Father Brown (2013) s12e01 Episode Script

1
GRUNTING AND GROANING
Forgive me! I was
only following orders!
Some people don't
deserve forgiveness.
Argh!
The ring stays in
Kembleford, Godfelow!
You'll pay for
this, Feathergill!
And with the slaying of this thief,
so began the Battle of Kembleford.
CHEERING
You forgot their codpieces,
Tyrone. Thank you, Frank.
I hope you're all right, Father.
On the contrary, son,
I'm rather confused.
Father?
Excuse me Welcome to
Kembleford, Mr Sullivan.
Now, perhaps you'd like
to sample the delights
of our refreshment
tent? I'd love to.
I thought we were meeting
in London next month.
I wanted to surprise you.
Mission accomplished.
Trust me, Edgar, my shock
is greater than yours.
You must be the luckiest
priest in the country, Father,
having my brilliant son here
keeping your village safe.
Kembleford is blessed.
What say you we punish
the Kembleford tyrant
and claim the ring
for Hambleston?
CHEERING
My colleague,
Sergeant Goodfellow,
he's just learned he's a
relation of Lord Godfelow.
A distant one, I presume!
Now, where's this
fiance of yours?
Oh, yes. She's right here.
Isabel. Hello.
This is my father.
Gosh.
Oh. Oh, don't worry.
It's just a
cushion. Oh, what a relief!
Isabel, delighted
to finally meet you.
Me, too, Mr Sullivan.
A noblewoman. You kept
that quiet, Edgar.
Lady Catherine Feathergill
at your service.
You carry it well, my dear.
Two rounds of your finest apple
cider. Thank you, thank you.
That'll keep you
strong. It will!
Here we are. Right.
Now
to my son and his
enchanting bride-to-be.
But why! Because, Brenda, there were
no female fighters in Tudor times.
So? Did they shoot rubber
arrows in Tudor times?
Please put that sword
back in the armoury.
Father, jolly good
scene earlier.
Chief Inspector,
we're ready for you.
Oh, right.
Mr Higgs our organiser.
Long time Head of Kembleford
Historical Society
and a very keen
battle re-enactor.
Who won't let me fight,
just because I'm a girl!
And that is our
good friend Brenda.
I can't fault her enthusiasm.
I'll confess, I'm not familiar
with the Battle of Kembleford.
It was a local dispute
between two nobles
which took place
here at Belside Hall.
When I realised this weekend was the
400th anniversary, I couldn't resist.
HORN SOUNDS
Right. Time for battle!
Well, wish me luck!
And me! Yes. Good luck!
Good luck, my dear. Thank you.
Remember, this is
just a rehearsal,
so please save your actual
slaughtering for tomorrow.
HORN SOUNDS
And forward!
ROARING
Hambleston break through.
So these two nobles are
fighting over a ring?
Not just any ring, Mr Sullivan.
King Alfred's Ring.
Ah. Now, I've heard of that!
Mr and Mrs Derbyshire.
Frank, as local history expert,
I would have expected you to
be helping with the battle.
Our esteemed chairman
doesn't like sharing credit.
Oh.
Or being challenged, Father.
Tyrone wants this to be his day.
So he's put me here,
safely out of the way.
It's not all bad
news though, Father.
Progress on your
adoption plans perhaps?
We have our first
interview, don't we, Frank?
Yeah. We're just waiting
to hear about a date.
That is excellent news.
Dr Manning! Welcome!
Hold it there, please, everyone.
Our special guest has arrived.
Kembleford's greatest
living historian,
Dr Alexander Manning!
I don't believe it.
Thank you, Mr Higgs. Yes. Yes,
I owe a lot to Kembleford.
It was here that I first
caught the history bug.
Dr Manning famously tracked
down THE Alfred Ring,
now on display in the
Royal History Museum.
He has since written a book
about his extraordinary quest
and he'll be doing a
reading for us later.
Grab a copy!
Did you know Alexander Manning
when he lived in Kembleford?
We were in the same
class at school.
Let's just say we
spurred each other on.
GRUNTING
APPLAUSE
As I said, this will all be
much more realistic tomorrow.
Bring in Lady Feathergill!
SHE GASPS
King Alfred's Ring
is Hambleston's!
CHEERING
Sorry about this, Mrs Devine. Oh,
it's quite all right, Sergeant.
HE GRUNTS
SHE RETCHES
Hold on, what about my research,
showing Lady Feathergill escaped?
Lady Feathergill was
killed by Godfelow, Frank,
as Dr Manning's wonderful
new book spells out.
I Frank
No, I'm sorry. I've
got to do this.
Lord Feathergill, Lord
Godfelow, your swords please?
