PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Midsomer Murders Series 10

I'm still watching the Midsomer Murder series though I did take a break for a bit. There's been a plethora of things to watch, flooding in from all over. It's like I'm faced with pie, cake, cookies and ice cream, piled heaping on the table in front of me. Which to nom nom nom next? The tenth series started airing in November 2006 and didn't end for a year and a half. They are movie length episodes that air at random times. John Nettles is still DCI Tom Barnaby and Jason Hughes plays his partner Sgt Ben Jones. Jane Wymark plays Tom's wife Joyce and Laura Howard plays their daughter Cully.

Dance with the Dead  November 12 2006

There's a dead guy in a nice old car and his girlfriend has disappeared. It looks like suicide but Tom doesn't think so.

The Animal Within  January 19 2007

A lady from the US comes to visit her long lost uncle only to be told that everyone thought she was dead. The uncle isn't home when she arrives because he's dead too. Really dead, all stinky and cut up.

King's Crystal  January 26 2007

Plans to shutter the Midsomer Magna King's Crystal factory have outraged the workers and then the company's accountant turns up dead. Who done that? Tom will find out.

The Axeman Cometh  February 2 2007

At the Midsomer Rocks festival the lead singer of Hired Gun is electrocuted by a live power lead attached to his mic stand. Tom was looking forward to their performance, now he's got to go tot work. He's one for missing his home life for work. But then again, murder never sleeps.

Death and Dust  May 8 2007

When a politician is killed Tom wonders what the motive could be, the man was popular. Tom and Ben make a trip to Wales during the episode. It's nice around Midsomer, I always enjoy the scenery, and it's pretty darn nice in Wales.

Picture of Innocence  June 3 2007

Film and digital photographers are at odds in the local camera competition. Soon one guy is dead, strangled with his light meter. Someone tries to frame Tom for the murders and he's taken off the case. Don't worry, he'll be ok.

They Seek Him Here  April 27 2008

The director of a version of The Scarlet Pimpernel is murdered in Midsomer Magna. He had his head chopped by the prop guillotine. Lots of suspects, most of them annoying show folk, for Tom and Ben to sift through.

Death in a Chocolate Box  May 11 2008

An ex-cop is murdered. He had some scandal in his past. Did that come back to do him in? Tom will find out and put that baddie in the pokey.

All in all a nice bunch of mysteries. I still find the series well written and well produced. I like this more light hearted series, over say A Touch Of Frost, and have the rest of the series in my library queue. It, like my NetFlix queue, is a fluid thing with programs and movies fighting for top spot based on my current whim. Dance, dvd puppets, dance for me.

Midsomer Murders Series 9

Here's the series 9 episodes of Midsomer Murders. I'm using the listings from Wikipedia. John Nettles is the hard working DCI Tom Barnaby and this season he's joined by DC Ben Jones who's played by Jason Hughes. The writing still continues to be good, the cast entertaining and the locations fabulous. There's usually a clever mystery and some good detecting. Compared to A Touch Of Frost this series is almost pastorial. Of course under the skin of the beautiful countryside lurks some evil creeps who murder people for sex or money or land or power. Glad I don't have most of those things so no one bothers me too much.

The House in the Woods October 9 2005 DC Ben Jones appears for the first time. He's a local lad and he's got an interesting first case. A couple of house hunters are found garroted outside a deserted house.

Dead Letters February 26 2006 There's a dead woman in a stream. How'd she get there? Tom will find out. Simon Callow is the guest star.

Vixen's Run March 5 2006  A big old fat rich guy drops dead at a gathering with his three ex-wives. It wasn't murder but his dead lawyer was killed by someone.

Down Among the Dead Men March 12 2006 Blackmail followed by murder keep the guys busy this week. Somehow Tom's wife Joyce and daughter Cully get involved. Julia McKenzie is the guest star.

Four Funerals and a Wedding September 24 2006 A reverend is shot and a lady is poisoned.

Country Matters September 10 2006 There's s supermarket planned and some of the locals aren't liking it. Soon a guy is dead.

Death in Chorus September 3 2006 Why was a choir member and a bird watcher murdered? You'd have to watch to find out. I can't remember. Peter Capaldi is the guest star. You know, the new Doctor Who.

Last Year's Model September 17 2006 Tom and Ben investigate the case against a woman who's in court for murder. Ben gets his Detective Sergeant badge.

Hope you like them. I sure did.

