Latest news with #SorchaCusack
Wales Online
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Sorcha Cusack's Father Brown return confirmed in first-look at new series
Sorcha Cusack's Father Brown return confirmed in first-look at new series The 13th season of Father Brown will see Mark Williams return as the crime-busting clergyman, with a number of familiar faces also coming back. The BBC has unveiled a first glimpse of the new Father Brown series as filming concludes in the Cotswolds, featuring the return of a beloved cast member. Guest stars including Maureen Lipman, Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels, Debra Stephenson, Davood Ghadami, Kevin Harvey, George Rainsford and Timothy Watson are set to appear alongside Mark Williams in the forthcoming 13th series of the popular drama. Enhancing the stellar cast, Sorcha Cusack will make a special comeback as Mrs McCarthy for the opening episode. The Irish actress, known for her roles in Coronation Street and Mrs Brown's Boys, was a core member of the Father Brown ensemble from series one through nine. Sorcha Cusack is returning to Father Brown (Image: KEVIN BAKER/BBC) The 13th series will witness Mark's crime-solving cleric return, drawing from the beloved character penned by GK Chesterton, alongside familiar faces Tom Chambers as Inspector Sullivan, Claudie Blakley as the newly-wed Mrs Isabel Sullivan, Ruby-May Martinwood as Brenda and John Burton as Sergeant Goodfellow, reports Gloucestershire Live. Also returning are Nancy Carroll as Lady Felicia, John Light as Hercule Flambeau, Lex Shrapnel as Father Lazarus, Roger May as Canon Fox and Kieran Hodgson as Father Lindsey. The BBC has now teased the upcoming series, saying: "Following the jubilant wedding celebrations at the end of series 12, the new Mr and Mrs Sullivan settle into married life and a new home, with Isabel thrilled to be welcomed into the Policeman's Wives Society. "Meanwhile, Brenda goes on a journey of self-empowerment as she covers the role of Parish Secretary and learns to drive with the help of Sergeant Goodfellow. Father Brown is returning for a 13th season (Image: BBC) "Father Brown is tasked by Flambeau to visit Father Lazarus in prison, resulting in a deadly game of cat and mouse which ruffles the feathers of Canon Fox. "With his consecration now looming, Bishop-Elect Fox plans to enact his revenge upon Father Brown, leaving Kembleford changed forever. And in a Father Brown first – the group take a trip to the seaside!" Mark shared: "My Dad was a surveyor and taught me how to look at buildings, not just their architecture but how they were used, and why they were where they are. "So one of the constant pleasures of filming Father Brown for me is the places we film in, and I always have the relevant Pevsner's 'Buildings of England' book to hand. Coronation Street's Maureen Lipman will appear in series 13 (Image: BBC) "This year, our 13th, has been a great year for interesting locations. We have filmed in The Chateaux Impney a French fantasy in Droitwich, the little theatre in Chipping Norton (an ex Salvation Army Citadel), the wonderful 18th Century octagonal Crown Courts in Warwick and an atmospheric ex-Nunnery in Great Malvern with a glorious chapel by Ninian Comper. "Also, The Fleece Inn in Bretforton which is a English pub time capsule, the spectacular Baroque church at Great Witley, and to top it off a selection of lovely stone Cotswold houses and churches. "What a fabulous itinerary. And we filmed an episode at the seaside! Lucky lad, as my Dad would have said." Commissioning Editor for BBC Daytime Helen Munson also said: "Father Brown has many loyal fans and they are NOT going to be disappointed with the latest episodes. The team at BBC Studios have delivered another fabulous series, and there are some very exciting guest appearances too!" The BBC dropped a first-look at the new series (Image: KEVIN BAKER/BBC) Executive Producer Neil Irvine added: "I'm delighted that Mark Williams is back as Father Brown for a phenomenal thirteenth series, which promises to be the most exciting to date. Article continues below "Mrs McCarthy's return, a rock'n'roll invasion and a trip to the seaside are just a few of the treats in store for our loyal audience. "And when Canon Fox becomes Bishop-Elect, Father Brown finds his position dangling perilously on a thread. Can he secure his position in Kembleford once and for all?" Father Brown series 13 will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer early next year
Irish Examiner
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Theatre review: Escaped Alone questions our assumptions about older women
Escaped Alone, Everyman, Cork Midsummer Festival, ★★★★☆ Escaped Alone is a short, sharp shock of a play from British playwright Caryl Churchill, one of the finest dramatists at work today. There is also a wealth of female talent deployed, both on stage and off, in this Irish premiere, staged by Hatch Theatre Company and the Everyman Theatre, in association with Once Off Productions, as part of Cork Midsummer Festival. Three older women — Sally (Sorcha Cusack), Vi (Ruth McCabe), and Lena (Deirdre Monaghan)— sit companionably in a garden setting but the signifiers are queasily hyperreal in their foreshadowing — the grass is plastic, the tree appears to wither as the action progresses and the sun burns with an intense fury. They are joined by Mrs Jarrett (Anna Healy) who wanders in from the side aisle of the theatre, already marked as an outsider. Ruth McCabe, Sorcha Cusack, Deirdre Monaghan, and Anna Healy in a scene from Escaped Alone. Picture: Ros Kavanagh Initially, the women chat about the topics that lubricate our everyday social interactions — relatives, TV shows, shopping — but their dry and often funny observations, paired with successive interior monologues, are anything but anodyne. They talk over and interrupt each other but beneath the passive aggressive swipes there is also love, connection and the bonding of a shared past. Mrs Jarrett — an unlikely Cassandra dressed in leggings, hoodie, socks and sandals — breaks off intermittently to deliver a litany of apocalyptic scenarios which, unfortunately, are not that dystopian. For a play that was first performed almost a decade ago, these have a startling immediacy, and a deadpan Healy leans into the comic bleakness of it all, making the audience, in its laughter, complicit in the looming catastrophe. Anna Healy in Escaped Alone. Picture: Ros Kavanagh Churchill, thankfully, is not out to impart any lessons in her work; there are no easy epiphanies here. But she does lead us to question our assumptions — especially the ones we make about older women whose interior lives, now more than ever, usually hold no interest in a world where appearance counts for everything. Annabelle Comyn's direction is assured and while the individual performances are excellent, the cast doesn't quite seem to gel as a whole, which may in part be down to the elliptical script and dialogue. As Mrs Jarrett says thanks for the tea and heads home, the buzz of animated discussion afterwards shows the power of work that nudges audiences out of their comfort zone, where some of the best theatre resides. Escaped Alone is at Project Arts Centre, Dublin, June 19-28
