superior to the mark Williams series

[oliverbellringer · 9/10 · 3 November 2023]

Having watched several episodes of the poorly scripted BBC adaptation It's really good to find a version that it is actually set during the period in which GK Chesterton wrote the stories ( rather then then a unrealistic 1950s village!), this alone makes me think that the current writers evidently cut corners whilst making their series!. Kenneth more is excellent as brown and it's also interesting to see a young Alun Armstrong playing the role of the local " village idiot" I didn't actually recognise him until I read the cast list!, this might not have the same production standards of the BBC version but from both a scriptwriting and accuracy point of view it certainly holds up better thanks to the dedication of the writers, all in all this knocks the current series into a cocked hat and I look forward to watching more in the near future.