The Kembleford Files
My Casebook
Books and adaptation

Read beyond Kembleford

The series is a free adaptation: it preserves Brown’s moral imagination while creating its own 1950s parish, ensemble and continuity.

The Blue Cross

The clearest starting bridge: Brown, Valentin and Flambeau appear in the original story, although the television continuity develops them differently.

The Hammer of God

A shared title and moral problem do not make the episode a transcript; compare the different supporting worlds.

The Flying Stars

Both versions use performance, class and theft, while the screen series adapts those ideas to its continuing parish.

The Wrong Shape

Useful for comparing Chesterton’s compact philosophical mystery with the programme’s character-led forty-five-minute form.

Explore other screen versions in the Father Brown adaptations guide, or compare the television performers in the cast guide.

The stories and the screen

Chesterton’s collections

Some television episodes share a title or familiar character with a Father Brown story. The programme also has its own parish and continuing storylines.

The Innocence of Father Brown

Read via Project Gutenberg ↗
  1. The Blue CrossShares a title and recurring characters
    Series 1, episode 10: The Blue Cross
  2. The Secret GardenNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  3. The Queer FeetNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  4. The Flying StarsShares a title
    Series 1, episode 2: The Flying Stars
  5. The Invisible ManShares a title
    Series 3, episode 3: The Invisible Man
  6. The Honour of Israel GowNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  7. The Wrong ShapeShares a title
    Series 1, episode 3: The Wrong Shape
  8. The Sins of Prince SaradineNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  9. The Hammer of GodShares a title
    Series 1, episode 1: The Hammer of God
  10. The Eye of ApolloShares a title
    Series 1, episode 5: The Eye of Apollo
  11. The Sign of the Broken SwordShares a title
    Series 3, episode 4: The Sign of the Broken Sword
  12. The Three Tools of DeathShares a title
    Series 2, episode 7: The Three Tools of Death

The Wisdom of Father Brown

Read via Project Gutenberg ↗
  1. The Absence of Mr GlassNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  2. The Paradise of ThievesShares a title
    Series 3, episode 13: The Paradise of Thieves
  3. The Duel of Dr HirschNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  4. The Man in the PassageNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  5. The Mistake of the MachineNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  6. The Head of CaesarNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  7. The Purple WigNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  8. The Perishing of the PendragonsNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  9. The God of the GongsNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  10. The Salad of Colonel CrayNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  11. The Strange Crime of John BoulnoisNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  12. The Fairy Tale of Father BrownNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
Published 1927

The Secret of Father Brown

Read via Project Gutenberg ↗
  1. The Secret of Father BrownNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  2. The Mirror of the MagistrateNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  3. The Man with Two BeardsNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  4. The Song of the Flying FishNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  5. The Actor and the AlibiNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  6. The Vanishing of VaudreyNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  7. The Worst Crime in the WorldNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  8. The Red Moon of MeruNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  9. The Chief Mourner of MarneNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide
  10. The Secret of FlambeauNo same-title episode listed
    No same-title episode in this guide