What are you doing?
I'm sure Dr Manning would agree
that the moves in that duel
left a lot to be desired.
Allow me to demonstrate.
Dr Manning would also confirm
that the most commonly used attack
in 1555 was not the slash
but the thrust.
INDISTINC
GRUNTING
Anyway, I hope that helps.
Well, it's good to be back.
CHATTER
And so, almost 700 years after
King Alfred had the ring made
for his beloved Ealhswith, his
descendant, Lord Feathergill,
presented the ring to Lady
Feathergill on their wedding day.
So what happened to the ring
after the battle, Dr Manning?
Well, as I discovered
Godfelow was a gambler.
And not a very good one either.
He lost the ring in a card game,
along with Belside Hall itself.
Oh, what could have
been, eh, Sergeant?
So how did the ring
spend the next 400 years?
Well, the answer my friends,
you'll find in here.
APPLAUSE
Thank you. Dr Manning will now be
happy to sign copies of his book.
Unknown historian spends ten
years hunting lost treasure.
Finally tracks it down to
some Istanbul antiques market
and achieves overnight fame.
And an honorary
position at Oxford.
It's an incredible story.
A tad more exciting than being
a parish secretary, eh, Isabel?
Oh, there's more adventure in my
job than you may think, Mr Sullivan.
Really?
Care for a dance, Isabel?
Lovely.
Whatever you said to Mr
Higgs earlier struck a nerve.
I just told him to
liven things up a bit.
His "special guest"
looked bored.
Was Dr Manning a history scholar
when he was at school with you?
Well, he was offered
a place at Oxford.
And then they found out he'd cheated
in his Higher School Certificate exams
and withdrew the offer. Oh.
They seem to have forgotten that
now that he's famous though.
Father Brown, I must say I was surprised
by your scene with Edgar earlier.
He was never much
into performing.
I think Mrs Devine may have
had something to do with that.
I heard the Chief Inspector
only took on the role
so he got to kill Father Brown.
And why would he be
interested in that? Jealousy.
Everyone knows Father Brown's
a better detective than he is.
You tread carefully, Sir.
You're insulting the
Sullivan family name.
Frank?
There you are.
What is it? The
adoption agency called.
Did you see their letter?
Cecily Tell me!
Let's Excuse
me, Father Brown.
Did you get the letter? No.
What have you done with it?
I thought the
battle was tomorrow.
Hopefully, that was
just a skirmish.
MUSIC PLAYS
Lady Palmer, may
I have this dance?
Take that you
Hambleston Heathens!
Oh!
Father Brown!
INDISTINC
Sir.
Well
given the rigor mortis, I'd say
he was killed before midnight.
I saw Mr Derbyshire
leave the re-enactment
with his wife at 7pm.
Thank you, Father.
Naturally we'll interview his wife,
given her row with the victim.
I wonder what he
was doing back here.
According to the weapons inventory,
there's a sword missing, Sir.
Oh, yeah. Could well be the
murder weapon. Good job, Sergeant.
Well, someone's had
his final battle.
Father, erm
what are you doing here?
Once a detective, Edgar
What's Oh, yes.
Erm, Father
Father Brown was here to pray
for the victim. He's now leaving.
So, what have we got to go on?
Yes, a five-hour window,
a missing sword
And some very strange writing.
I wonder if it's a code.
What's? Our priest
does, very occasionally,
overstep his clerical brief.
Of course, I don't let it
impact on our investigations.
Chief Inspector?
Not now, Father.
Sergeant, could you? Yeah.
Come along, Father, this way.
OK. Could I have a word, Edgar?
Yes, Sir.
So what's the plan, son?
It's all very pleasant
out here in the "sticks",
but nosey priests,
dressing up in frocks,
it's hardly real
policing, is it?
We both know London is where the
big promotions are won, so
Yes. Well, Father,
my plan is to
solve this murder.
I'd say that counts
as real policing.
I'd start with the wife.
No. This can't be happening.
I'm very sorry for your
loss, Mrs Derbyshire.
I do however have to raise
last night's argument.
What? You seemed
angry with your husband.
Well, yes. We'd
missed an appointment with the adoption
agency because Frank hid the letter.
But then he explained why.
You see, he still hadn't given up
hope of us having a child of our own.
Sir.
Found it in the scullery.
I didn't put that there.
Mrs Derbyshire, I'm
left with no option.
I'm arresting you on suspicion of the
murder No! of Frank Derbyshire.
You are not obliged to say anything, but
anything you do say may be given in evidence.
Please. This is all
wrong. Come along.
I didn't kill him, Father.
I believe you, Mrs Derbyshire.
