Midsomer Murders - Echoes of the Dead [DVD]

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Note: the blood-red drips behind the letters of the title, present since the beginning of the series, have been changed to multi-color. No. In the remote hamlet of Goodman's Land, local postman and Lothario Dave Cutler is murdered during his early postal delivery. Barnaby and Troy, together with WPC Jay Nash ( Gillian Kearney), start investigating and discover Dave had had numerous affairs with women in the village. A witness later recalls having heard strange 1950s dance music before the murder. When a local man's wife, an antique dealer, and a businessman ( Alan Howard) all become victims to the killer as well, the detectives need to find a possible link to connect the murders before Jay gets into a perilous situation herself. Celia Imrie also appears. The story is grislier than usual, but while one doesn't mind different the grisliness is done to overkill and gratuitous effect and feels really out of place not just for the show but (for when it first aired) for something airing barely past the watershed. Let's not get started on the insultingly farcical ending, with a far too obvious killer and one of the most intelligence-insultingly absurd motives in 'Midsomer Murders' history. The Wild West Society bring their show to Ford Florey, comprising a fairground, and several re-enactments of scenes from American frontier history. Amidst the sound of gunfire, the witch on the 'Dunk the Witch' stall is shot dead. Barnaby and Jones look at possible motives, which seem to revolve around the disputed ownership of an area of local land. The investigation encounters family rivalries and a recurring Wild West theme before the killer can be caught.

Echoes of the Dead", as already mentioned, is quite a disturbing and dark episode, as well as one of the most intense, I really felt an incredible tension and some fear when you are concerned about just one question: "Who's next?" It should be noted that the episode is too brutal and cruel for a cozy series. Shortly before his retirement, Superintendent Pringle ( James Bolam) arrests a local poacher for the murder of a tramp during a fox hunt in woodland close to the village of Upper Marshwood. But DCI Barnaby is unsure that the poacher was the real killer. Upon returning from holidaying in France, Barnaby is soon proved right when the poacher's father is found murdered with his own shotgun. As they reopen the investigation, they find many hidden secrets amongst the villagers. However, after he retires, Pringle is killed in an accident, which Barnaby suspects was also murder. Richard Johnson, Diane Fletcher, Simon McBurney, and Toby Jones also appear.Now we have the older couple. They are too into their telly to care about anything or anyone (including son). How they die? Sledgehammer to the heads!! Reminds me of that great Peter Gabriel song. Why? Because the man lets it slip that their "bastard""good for nothing" son was just that....a bastard. They never got around to marrying each other. Oh, and they laugh and laugh. And so, BAM, right in the head. Did they move? Nope. Too into the telly. New meaning to the phrase how watching too much telly can rot your brain. And last was the young lady who was roomies with the first victim. Why was she about to get her "due"? Because she was seeing a married man. So, yea, she had to go. But who saves the day? The peeping Tom! He saved the day. All in the name of David's "God". David, the pent up virgin who was a teacher who taught about history and how people died....yea! The villagers of Midsomer Deverell are angered by the Inkpen family's plans to convert the public memorial garden into a tea shop. When Elspeth Inkpen's daughter Fliss is found murdered in the garden, Barnaby and Troy believe that someone may be determined to stop its destruction. Elspeth ( Belinda Lang) moves to the vicarage where she too is murdered. As the investigation continues, the suspect list grows to include the daughter of the architect who designed the garden and a gardener ( Neil Dudgeon) with whom both Elspeth and Fliss had been having an affair. Barnaby and Troy realise that the case will only be solved when the garden gives up a sinister secret. The writing is thin and the plot unconvincing. The killer's motive is contrived and preposterous, and by the way, insulting to people of faith. The murders are elaborately staged for no other reason to fill in for what is missing in plot and character development. John Barnaby sort of happens on the solution rather than solving it with his supposed detective skills. The production values of the episode are great as usual. The direction is decent and the music fits the scenery. Adrian Rawlins is not bad in the episode, neither is Pam Ferris, but out of the guest stars Sarah Smart gives the most compelling performance.

