The Quill Of Osric – The episode opens with the supposed suicide of famed crime novelist, Osric Wolf (Julian Harries). One minute he’s racing around his rooftop balcony chanting incoherently and the next, he’s falling three stories to the concrete.
At a weekend writer’s retreat, Lady Violet (Amanda Mealing) calls attention to the center stage. Along with Isobel Devine (Claudie Blakley), Brenda Palmer (Ruby-May Martinwood) and Father Brown (Mark Williams) learn that this year’s event is specially dedicated to Osric. The novelist with the best new crime novel will not only receive the Quill of Osric award but there will be a generous 75-pound cash reward.
Father Brown’s attention is soon drawn to a man he greets as Sir Kingsley (Michael Simkins) and congratulates him for a recent successful Cabinet run. Once Kingsley’s son, Jack (Jake Simmance), joins them, the conversation turns to the Quill trophy and his new novel. Father Brown praises the novel while Wilmon Kingsley only hopes it can be better than his last. As Lady Violet passes by, Kingsley takes the time to shine a light on her being a judge and having a protégé, Walter Mitford (Samuel Jordan), in the retreat’s competition. Later, Father Brown notices that Kingsley is very critical of Jack, as he insists on him doing a reading for the crowd. A hasty retreat and unintentional brush with Violet’s protege, Walter Mitford (Samuel Jordan), reveal that the two are familiar with each other.
A literary agent, Miss Lipton (Gemma Lawrence), introduces herself to Violet right before Jack’s reading cuts the interaction short. His explicit passage not only sends him fleeing from the stage in embarrassment, but it causes Lady Violet to spill her drink. Seconds later, Father Brown and several of the attendees witness Kingsley’s critical manner turn physical when Jack refuses to return to the stage. His anger nearly spills over to Miss Lipton until he learns she’s an agent interested in Jack’s novel.
Mere seconds after this, Brenda witnesses Violet accost Jack with accusations of trying to embarrass her with his reading. He appears to be clueless to her anger.
Brenda draws everyone’s attention with the announcement of a murder, which turns out to be part of the retreat’s entertainment. It’s only minutes later when her crime-solving skills stun the crowd again. Father Brown appears to be more interested in Jack’s absence and his search finds him in need of medical treatment. Inspector Sullivan (Tom Chambers) and Sergeant Goodfellow (John Burton) are quick to blame Jack’s attack on robbers once Lady Violet reveals recent problems with tramps. Father Brown suspects the attack was perpetrated by someone with a far more violent nature while retreating to his bicycle. Brenda shares Violet and Jack’s altercation with him before he departs.
Sergeant Goodfellow and Sullivan are discussing Jack’s condition when Father Brown shows up, under the guise of just passing by. Much to their surprise, he leaves without putting up much of a fight. That’s because he doesn’t actually leave and his suspicions pay off when he catches Jack playing possum. Jack admits his deceit and contributes to his Father’s unwavering expectations. Jack claims he doesn’t remember the attack and it appears the only thing stolen was his pocket watch.
While Lady Violet drops hints that the “killer chef” may strike again soon, Goodfellow and Sullivan discuss the real case. Brenda and Devine set out in pursuit of floured footprints while Father Brown questions Violet about her argument with Jack. The conversation doesn’t get far when Violet discovers the Quill award missing.
While Father Brown shares news of the missing Quill with Goodfellow, a screaming female emerges from the manor with a chef in pursuit. Goodfellow doesn’t learn the event is staged until after wrestling the man to the ground. Elsewhere, the floured footprints lead to the discovery of Miss Lipton, who is still alive. She’s taken away by the paramedics while Father Brown goes back over the evidence with Goodfellow. While doing so, he appears to pay special attention to Walter, who is rushing towards the manor in a bit of a stir.
Inside the manor, Walter is listening to a horserace when Lady Violet introduces Father Brown, under the guise that he wants an autograph. Father Brown uses the encounter to bring up Walter and Jack’s time at Gloucester University. While attending, Jack would win the Student’s Literary Prize. Jack winning the reward not only resulted in Walter holding a grudge, but it came along with the pocket watch that was stolen. Upon Sullivan’s arrival, Walter confesses to stealing the watch but claims he had nothing to do with the attacks. Walter is eventually arrested when Sullivan changes his suspicions to Walter going after the reward money.
Even though Miss Lipton has returned for the second day of the retreat, she can’t shed any light on her attack. Brenda and Devine’s arrival is followed by Kingsley and Jack’s. Upon spotting Jack, Devine mentions Walter’s certainty about Jack stealing the University prize. Intrigued with the question, Father Brown visits Walter at the station. Walter says there were rumors that Jack stole his story until Kingsley got involved.
After Jack wins the Osric Award, Father Brown questions Kingsley about the cheating rumors. Kingsley doesn’t give Father Brown a definitive answer but alludes to the rumors being true. He does, however, admit to having suspicions about Jack’s new novel after hearing the reading yesterday. Remembering Violet’s reaction, he decides to question her.
Something about Father Brown’s approach alludes to him knowing the truth so Violet doesn’t attempt to mislead him. She admits that the Baroness character in Jack’s novel was inspired by her. She adds that her behavior at the time was inspired by the death of her father. During her confession, Father Brown realizes that the title of the novel is, “The Eye Of The Lykos.” Being that Lykos is the Greek word for Wolf, he suspects the novel was written by Osric.
Despite the mountain of evidence, Father Brown still can’t explain who or why Miss Lipton would be targeted. It isn’t until Devine rereads the excerpt that Jack read on stage earlier that Father Brown realizes there is an imposter. On his way to confirm his suspicions, Father Brown catches Miss Lipton right in the middle of trying to kill Jack.
Once she admits to being the daughter of Osric Wolf, the whole truth is revealed in a flashback. As it turns out, Jack was not only present when Osric went over the railing, but it was a struggle for the manuscript that led to the fall. After Lady Violet renounces the award and gives it to Osric, the episode ends with Father Brown blessing Osric’s grave.
Father Brown Review
“Less is more!” That is something writers need to take into account when writing a script like this. Although the episode was only a little over 40 minutes in length, it felt far longer. It’s fairly obvious that a lot of research and prep went into the story and plot twists, but I often felt like I was stuck in a traffic jam at times. There were plenty of clever twists and as always, I was surprised by the final reveal, but there was just too much. Giving this episode a 4.3 out of 10 almost feels too generous.
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