After giving up his army surplus when 'Dad's Army' ended on the BBC, Arthur Lowe went over to ITV to don priest robes for 'Bless Me Father', scripted by Peter De Rosa.Set in the 1950's, it was yet another run of the mill ecclesiastical offering, lining alongside the likes of 'All Gas & Gaiters', 'Our Man At St Marks' and 'Oh Brother!
I never got around to watching this when it was first released -- I was in my youth, and Arthur Lowe's character seemed far too stuffy on first sight compared with his recent long-running Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army. But I've enjoyed very much all I've seen of it when shown recently on UKTV.
Up there with a long single-take shot, is my love for a good enclosed dialogue driven scene or film. They often can feel stagey as opposed to cinematic, but I do enjoy when it is well done because it challenges the direct to use the space but keep things intimate, and it lets the actors show what they can do when give the room - likewise, the writing is very much under scrutiny since it is one of the key things keeping you there.
An Irish village. A confessional booth.
I bought the DVD series because I was desired to see it. None of the local PBS stations in the New York City area bothered to show it in recent years, I found Arthur Lowe to be the heart and soul of this show as Father Duddleswell.
Why on Earth has this series,(never to my knowledge), been repeated. It would be timeless.
This show was about Catholic Saint Jude < Patron Saint of Hopeless Cases > Parish life in a small suburban London town set in the early 1950's.People wrongly label this show as one of true interest to those who hold dear the Catholic faith.
