Recap / Father Brown S 5 E 12

The Theatre of the Invisible is the twelfth episode of the fifth season of Father Brown.

When a popular radio quiz show gets a new producer who suggests they take it on the road, they find themselves in Kembleford in uncomfortable quarters. When an act of heroism goes awry, and people start dying, the line between what's real and what's imagined gets mixed up.

---

Tropes:

• Accidental Murder: Jacob never intended intend to kill Mrs. Rudge or Queenan.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Joyce and Barny, who have done the show together for a decade, have a notoriously hostile relationship, but she harbors feelings for him, and it turns out, he secretly wants her to like him as well. Bunty urges them to get on with it.
• Broadcast Live: "Up To You" is broadcast live, like most radio (and TV) of the period.
• Camp Gay: Richie Queenan is hilariously flamboyant in a wink-wink-nudge-nudge sort of way.
• Companion Cube: Queenan's medium sized Teddy Bear is named Lord Reith.
• Corpse Temperature Tampering
• Everybody Knew Already: Mallory's working theory is that someone found out about Queenan's "secret" life (as a gallivanting homosexual). They all already knew all about that.
• invokedExecutive Meddling: In-universe. The show is unabashedly rigged, at least privately. When they have a contestant they don't like, they throw them a curve ball question; contestants they like get softball ones (for example, Irish Mrs. McCarthy gets a question about famous places in Ireland). The new producer, Jacob, is aghast at the technique.
  • When the show's previous producer is sent away, a new young college upstart takes over, and immediately starts making changes, ruffling the show's host, who threatens to quit.
  • The fact that the show is rigged becomes a Red Herring as to motive for the murders. The rest of the show's staff doesn't much care, as the show is successful as it is.
  • The manipulation of the questions is deliberately designed to result in a "lovable crone" and "pretty young girl" as finalists, for maximum popularity — which in this case results in Mrs. McCarthy and Bunty.
• Fake Danger Gambit: Zigzagged. Jacob stages an emergency to provide an opportunity to save Mrs. Rudge's kittens, in order to impress Bunty. There's just one problem.
• Game Show: "Up To You" involves amateur contestants competing on trivia questions.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: When Joyce and Mallory find no one in Queenan's room:
  Joyce: It's all very queer.
• He Knows Too Much: Queenan knows what really happened to Mrs. Rudge. He uses it to pressure Jacob into approving a script of his.
• House Fire: Mrs. Rudge dies when the house fills with smoke from a blocked chimney.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Barny decides to quit the wildly successful show at the end of the episode.
• Mondegreen: Of the deliberate variety. Mrs. Rudge is asked "Where is Tutankhamun?" and she replies "Egypt." She is called wrong, and the host points out that invokedTooting Common is in England. This is a deliberate trick to get her out of the running (see Executive Meddling).
  • Father Brown is Genre Savvy about this, when during rehearsal, he is asked what is the "capital of France." He points out that "capital" can refer to money, in which case, the answer would be "franc." Jacob suggests the question be altered to avoid the confusion. Barny seems offended at the insinuation that it was a trick question, even though that is something they regularly do to people on the show.
• invokedMemetic Mutation: In-universe. The phrase "It's Up To You" is a big Running Gag on the Up To You show, complete with audience participation. When Mrs. McCarthy laments over the end of the radio show, she wonders what she'll do instead. Father Brown grins and sings to her: "It's Up to You...."
• Never Suicide: Queenan's death.
• Perp Sweating: Inspector Malloy tries this with a bright lamp with Richie Queenan. Queenan responds by putting on sunglasses.
• Radio Episode: The episode revolves around the production of a radio show.
• Secret Diary: Somewhat inverted with Queenan. He cataloged all his lascivious escapades in his diary, but they weren't really all that secret.
• Show Within a Show: Specifically, a radio show inside a TV show: "Up To You," a radio quiz broadcast.
• Theme Tune: "Up to you... Up to you..."
• Town Contest Episode: Dozens of locals show up to audition for the local edition of the quiz show.
• Vorpal Pillow: well, actually a teddy bear, but close enough.