As this episode of Sister Boniface Mysteries begins, Sister Boniface (Lorna Watson) uses a payphone to call Sam Gillespie (Max Brown). She uses binoculars to see people parachuting from a pane nearby. Sam and Felix Livingstone (Jerry Iwu) rush to the scene. They make it to the scene just in time to see someone land nearby. Ruth Penny (Miranda Raison) scares Sam until he sees she only has a camera. She tells him he nearly ruined the shot. After the shot is finished, Ruth explains they’re searching for the next Agent Jonas Best. Kingsley Markham (Luke Roberts) introduces himself to everyone. Sister Boniface believes he’s a shoo-in for Agent Best as a television star and war hero. A man walks by and says something before leaving.

Lincoln Varsey (Denis Lawson) comes over to speak to everyone. He invites them in for the tour. While Lincoln speaks to Sam and Felix, Boniface is busy touching medals and other artifacts. Lincoln stops her from killing them. Phoebe Volante (Manpreet Bambra) enters the room and learns about Sam springing into action. Ruth interrupts to say Campbell Kamen (James Sheldon) is back. Lincoln finds them arguing. Campbell says there was an equipment error. Lincoln tells Benson Boyd (Jordan Mifsud) to stop mucking about. Then, he invites Sam and the others to watch the screen test. Lincoln says he gets the final say since that was part of the deal when he sold the books. Felix thinks they should go. Sam thinks Ruth should’ve told him she was back. They see Benson give Phoebe something and ask her to talk to someone.

Lincoln ends up getting Sam’s help. Kingsley goes through the screen test with Phoebe. Once they finish, Benson makes it clear he wants to change things. As they go through the scene, Benson begins coughing and drops dead. Boniface begins taking pictures because she isn’t sure it was a heart attack. She tells everyone to check their clothes because there’s a deadly deathstalker scorpion on the loose. Sam stands nearby and listens to Ruth talking to Kingsley about getting the part and traveling. He talks to Felix and Boniface about the murder. Peggy Button (Ami Metcalf) is tasked with finding the scorpion. Boniface found evidence that Benson may have been using amphetamines. She also found notes that suggest Lincoln didn’t come up with the book on his own. Ruth suggests Benson was using that to blackmail him and get the part.

Sam makes it clear he doesn’t want Ruth’s help because she might be trying to protect the killer. Then, he confronts Lincoln outside. Sam knows Benson didn’t get the audition because of his acting talent so he must’ve had something on Lincoln. Lincoln says he told Benson he was going to write a spy novel. They stayed up drinking and worked out a few ideas together. Lincoln insists Benson didn’t come up with them. He let Benson audition because he threatened to tell the press he was a fraud. Lincoln insists the screen tests are going ahead it was all a big accident anyway. He admits this is make or break for Agent Best. Sam gets Benson’s stuff before joining Boniface who says most of the fingerprints on the medicine container aren’t from Benson. She believes he stole it. Sam approaches Campbell who is reading a book about acting.

Sam and Felix believe the drug belongs to him. Campbell explains he isn’t a stuntman and wouldn’t jump out of the blame. He blamed Benson because he was already messing with his things. Campbell had nothing to fear from Benson, but Sam isn’t sure about that. Sister Boniface catches the scorpion. She comes up with a way to test the scorpion without getting killed. Sam joins her and they talk about Phoebe throwing her drink at the scorpion. Sam thinks of something so he leaves. He returns and finds out that Ruth already found what he was looking for. She called the number and found out it was a clinic. There are a few reasons why a man might recommend a specialist to a woman. They talk about their relationship. Ruth believes Phoebe might speak to her. She finds Phoebe practicing her lines.