When Susan Bartlett is found murdered in Setwale Wood in Midsomer Worthy, DCI Barnaby and DS Troy discover the wood is the centre of a court case over a proposed redevelopment involving neighbouring farmers Simon Bartlett and James Harrington. Barnaby and Troy now suspect murder when two children tell them they found the body the previous afternoon. But as they investigate this case, they soon uncover a web full of witchcraft, potions, and hidden secrets. When James Harrington is also found murdered, Barnaby and Troy realise, that they need to work fast to avoid further deaths. While I don't have much use for people who constantly complain about "political correctness", I have to agree that Midsomer Murders producers can't seem to find a noble or honorable Christian, "to save their soul". Here the practicing Christian actually turns out to be the serial killer. Art historian Philip Hamilton is restoring a medieval fresco is unearthed in the church crypt of Midsomer St Claire. When his partner Nancy Dewar is found dead in a river, a series of murders commences that appear to be inspired by macabre illustrations in the fresco. As the village prepares for storms and flooding, Barnaby and Nelson realise that the motive for the murders is not religious but is connected to a hidden secret. This series is filmed in England, a country known for turning out some of the greatest actors in history. And you're telling me that the producers couldn't find someone who could at least approximate an acceptable lead? They didn't need a Nettles clone, just someone who could bring something special, if different, to the role. An old pagan festival is revived in Midsomer Parva, with the burning effigy of a straw woman as its centrepiece. To the horror of the onlookers, the local curate, Alex Deakin, is found trapped within the effigy and burns to death. As the police investigate, a series of further deaths from apparent spontaneous human combustion follow. Barnaby and Scott soon suspect that someone is using the illusion of witchcraft to hide their true motives.But no. We have Neil Dudgeon as John Barnaby, deadly serious, nasty to Jones, no chemistry with Jones, with a cute dog who as far as I'm concerned is the star of the show. I am unable to warm up to his wife or to him. He has no charm, no humor, no lightness.

Haphazard writing which is either not thought out enough (as in the lame police work), or else guilty of - excuse the pun - overkill (giving the murderer THREE separate motive elements: a quasi-religious angle, a desire to recreate past crimes, and a crushing personal-life event, when just one of those would have sufficed). In February 2009 it was announced that Nettles had decided to leave Midsomer Murders after the conclusion of series 13 in July 2010. When his last episode "Fit for Murder" aired on 2 February 2011, Nettles had appeared in 81 episodes. [2] [3]

Spoiler Alert: Reading this critique may affect your enjoyment of this episode if you have not seen this episode. Tensions run high in the village of Solomon Gorge when a fishing competition, and an extreme obstacle course, are both scheduled for same weekend. The excitement for these two events soon turns to fear when the electrocuted body of Lex Bedford is found within the water obstacle. Two further murders, of Ned Skye and Cornelius Tetbury, soon follow. But it is only later when Barnaby and Winter learn of the death of Lola Silvermane ten years previously, who had been believed to be travelling the world after she left the village, that they uncover the key to the case. The villagers of Midsomer Barton are celebrating the annual Oak Apple Week when the body of a woman is found in a stream. The return of the festival queen event, after a hiatus of eight years, seems to be a link to a series of murders. Barnaby and Jones investigate and find some familiar faces from the past. Midsomer Worthy is preparing for the Four Choirs Competition when one of their members, Connor Simpson, is found dead at his home. Barnaby and Jones begin to look into the events leading to his death. The case is further complicated when a birdwatcher and estate keeper are also killed. With a mysterious figure seen lurking around the churchyard, conductor rivalry, and a possible art scam, there are many things to be investigated.

Note: the blood-red drips behind the letters of the title have returned, after having been changed to multi-color for two series. No.Farmer Alex Preston's dead body is found in the centre of the ancient Crowcall stone circle days before the spring equinox. Early evidence points to a community of New Dawn Druids, who had been angered over Preston's plans to plough the meadow and make the sacred place inaccessible. But when one of the druids is also murdered, Barnaby realises that more complex motives are involved, and his suspicions turn in a direction that threatens to create a serious rift between him and Jones. Maps that reveal the location of a hidden Anglo Saxon treasure, along with a more modern valuable painting, provide the clues that lead to a very manipulative killer. Not only does this make things tiresomely predictable, but presumably to make things more suspenseful, the producers often make the murders especially grisly--as if preying on the most vulnerable of society is not disturbing enough.