I know how devoted you were.
But will they hang me?
I will do everything in my
power to prevent that happening.
How could someone
do this to Frank?
I don't suppose you know why your husband
went back to the re-enactment last night?
He'd made some
breakthrough in his study.
He said he needed to
investigate at Belside Hall.
He seemed excited.
Frank had two dreams.
To have a family and to leave
his mark as a historian.
He even asked Dr Manning to look at
his research papers at the party.
Was he receptive?
All he said was that
he'd recently learned
some history about Frank
that he needed to discuss.
Frank didn't know
what he meant, but
I knew he was worried.
Thank you, Mrs Derbyshire.
Oh, Father, I just want Frank.
You're sure Cecily is
telling the truth, Father?
I think someone is
trying to frame her.
And my first port of
call will be Dr Manning.
Oh, well, I've just seen him
heading towards St Mary's.
Thank you, Brenda.
Very helpful.
Oh.
See if you can find
a match for this.
Judging by the
height of the nail,
I'd look at tunics
rather than trousers.
We'll keep our eyes peeled.
A word, Father, if
I may? Of course.
I advise you in the strongest possible
terms to leave the detective work to my son.
Ordinarily I wouldn't
think of interfering.
But I am concerned that your son
has arrested an innocent woman.
That is a matter for
a jury, not a priest.
Well, there we will
have to disagree.
You, of course, disagreed with
Mr Derbyshire yourself yesterday.
The man insulted the Sullivan
name. He deserved a bloody nose!
Clearly the killer concurred.
Whoever they are.
Stay out of things
that don't concern you.
Dr Manning.
Father!
Sorry, I was miles away.
Just admiring your
marvellous church.
Is it ecclesiastical architecture
that brings you to St Mary's?
Or the terrible news
about Frank Derbyshire?
Well, I can't lie.
Medieval churches are the
subject of my next book
and St Mary's does
have a terrific tower.
Mrs Derbyshire said
you'd found something
in Frank's personal history that
you wanted to discuss with him.
Well, Cecily misunderstood.
There's nothing in
Frank's history.
Just something I thought
he'd be interested in.
Am I right in saying that at
school, a fellow pupil reported you
for cheating in your Higher
Schools Certificate exams,
which action led to you
losing your place at Oxford?
That happened
decades ago.
Now, you are finally at Oxford,
it must have been very tempting
to find out who betrayed you.
Was it Frank Derbyshire?
Was that knowledge behind
your return to Kembleford?
Along with a
craving for redress?
You're right, Father.
It was Frank who sold
me down the river.
But that early setback built
the determination in me
to get me where I am today.
If anything I owe
Frank my gratitude,
not any misplaced hostility.
Dr Manning was clearly put out
at Mr Derbyshire's betrayal.
But vengeful enough to risk
his now blooming reputation?
I'm not persuaded.
Gentlemen, in honour of
the late Mr Derbyshire,
I believe we should complete
our re-enactment today.
All those in favour?
ALL: Aye!
I concur and I'd like
to offer my services.
That's a kind offer,
Mr Sullivan, but
You see, I did help break up
the Battle of Cable Street.
And I do know The
Art of War by heart.
The battle will
take place at four.
You lead on, Mr Higgs. I'll
merely chip in as required.
Fine! Right. You'd better get
me kitted out, then. Come on.
Maybe Edgar takes
after his mother. Mm.
We need to find out why Mr
Derbyshire was in the armoury.
His wife said he'd made some sort
of "breakthrough" in his study.
Well, maybe we should
go and look there then.
And I'll carry on looking
for a match for this.
I just think it's unfair that I
can't take part in the battle.
Well, dare I say it,
Mr Higgs seems to be forgetting a
most notorious female warrior
Ah! Who?
Hah!
Oh, Sergeant? Sergeant?
Yes, Sir.
Now, if my father asks about Father
Brown, please, please play it down.
The last thing I need right now is
him sticking his nose in it as well.
Righty-ho, Sir.
Right, demonstrations of Tudor weaving and
cookery are about to begin What the?
And for all those
interested to hear
what today's military strategists
learned from the Tudors,
I shall be in the main tent.
Father, what on
earth are you doing?
I'm having a bit of
fun. No, no, no, no.
You're interfering! Nonsense. I'm
playing a low-key supporting role.
You've clearly got the
case under control.
How blessed you are, Sergeant,
of a Sullivan here as a boss.
Yes, Sir. Most fortunate.
And how lucky that woman is to
have one as her future husband.
What's she up to?
Erm I suspect she's
checking her costume.
"Joan of Arc dressed as a man
"to lead the French
against the English."
She inspired a nation.
