They shot the second series of Midsomer Murders from May to September 1998 but the programs didn't air for almost a year and one didn't come out until early 2000. Strangler's Woods was the first filmed and it aired January 27 1999. A naked Brazilian actor is found in a ditch. Her body was found in the same woods that three other strangled women were found in 9 years earlier. The Rolex watch found next to the body leads them to a tobacco executive and his family. The wife is an advice columnist. The son is somewhat ignored. Their Au Pair is murdered next. Turns out she was a bit stupid and that got her killed. Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and Sgt Gavin Troy keep hammering away at the players and eventually rumble the murderer's game.
A lot of people offer the detectives tea when they come to visit, occasionally coffee, and fairly often, a stiff drink of some sort. Then they visited the commune last season they got offered acorn tea. It seems an awful idea to me. It's those sort of food choices that keep me away from communes. The two detectives pour their cuppas out when no one was looking. I believe the tea killed a plant. I have tea twice a day normally. Regular old Lipton tea. I'm not sure what tea they drink in England. All sorts I guess.
In Blood Will Out the murder doesn't happen right away. It's about a third of the way through the 100 minute movie before the most hated man in the village is blasted with a shotgun. You'd think no one would care, I mean, people really hated the guy, but Barnaby and Troy are old Bill, through and through, and they dig right in and figure out who did it. The village is also home to a gathering of travellers with something going on in their little world beside horse trading. Plenty of interesting characters and a good mystery in this one. Troy's driving continues to be an embarrassment for him. The Barnaby's are on a diet and it's not a good thing for Tom. Sometimes Tom seems to have a stick up his ass and sometimes Gavin is a bit of a dumb ass. Still, they're fairly likable.
Death's Shadow sees the Barnaby's back in Badger's Drift. That's a great name for a town. I just like the way the two words sound together. Joyce Barnaby wants to renew her and Tom's marriage vows. They ask Richard Briers, the vicar of the church in Badger's Drift to do the honours. Of course, there's murder afoot and a guy gets his head chopped off with a sword. Tom's on the case and Joyce's preparations keep getting interrupted. There's a bit of humor in that. I like the mix of crime and detection and family life. Just enough of each to keep me interested. Of course the families of the people involved with the murders are often beyond the pale. The vicar in this story is a nice quiet humble fellow with a horrible wife. Judy Parfitt plays her so well, all I could do was hope the murderer got to her before he or she got caught. Judy has been around since 1962 and I've seen her in several things over the years. She was in four different episodes of The Avengers. That was something pretty common of the time. Several other actors played multiple roles on that series and the same thing happened on The Saint. I've heard Barry Letts and other producers comment on the Doctor Who extras that they would use the same actors over and over again. They would re-hire people they knew would do a good job for them.
Beyond the Grave has Barnaby's daughter Culley ask if her boyfriend Nico can stay at the Barnaby house. They put him in a spare room. Nico's an actor, with an up coming role in a tv crime drama, and he wants to shadow Sgt Troy as he goes about his job. Barnaby gives the nod but Troy isn't sure he likes the idea. After a while the two young guys get on well together. There isn't much too exciting for Nico to see, especially at first. The two detectives investigate the defacing of a painting. There's some other dark and devious stuff going on and an old man gets his head bashed in. Now Barnaby and Troy have got to figure out what's up from a package of smoked mackerel. Gavin gets a compliment from Barnaby about his driving for once.
Another batch of good plots and scripts. There's a bit of danger and menace but it never gets too grisly for the most part. Plenty of interesting guest stars playing a mixed group of characters. The video quality on YouTube is a bit weak. I don't mind it unless I try to go full screen then it looks a bit fuzzy. It's not dvd quality that's for sure. I had actually seen Death's Shadow on dvd last week. I got it from the library and it looked much better obviously but there aren't many of the shows on dvd here in the US. They are up to 99 episodes so far. Sadly there isn't much of anything on the dvd's by way of extras. Still I'm perfectly happy to watch these on YouTube. I'll link to the episodes of next series soon as I get a chance to watch them.
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