Midsomer Murders - Echoes of the Dead [DVD]

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Note: the blood-red drips behind the letters of the title have returned, after having been changed to multi-color for two series. No. Not a huge lover of the characters in this one, Malcolm and his parents, almost nonsensical, utterly unbelievable, Pam Ferris was utterly wasted, and again her character as head of a Donkey Sanctuary seemed a wee bit silly. I did really like Sarah Smart's Jo Starling on the other hand, such a likable actress, she always adds something. 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!

After gathering on Moonstone Ridge to observe a total eclipse of the sun, members of the amateur Midsomer Stanton Astronomical Society start to meet their deaths in bizarre ways. Three amateur astronomers are killed - the first, by a blow to the head with a meteorite, the second with a spear, and the third nearly decapitated using a bronze disc with astronomical markings. The astrological sign Scorpio seems to be a common theme of the killings, but Barnaby begins to doubt whether the case is so straightforward. 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. A 90-year-old feud between the male and female inhabitants of Broughton comes to a head with a Skimmington Ride event. When elderly Ms. Danvers is poisoned shortly before the event takes place, Barnaby and Jones must investigate whether her murder was related to the feud or another unknown cause. When the Rev. Anthony Gant is shot and killed whilst taking part in the traditional ride, and another murder follows, it seems likely that there are deeper secrets to uncover. Eric Calder, Chairman and boss of Calder's Biscuits, is found murdered whilst on a business trip in Copenhagen. He had been poisoned with strychnine applied to a box of Calder's biscuits. It is discovered the box had been sent from the village of Badger's Drift, home to Calder's firm. The detectives team up with two female Danish police officers to investigate, where suspects and motives abound before the mystery is unravelled. Normally I do a recap of the plot of the Midsomer Murders episode, but in the case of "Echoes of the Dead," I'm not going to. As far as the story, it was just okay. And also, may I point out, they didn't solve the case.DS Dan Scott arrives in Midsomer as DS Troy's replacement. He is instantly involved in a case in the village of Midsomer Mallow, when a college secretary is found murdered. Soon after a retired doctor is also murdered during the village's annual garden open day. Barnaby and Scott investigate the connection between the two victims, and the murder of a homeless drunk give them the clue they need. Meanwhile, Cully organizes a reunion with a group of old school friends, with unexpected results. When in its prime (a vast majority of Seasons 1-9), 'Midsomer Murders' was a great show and one that is watched and re-watched frequently. Seasons 10-13 became more uneven, with three of the show's worst episodes coming from Seasons 11 and 13, but there were a few solid episodes and "Blood Wedding" and especially "Master Class" were gems. Several skeletons are discovered in a tunnel during a canal restoration project near Midsomer Worthy. DCI Barnaby begins his investigations and discovers that one skeleton has modern dental work. Meanwhile, DS Troy has been promoted to Inspector. He begins his last case in Midsomer, investigating the murder of a teenager, Simon Mayfield (played by Henry Cavill), who had been shot with a gun that he and his friends had been using the previous night. The two detectives discover their cases are linked, and uncover a web of lies, affairs, and domestic arguments alongside a mysterious recluse with a hidden past. Barnaby and Jones attend the Midsomer Abbas spring fair, a celebration of the village’s friendship with Midsomer Herne. After sampling the local cider, Barnaby becomes unwell, and moments later the body of Peter Slim is discovered inside the cider vat. Peter had been a tax inspector searching for illicit alcohol. The investigation reveals two very insular communities wedded to ancient traditions and suspicious of outsiders. When the bloodied fingerprints of the local cider mill owner are found on a wooden staff linked to the murder, the case seems solved. But Barnaby has his doubts. Meanwhile, the local vicar, the Reverend Conrad Walker, is appalled at plans to revive an ancient fertility rite known as 'The Stag,' and soon afterwards is himself murdered. Upon discovering that a local girl had been married to Peter Slim, the detectives realise that the motive for the killings is far darker than they had imagined.

However, Neil Dudgeon is at his least comfortable and most smug so far, again playing the role too heavily and humourlessly, while Fiona Dolman is pretty charmless and poor Jason Hughes really struggles trying to do something with a dumbed-down-beyond-belief and badly demeaned Jones. There is very little chemistry here, Barnaby and Jones' is far too mean-spirited (Barnaby's demeaning treatment easily counts as bullying, just for the record Tom didn't always treat his sergeants well but never to this extent, this is taking the biscuit) rather than the gentle and playful one that was such a huge part of the show's charm in the Tom Barnaby-era. Neither is there much chemistry here between John and Sarah, one never gets the sense that they are in love, let alone husband and wife. New Causton DCI John Barnaby arrives in Midsomer county. Years earlier, the body of a renowned racing car driver had been found at the prestigious Darnley Park Girls School, apparently having committed suicide with a revolver. The school is now hosting a vintage car rally, but the event is disrupted by the death of one of the judges, a local celebrity DJ. Initially, his death is also presumed to be suicide, but Barnaby soon spots evidence suggesting that both victims had been murdered. The "alleged motive" is usually some form of sexual frustration as in this episode. This means that the serial killer is almost always male, and the victims are almost always female, usually young women or girls. Here I must say that in this episode, Midsomer Murders departs from its usual fun and somewhat parodic style, giving way to a dark and disturbing style, as previously in "The Straw Woman", "Left for Dead" and "Small Mersies", so those who expected to see a light Midsomer plot can leave the screens.Of the performances/characters, the scene stealer is Sykes, one of the cutest dogs on television and so endearing and funny. Ron Cook and Sarah Smart give the best performances of the human cast, and there is a very eerie moment in the build-up to the climax with the murderer whistling 'Lohengrin's "Bridal Chorus", that tune that has never been more chillingly ironic, unfortunately that is the one atmospheric moment in the whole episode there is. After reading a letter from his beloved fiancé Louise, telling him that she had ended up marrying another man, David set off killing all the young women who in his eyes had sinned by having affairs or marrying the wrong way. Firstly, he went for Dianne Price. As she was a student of his, she trusted him and let him into her house. He waited behind the bathroom door for her to come in, and strangled her with a ribbon because she had been sinning with a man in the village before marriage. He then stripped her, dressed her in a bridal gown made of a net curtain, and dumped her in the bath. From the pilot episode in 1997 until 2 February 2011 the lead character, DCI Tom Barnaby, was portrayed by John Nettles OBE.