Why did Jack Deam leave Father Brown as Inspector Mallory?
The star formed part of the main cast of Father Brown, playing the enthusiastic inspector from 2016 until 2022.
Father Brown: Trailer for series nine
Father Brown is back on BBC One with a new season and there has been a major shakeup with the cast. A few familiar faces have said goodbye to the comedy-drama, including Shameless actor Jack Deam. Express.co.uk has all you need to know about why the star has left the series.
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Why did Jack Deam leave Father Brown as Inspector Mallory?
Inspector Mallory took over from the previous Inspector Sullivan (Tom Chambers) in the series.
Like those before him, he often felt exasperated by Father Brown (Mark Williams) and referred to him as "Padre".
Although he was much more enthusiastic than his predecessors and was known for being open-minded.
He would often chase after leads with a positive attitude, even if they became a dead end.
READ MORE: Sorcha Cusack has left Father Brown as Mrs McCarthy after 10 years
The star's absence was confirmed when a publicity shot for the new series was released.
Actor John Burton, who plays Sergeant Goodfellow, explained what had happened after viewers raised concerns about the cast changes.
He said on Twitter: "Occasionally long running shows need to be refreshed due to artists' availability.
"So it means we do have some absentees this year, with a few long-term artists moving onto other projects for their own career progression.
"This is part of an actor's life, and we must go where the work takes us."
With this in mind, it seems Jack left the series to explore new roles.
The English actor has been keeping busy in recent years, having starred in Silent Witness as Frank Johnson.
His other credits include Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar and DCI Banks, in which he played DC Ken Blackstone.
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Jack was not the only star to have left Father Brown ahead of the new season.
Sorcha Cusack and Emer Kenny have also stepped down as Mrs McCarthy and Penelope 'Bunty' Windermere respectively.
Yet there is a new character joining the cast, with Claudie Blakley playing Mrs Devine.
There are 10 episodes in season 10 and it stars Nancy Carroll as Lady Felicia Montague and Ruby-May Martinwood as Brenda Palmer.
Actor Mark Williams opened up about how he got into a bike accident whilst filming the new episodes.
He fell over whilst riding his bike but managed to see the funny side of the incident.
He said: "With riding a bike, gravel is your enemy. I went to cycle in gravel and it got deeper at one point.
"We were using this hotel as part of the scene and I thought I would cycle out of shot. But, I ploughed into nine inches of gravel and just came to a stop and toppled sideways and fell over in the grass on the gravel."
The star said he "made the day" of one onlooker who couldn't help but laugh.
Father Brown airs on Fridays on BBC One.