Hey, what's that, Father?
It's a lost record of
the Battle of Kembleford.
And Mr Derbyshire found it in an old
archive in Cirencester last month.
I suspect this is the research
that he showed to Mr
Higgs and Dr Manning.
Oh.
Well, what does it say?
It says, that according
to a servant
Lady Catherine Feathergill
slipped away with a priest
before Godfelow broke down
the doors of Belside Hall.
Oh. So
she escaped?
The same servant also claimed that
Lady Catherine told Lord Feathergill
that she would
head to Lancaster.
That's miles away.
Seems unlikely.
But there is no record
of Lady Catherine's body
being found at Belside Hall.
What's this all gobbledegook?
That's the letters on
the wall in the armoury!
So that's what Mr
Derbyshire was doing there.
He was trying to crack the code!
But why? I don't know.
Also, it looks like someone
else was helping him.
Oh!
Hello, Isabel.
Mr Sullivan! Looking for
clues, are we? I am, actually.
I'm looking for
a match for this.
Father Brown found it at the scene
of the crime. Really? How exciting.
I'd better go.
Good luck!
Edgar. Isabel.
So your fiance is meddling, too?
Given that she works
for Father Brown,
she does find herself
sometimes being roped in.
Roped in? She's your future
wife! Yes, I know that
A conflict of interest like this is career
suicide! What are you going to do about it? Hmm?
I tried to help with
this code last night.
Frank said he'd found it earlier at
Belside Hall, thanks to Dr Manning's book.
Did you crack it? No.
But Frank probably did. He
loved this sort of puzzle.
I keep trying to see a
future without him, but
what have I got now?
Maybe I should just confess.
And then history would say
that you murdered your husband,
which is a lie.
I'm determined to
uncover the truth.
Please, do not give up hope.
Thank you, Father.
You're very pale.
I'm going to request the doctor.
Lancaster is closer
than we think.
Father? Mr Derbyshire discovered
yesterday, in Dr Manning's book,
that the Feathergills had
a nickname for the armoury.
Lancaster!
Wait, so the
armoury is Lancaster
and that's where Lady Catherine
hid from Lord Godfelow?
Yes. So Mr Derbyshire went
there and found the code.
I suspect he went back
because he'd cracked it.
And so must we.
Ta-da! What do you think?
I think you look every
inch the warrior.
But isn't Tyrone just
going to stop you?
Not if he doesn't recognise me.
Uh-oh.
I'll see you outside.
Isabel?
Edgar! Can we speak? In private?
My father is on the warpath.
You must leave this case alone.
I'm begging you.
Please. For both our sakes.
Yes, all right.
Thank you.
Splendid costume, Mr Higgs.
Oh. Thank you, Father.
And judging by the patch on your
tunic, you're an expert darner.
Sorry, I don't
Found this, snagged on a nail,
very close to Mr Derbyshire's body.
Whatever you think this
proves, you're wrong.
Last night, I came back
here to try my costume on.
And while I was here, I saw Frank
go past, on his way to the armoury.
So I went to speak to him.
About your duel? About what
he told me during our duel.
He said he was going to table
a vote of no confidence in me
at the next meeting of
the History Society.
I've run the society
for ten years.
But now of course, Mr Higgs
there will be no vote.
What happened when you
confronted Mr Derbyshire?
He told me to go away, that he
was busy doing "real history."
He said there would be a lot more
of that when he was in charge.
I expect that made
you even angrier?
Yes, it did.
But I didn't kill him.
FANFARE PLAYS
Now
if you'll excuse me
I have a battle to oversee.
What are you doing here?
As nobility, you should be
standing over there. Follow me.
Who is this by the way?
William.
Brenda! Step out, please.
Oh, but Joan of Arc did it!
Joan of Arc was a 15th
century Frenchwoman. Come on.
Mr Higgs, I learned from
Mr Derbyshire's research
that a local woman, Emily Gardener,
disguised herself as a man
to take part in the
Battle of Kembleford.
In the light of that, perhaps you
should allow Miss Palmer to fight?
Honour and victory!
ALL CHEER
Yes, well, all right.
Front rank, dress to the
right! Good luck, Brenda!
We fight to the death!
ALL CHEER
Father, wait!
I'm sorry.
Father?
When Mr Higgs moved Miss
Palmer in the line of battle,
I had a brainwave.
This is a Caesar Cipher, so you
move the letters of the alphabet
in order to create the code.
In this case, four places
to the right. Brilliant!
So V
that's R.
NE and SW opens door C.
Is that another code?
So R is for Richard,
Lord Feathergill.
And C is for Catherine.
So these are directions from
Lady Feathergill to her husband.
