Sister Boniface Mysteries (TV Series) Scoop! (2022) User Reviews

A cracking episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 19 June 2022]

Gillespie is called in when the body of a young woman is found dead at the bottom of a staircase, the setting, an exclusive gathering, including a Minister and an actress.

I loved so many elements of this episode, the humour, the mystery, the characters, and of course the undertones of the romance.

What starts off as a seemingly ordinary mystery, soon turns into something a lot grander, it goes in a direction I was not anticipating.

Some really good acting, absolutely loved Rachel Pickup, Jocelyn Kelly, one of the show's best characters so far, she was terrific. Once again Sister Boniface is

I absolutely loved the Sound of Music jokes, wonderfully done, so funny. Visually it was flawless, loving the fashions and sets once again.

I really like the tension between Ruth and Gillespie, he has a naive innocence, and a handsome face, she's ruthless, ambitious and here looks so glamorous, but she does have a heart.

The show gets better and better, perhaps the most accomplished episode to date, everything worked really well.

Loved it, 9/10.

The cast - the the teams they portray - are now in the groove

[hindsonevansmike · 8/10 · 16 April 2022]

Lovely sub-Profumo storyline and the reporter/detective UST is beginning to smoulder (even in 1960 - or is it 1965?).

Enjoyable, well-acted and fairly-well scripted.

Another enjoyable set-in-the-past TV episode, justifying the time which we have now invested in this series.

The best episode yet

[boxyfella · 9/10 · 11 April 2022]

So much to enjoy in this one. Rachel Pickup is a hoot as Jocelyn Kelly, talking about going up against Julie Andrews for the part in the Sound of Music. You couldn't imagine a less Julie Andrews-like actress if you tried. She actually puts in a good performance, and Jocelyn's motives for the murder are quite believable. The method of administering the poison is unique, as far as I know it's not been seen in other detective mysteries.

The sexual tension between Ruth Penny and DI Gillespie is ongoing. The expression on his face when he saw her in that maid's uniform was a joy to behold. It was touching that at the end she sacrificed her career for him. He's actually not much of a detective if he can't see that she is head over heels in love with him.

Getting better and better

[nowishop · 10/10 · 12 April 2022]

Each episode is improving with us learning more and more about the characters.

However, if this is set in the 1960's, then the thermal printer used by Sister Boniface, although created in 1965 would not be in production especially one so small to be used in the laboratory.

Excellent cast and KGB story line.

Will the Inspector and the news reporter get together?

Finding its feet

[safenoe · 8/10 · 16 November 2023]

I loved Sister Boniface's fantasy about how Sam woos Ruth, and it was so hilarious that I laughed out loud really hard. I think Scoop! Represents the creative turning point for Sister Boniface, hot off Mark Williams's cameo as Father Brown in the previous episode.

Anyway, Sister Boniface is now starting to find its feet, and it's a spin-off that could be in the same ranks as Frasier. Hopefully it won't be a Joey (the ill-fated spin-off from Friends). Anyway, good word on the production here, with the acting and writing and chemistry clearly on full display on screen. The episode melds the Profumo scandal and the Salisbury poisonings scandal.

Jo Stone-Fewings, who plays Anthony Kelly, is the real-life husband of Nancy Carroll, who played Lady Felicia in Father Brown, from which Sister Boniface is a spin-off series.

Scoop!

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 1 May 2022]

There is tension between Ruth and Sam. She goes undercover in a mansion as a maid to get a scoop about a government minister having a mistress.

Ruth hopes that this could be her ticket to the London papers.

Charles Streatham is tipped to be a future prime minister but his mistress turns up dead and some secret government files are missing.

Sam has been told to keep things discreet in the interest of national security.

Sister Ruth believes espionage lies in the root of the murder.

Another episode where you have actresses dressed as nuns. It seems to be a theme for this series.

Shades of the Profumo affair and the fourth man in the Cambridge spy ring.

Another enjoyable light hearted mystery. There is a nice relationship developing between Ruth and Max.

Scoop!

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 17 April 2022]

A lighthearted mystery series that has good characters and interesting cast of suspects as well as a good twist. There's a Profumo-style story and an inclusion of a KGB agent - this all adds to the lively plot. It's a strong addition to the series.

Finally able to engage my attention

[amorehl · 7/10 · 23 May 2023]

OK, finally an episode caught my interest: The Russian spy plot, and the sub-plot about the cute detective, Sam, and the investigating reporter, Ruth, who wants a scoop so she can leave their small hamlet, move to the big city, and work for The Times! I loved Sister Boniface's little daydream envisioning Sam as Captain Von Trapp and Ruth as novitiate Maria. Also enjoyed everything about the cigarettes [which, of course, everyone around is smoking - I REALLY don't miss THAT!], and Sister Boniface's scientific testing thereon. I also enjoyed the sister's reference to her Lord Peter Wimsey collection. Now, THERE was a great detective - created by the wonderful Dorothy Sayers. It's a shame there aren't more TV writers out there of that ilk, or at least aspiring to be of that ilk.

But I have to agree with those who complain the sister talks too fast, especially when she's conveying important scientific information. And I would rate the ep higher, except for the PC/w0ke anachronisms which take one out of the story, e.g., calling an "actress" an "actor," and the ever-present casting of an unrealistically ethnically diverse English village of the '60s. But the BBC has its guidelines, and no exceptions are made, even for period pieces. So annoying. So dumb. So insulting to their viewers.