Don Matteo has a winning smile, a good sense of humor and an observing eye. He is simply charming. His acute intuition and insight, which are apparent in his everyday life, often add comedy to his adventurous investigations. Don Matteo always uses his bike to move through the cobbled, hilly streets and alleys of his home town. The character of a detective-priest immediately brings to mind Chesterton's famous Father Brown: a character which achieved popularity in Italy thanks to a RAI series and the outstanding performance of its star, Renato Rascel. However, Don Matteo is a man of our times, living in a contemporary setting: the Italian province. Gubbio is a hard-working, wealthy community, free of the decadence and problems big cities have, but often affected by a widespread moral and spiritual laziness.