Phoebe wants to be good at something. She wants to look after herself and not be someone else’s property. Ruth asks if she’s going to keep the baby. She suspects Benson was the father. Phoebe admits Benson was sure he was going to get the part. She asks if Ruth is interested in the story for her paper or for the detective. Ruth tells Sam about their conversation outside. Sam believes Benson had something on Kingsley as well. Lincoln asks Sam to show Kingsley how to restrain someone. Sister Boniface finds. Ruth tells Sam she won’t let him ruin things for Kingsley because it’s the one thing he’d be really good at. Boniface interrupts before they notice the cigarette lighter is missing. They rush into the screen test where Sam finds the bomb.

He manages to throw it outside just before it explodes. Moments later, Sam urges Lincoln to cancel the whole thing. Lincoln refuses. Sister Boniface finds another clue. Sam finds it odd that Kingsley only just returned and wasn’t around when the bomb went off. Boniface tells him that bomb disposal hero is not him. Ruth agrees to travel with Kingsley before Sam takes him away. Sam points out that Kingsley is right-handed, but he holds tools in his left hand. Kingsley insists he isn’t a fraud. He admits it was another engineer who worked on the bomb. The next day, the engineer was killed and Kingsley was touted as the only surviving hero. His agent insisted on cashing in and thought no one would notice. Benson was blackmailing him with that information. Kingsley tells Sam that he doesn’t threaten him.

Sister Boniface says something about juniper. Ruth interrupts to ask whether Sam really suspects Kingsley. Sister Boniface doubts Sam would do it out of spite. Ruth believes Kingsley cares about her and he’s not afraid to show it. Although she doesn’t love him yet, it’s a chance to be loved. The screen tests continue with Campbell. They finish for the day. Boniface tells Sam that the bomb didn’t yield anything. She tells him what she found on the card shoot. Sand from the scorpion’s cage mixed with gin and dried into the cement. Felix says everyone had gin except for Phoebe. They try to figure out why Benson was killed and what he was mixed up in. Boniface thinks about it before saying it was the cocktail shaker. The oil samples are one sample.

They meet the others before Lincoln can name their man. Boniface says Campbell took the cocktail shaker containing remnants of gin and sand just after Benson’s death. She believes he scooped up the sand when transported the scorpion to Benson’s hat. Boniface mentions that he left behind oils when placing the bomb. The oils are used to make a certain type of leather. Felix gets Campbell’s bag. Boniface confirms it is Russian leather. She finds a hidden compartment in the bag. Sam says he’s a spy. Benson must’ve found out about it. Boniface suggests Campbell was trying to get intel on high society. Sam asks if he was ordered to spy or kill. Campbell grabs a weapon and prepares to defend himself. He can still strike a blow against western hypocrisy. Campbell questions who he should shoot.

Ruth throws a drink at him to create a distraction before Sam knocks him out. The harpoon arrow hits the shaker Ruth is holding but she is okay. Campbell is taken into custody. Lincoln tells Sam that the part is his. Felix tells Sam there’s a man from the special branch at the station. Boniface and Peggy talk about the case and Sam at the bar. Peggy says she has an idea. Felix enters and tells Boniface about the special branch. Sam sounded like  he needed to be alone. Ruth approaches Sam to talk to him before leaving. She asks if there’s a reason she should stay. Sam says yes. He thinks she knows. Ruth thanks him for not humiliating Kingsley with the hero story before leaving. Peggy gives Sam a drink when he enters the pub. Victoria Braithwaite (Ayesha Griffiths) catches Felix drinking. He introduces everyone to his fiancé.

 

Sister Boniface Mysteries Review

The opening episode of series three of Sister Boniface Mysteries was a good starting point with some interesting storylines for future episodes. The case was interesting enough to carry the episode with the personal drama sprinkled in throughout. The conclusion may have had one too many twists though but it wasn’t necessarily over-the-top either.

Although it’s a lot like Father Brown, Sister Boniface Mysteries can still deliver a fun episode. It’s a tad bit better with stronger writing and more likable characters. However, it is easy to see the similarities to the point that this series is nearly a clone of Father Brown. Regardless, this was a decent episode with some solid storylines for the rest of the season.

The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Sister Boniface Mysteries can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.