The Dead Of Night – The episode opens with a man visiting the gravesite of Louisa Ross (Bethan Leyshon). He’s startled by the fresh dirt and races to a nearby phone booth where he relays the information to an unidentified recipient.
At Saint Mary’s Church, Brenda Palmer (Ruby-May Martinwood), Mrs. Devine (Claudie Blakely), and Father Brown (Mark Williams) are preparing for Louisa’s wake when a hysterical housekeeper, Janice Higgins (Lois Pearson) races in, pleading for help. Father Brown and Brenda accompany her to the Ross Manor where they are greeted at the door by the awkward Gilbert Gallamore (Nicholas Asbury). Although she is invited along, Mrs. Devine opts out of the trip to pay a visit to the ailing Inspector Edgar Sullivan (Tom Chambers).
Inside the Ross Manor, Father Brown discovers a depressed Bernard Ross (Nicholas Woodeson). His gravesite discovery soon leads to a heated debate about the existence of vampires. With encouragement from Gilbert, Bernard uses Louisa’s strange behavior and the symptoms of her illness to advocate for the existence of vampires. Not unfamiliar with these claims, Father Brown uses the coroner’s ruling on Louisa’s mental state to aid his argument. The debate soon leads to the rear garden, where the corpses of small rodents started inexplicably appearing after Louisa’s passing. The arrival of vampire hunter, Silas O’Hagan (Ray Fearon) inspires a return visit to the gravesite.
Elsewhere, Mrs. Devine attempts to nurse Sullivan back to health as he updates and issues orders to Sergeant Goodfellow (John Burton) over the phone. Perhaps seeing the opportunity to prove his worth, Goodfellow appears a bit too happy about Sullivan’s ailment.
Returning to Louisa’s gravesite during the day, the vampire debate continues. It immediately becomes clear where Christine Kipley (Josie Lawrence) stands on the matter once Bernard her as Kembleford’s Sunday school teacher and sister-in-law. Upon learning that Silas has been invited to Louisa’s dinner, she initially refuses to attend. Later at a dinner toast, Bernard talks about the cruelty of Louisa’s illness, being that she adored the outdoors, wildlife, and particularly sunflowers. As the evening passes, Silas shares the foundations of his belief in vampires as well as several custom stakes. Christine chides Gilbert for drinking too much wine when he offers to refill everyone’s drinks. Mere seconds after he leaves to refresh his glass, a screech from Janice draws everyone’s attention to the library where it appears Gilbert has made drunken advances.
Father Brown and Brenda’s return to the Manor the following morning leads to the discovery of Gilbert’s body. With two puncture wounds on the neck and his body exsanguinated, Father Brown has a hard time explaining the killing as anything other than supernatural. The case takes an even more shocking turn when Louisa’s necklace is discovered.
When Sullivan receives word of the murder, he attempts to drag himself out of bed and get dressed, against Devine’s judgment. He does not make it far, given that one of his symptoms seems to be an aversion to sunlight.
Once Father Brown confirms that Louisa was buried with the necklace he recovered, he and Goodfellow make a pact to investigate the case together. Starting with Janice, they learn that Gilbert and Bernard met at Oxford as history professors. Despite Janice’s confirmation of Gilbert’s drunken advances, it is her admission of catching Christine snooping through Louisa’s desk that appears to be the most shocking to them.
Using the discovery, Father Brown gets Catherine to share a harsh and incriminating letter. The contents aren’t revealed, but it’s alluded to that she was extremely upset with Louisa’s refusal to let the church help. Before the meeting ends, she makes a vow that she will not let Bernard suffer the same fate. Father Brown and Goodfellow can’t hide their cynicism when they find Silas outside the Manor selling mustard seeds and holly. When nothing significant is learned from the encounter, Father Brown decides to speak with Bernard, who is on his way to Louisa’s gravesite. This encounter reveals that Louisa’s mother died from an illness that the doctors couldn’t explain. Bernard also mentions Louisa keeping a diary that he claims to have never looked at. He denies Father Brown access as well.
Goodfellow shows up in the middle of Father Brown, Brenda, and Mrs. Devine’s lunch. Goodfellow and Father Brown trade theories about the oddity of Gilbert’s exsanguinated body while Devine takes a call from Sullivan. Upon her return, Devine shares Sullivan’s worsening condition and asks Goodfellow to join her for a visit.
While Goodfellow and Devine visit Sullivan, Father Brown meets Silas and Christine to investigate footprints outside the church. Silas suspects that Louisa was trying to sabotage the mass, but was unable to do so since vampires cannot enter places of worship. Silas also mentions overhearing an argument between Bernard and Gilbert, regarding Gilbert’s relationship with Louisa. Goodfellow’s meeting with Sullivan causes him to realize that in the excitement of the vampire case, he’s forgotten about a fraud case in Wedlock that he was supposed to be investigating.
Upon returning to the station and digging into the fraud case, he realizes both cases have supernatural ties. Father Brown meets with Bernard to not only question him about the argument but also to ask to see Louisa’s diary again. Gaining access to the diary reveals that Gilbert and Louisa bonded over her illness. He had here convinced that she was cursed and her embarrassment led to her stepping away from the church. While sharing this information with Brenda, Father Brown apparently receives a call from a doctor and shares a short conversation. With the discussion ended, Brenda races in to tell him that he’s urgently needed at the church.
At the church, they discover Bernard digging up Louisa’s grave but manage to intervene. Goodfellow is on the scene just as quickly and unveils Silas as the conman that he is. It turns out that Silas was the perpetrator of the fraud case that Sullivan mentioned to him earlier. The scar on his forehead is how Goodfellow made the connection. Goodfellow also mentions the post-mortem report confirming Father Brown’s theory about Gilbert’s puncture wounds being made after the heart stopped pumping. Father Brown explains Louisa’s symptoms as an extremely rare condition known as hereditary coproporphyria. The condition also causes seizures which could possibly explain Louisa’s mother’s condition. Throughout the unveiling of the evidence, Silas never denies his role as a charlatan, but claims he didn’t commit the murder. When Goodfellow attempts to arrest him, Father Brown asks for a few minutes alone with Catherine.
It is during this conversation and with the family photo on the wake pamphlet that Father Brown explains the mystery of the necklace. It turns out that Louisa’s mother had given both Catherine and Louisa identical chains. Eventually, Catherine is unveiled as the killer. The episode ends with the mass and absolution of Louisa. Bother Bernard and Sullivan attend the event.
Father Brown Review
I’m always a bit biased when it comes to vampires. The mythology is extremely intriguing, but it is the author’s varied depictions that interest me the most. Take the “invitation” theory. Some authors use the theory that vampires cannot enter a home without being invited in while others debunk it. The transformation from human to undead and the turning into a bat are other commonly debated topics. That said, I was a bit disappointed by this episode. I appreciated the additional twist at the end and it was nice to see Goodfellow fill the shoes of the lead detective. As with most episodes in this series, everything felt rushed and packed into the last few minutes. I’d give the episode 5 out of 10 and that’s probably being generous.
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