Good Lord!
Well, of course, not all
doors are in the wall.
Oh, Mrs Devine.
Do you see what I see?
North East.
Ah.
South West.
Oh!
To think Lady Catherine
and her priest
fled down this very
passage 400 years ago.
"There is no present or
future, only the past,
"happening over and over again."
Now
Book of Revelation?
No, Eugene O'Neil.
Well, let's just hope they
got out of here alive.
We can't hold them, Sir!
Sound the retreat!
HORN BLARES
We need Lady Feathergill for
the climax, Chief Inspector.
Yes.
Someone needs to go and get her.
Maybe we need another code.
Or maybe we could pull this.
Oh!
Ooh!
Ooh, look.
A button!
This is St Mary's crypt.
Is it?
This is the tomb of
Prior Baskerville.
That passage must have been
built in the Reformation.
Mrs Devine
What is it, Father?
Looks like another message
from Lady Catherine.
Ooh! What does this one say?
"Four across.
"Six down."
It looks empty.
Not quite.
It's a letter from Lady
Catherine to her Lord.
Oh.
I see.
Dr Manning.
What the hell are you doing?
Everyone's waiting.
We've a battle to finish.
Which version of history will
you be using, Dr Manning?
Yours, forged in
academic arrogance?
Or the truth?
Proved here yesterday
by Mr Derbyshire?
I beg your pardon?
He followed Lady Catherine's trail
and made an extraordinary discovery,
which exposed you as a fraud.
For which, unfortunately,
he had to be silenced.
Well, that's an
interesting theory, Father.
But sadly, as with history,
you need solid evidence.
Well, I predict that
Chief Inspector Sullivan
will find a treasure
in your possessions.
Oh! Mrs Devine
found your button.
The one you left
here last night.
That you came back to
St Mary's to look for.
That fool should have
stayed away from my story.
I read Frank's
research last night.
His reference to Lancaster
piqued my curiosity,
but he beat me to it.
I knew right away it
was King Alfred's ring.
Once a cheat, always
a cheat, eh, Alex?
I'm just a storyteller, Frank.
And that's all history
is really, isn't it?
Just tales we pretend
are the truth.
You're wrong.
Real history sorts
the truth from lies.
Look, maybe we can just come
to some arrangement No.
I'm showing this to the world.
HE GROANS Give it
Damn it!
And then you framed
Mrs Derbyshire.
We all saw them arguing
and I saw an opportunity.
How callous.
Do you really think I
would let that amateur
throw away everything
I've worked so hard for?
Well, in my view
Dr Manning
your only significant
achievement
was to employ the services
of a first-rate forger.
I'm sorry, Father, but
this history is mine.
Don't
Oh!
Saved by the cushion!
Silly man.
Thank you, Mrs Devine.
What in the devil
Those will now need to
be filed under fiction.
So, what did Sullivan's dad say?
Nothing. He just stormed off.
Father?
Mrs Derbyshire!
I am glad to see you.
Thank you, Father.
For everything.
How are you feeling?
I found it! It was
in Dr Manning's bag.
It's beautiful.
It's Frank's legacy.
Your husband's name will be
forever linked with this ring.
Frank got his other wish, too.
The doctor just told me.
That is wonderful news!
Congratulations. A baby?
I am sure that Frank
is sharing in your joy.
FANFARE PLAYS
Ah, right.
Bring me the Feathergills
and get me that ring!
Go with the priest. God
will be your shield.
I'll meet you in Lancaster.
If anything should happen,
keep our child safe.
My Lady, we must go!
Again!
The ring, Feathergill.
You'll need to kill
me first, Godfelow!
"My love.
"If you are reading
this, then you are safe.
"My heart rejoices.
"Father Graham is
taking me to St Agnes.
"My journey will be dangerous,
"so I will leave our precious
jewel in this sacred place.
"Hurry, that you may be with
me when our child is born.
"Yours ever
"Catherine."
Now, where's that ring?!
CHEERING
Why wasn't history
like that at school?
I just pray she made it to
St Agnes and had her child.
Frank would have approved.
He would have been thrilled.
Cecily
I'm sorry.
Frank was right
about everything.
Which is why I'm
going to resign.
Frank loved detail,
but even he couldn't have
organised an event this well.
I think you should stay.
Really?
Thank you.
Edgar, I have to go.
Oh, really? Why?
Your mother will be
missing me dreadfully.
Isabel, it's been marvellous
getting to know you.
You too, Mr Sullivan.
Can I have a quick word
before I go? Yes, of course.
Your fiance must stop working
for that interfering priest.
I can't make her.
You'll have to.
Or I can't give your
marriage my blessing.