BBC detective series Father Brown is entering its whopping 10th season, after last year airing its 100th episode.
The series, which is loosely based on the short stories about the character by G K Chesterton, has been airing since 2013, and follows Mark Williams’s Roman Catholic priest as he helps to solve crimes in the 1950s.
The series has made some distinct changes from Chesterton’s books across its run, not least in the show’s setting – but where is it set, and where are the picturesque scenes filmed?
Read on for everything you need to know about the filming locations and setting for Father Brown.
Where is Father Brown set?
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Father Brown is set in the picturesque, fictional village of Kembleford, which in the series is located in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire.
This is in contrast to G K Chesterton’s short stories, the source material for the series. In those stories, Brown is at first the priest for the parish of Cobhole in Essex, after which he relocated to London. The stories take place all across England and further afield, following Brown on his travels.
Producer on the show’s first season Ceri Meyrick explained the change ahead of the first season airing, saying: “We wanted a sense of place for the audience to come back to every week. Plus, we needed to film near our base in Birmingham.
“The Cotswolds is gloriously beautiful and also, quite easy to film as period, with little in the way of modern buildings. Also, we didn’t have the budget to go to Mexico, New York and all the other places G K sent Father Brown.”
Where is Father Brown filmed?
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Most of the show’s external scenes are shot in and around the Cotswolds and Gloucestershire, with the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Blockley doubling as Father Brown’s own church, St Mary’s Catholic Church in Kembleford.
Other Gloucestershire locations include the village of Guiting Power, Upper Slaughter, the old hospital in Moreton-in-Marsh, Sudeley Castle and Winchcombe Railway Station, while Ilmington in Warwickshire has also been used.
The series has also filmed at locations in Oxfordshire including Kirtlington Park, Chastleton House, Bloxham School and Broughton Castle.
Ahead of the show’s eighth season, which aired in 2020, producer Peter Bullock revealed some of the locations the crew had filmed in for that season. “We’ve been to Kirtlington House in Oxfordshire, Worcester Cathedral, the Cornwell Estate and Upton House.
“We’ve been to the canals in Cropredy, we have shot round our regular locations in Blockley, which is Kembleford itself. We also shoot in standing sets; the presbytery kitchen and study and police station interior, which is in the studio in Evesham. We do quite a good tour of the Cotswolds in 14 weeks of filming.”
Father Brown season 10 will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Friday 6th January 2023 at 1:45pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what else is on.
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