Midsomer Murders Series 8

 

The 8th series of Midsomer Murders started airing in late 2004 and there were 8 episodes over the next year. I use the series listings from the Wikipedia but others don't. John Nettles is DCI Tom Barnaby, John Hopkins is Sgt Daniel Scott, Jane Wyman is Joyce Barnaby and Laura Howard is Cully Barnaby.

Things That Go Bump in the Night October 10 2004 An undertaker is found dead in his chapel. Suspicion falls on the local spiritualist church, the man's ex-business partner, a handyman and a retiree who likes the ladies.  

Dead in the Water October 17 2004 A dead guy is found in the river during the Midsomer Regatta. There's plenty of suspects for Tom and Gavin to sift through.

Orchis Fatalis January 9 2005 The Midsomer Malham Orchid Society's annual show is the focus of the story. A rare orchid is the cause of a series of murders. Tom finds clues in the diary of a naughty scholar.

Bantling Boy January 16 2005 One of the owners of a race horse is killed when he refuses to sell his share. Other owners fall like dominoes.

Second Sight January 23 2005 A man dies after a fight with his brother in-law. Scars on his head lead Tom and Gavin to a man researching second sight.

Hidden Depths March 13 2005 A suicide turns out to be murder as the investigation uncovers some dodgy deals.

Sauce for the Goose April 3 2005 There's murder in a relish factory when a naked dead man is found in the sterilizer.

Midsomer Rhapsody October 2 2005 A music teacher is murdered and a manuscript for a piece of music is stolen. Murder follows as it changes hands.

The level of writing continues to be superb, the mysteries are entertaining and the detection spot on. There are plenty of wonderful characters and interesting murders. Luckily for me the library has the whole series and I can watch them on dvd. The versions on YouTube are mostly pretty good.

MIdsomer Murders Series 7

The library keeps coughing up copies of the British tv mystery Midsomer Murders and I keep watching them. The show started in 1997 and it's still going. This list is what the Wikipedia calls series 7 and it's the list I'm using to make sure I see them all. The previous 6 series had 28 of the 90 minute long episodes and the 7th has 7 more. The library has 89 of them and that takes us up to the last series. So far most of them have been on YouTube. I have put the link to each episode in the title.

  

John Nettles play Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, Daniel Casey plays Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy, and John Hopkins plays Detective Sergeant Daniel Scott. They go about the fictional region, Midsomer, and solve the never ending stream of murders the area spawns. Tom does most of the work, the other guys are usually a bit behind. There's a smashing amount of great scenery, scads of grand houses and heaps of dead people. The stories are pretty entertaining and often the end comes out of nowhere. That might just be me, I rarely try to figure out who the murder is. Why would you, that's Tom's job. There's plenty of great characters, some nice and some you'd enjoy hating.

The Green Man November 2 2003 It's Gavin's last episode, he's been promoted to Inspector. Barnaby puts him in charge of the murder of a young man. David Bradley plays a hermit type who lives alone in the woods, he'd had a dust up with the dead man. I didn't think he did it, he has a fox for a friend. A cave in at a restoration project unearths some 100 year old skeletons, one of which turns out to be really recent. That's Midsomer, you can't even get through pokin' one dead body with a stick before another shows up. I'll miss Gavin's bad driving. I bet Tom won't.

Bad Tidings January 4 2004 DS Dan Scott reports for duty. He doesn't even get to his desk before Tom drags him off to a field with a dead woman in it. A dead woman with a rose in her mouth. DS Scott is lacking any interest in the area and hopes to move along soon. He'd been sent there as punishment for something. He's got some issues. He could learn from Tom, we'll see how he does. Scott gets a bit of settling in from Tom's daughter Cully. She's got a re-union with some college friends that ties in with the second murder. What up, Midsomer? Ruth Jones guests as a woman with a secret.

The Fisher King January 11 2004 A local wag got stuck with an ancient Celtic spear and that opens up a nice can of worms for our detective guys. There's some naughty stuff going on in the village and some people are pissed enough to kill. DS Scott sure is getting a lot of on the job training in Midsomer.

Sins of Commission January 18 2004 There's a big literary festival going on in Midsomer St Michael. A writer has his neck broken and then his body is dumped down some stairs to make it look like an accident. The Causton Police Forensic scientist figures the neck was broken before the fall. Cully's writer pal is a suspect. Tom's family seem to get caught up in the murders on a pretty regular basis. An editor is killed before Tom figures out what's going on.

The Maid in Splendour January 25 2004 Someone shot the barman of the Maid In Splendour pub. The owner of the pub isn't well liked. If you lived in Midsomer, and weren't liked, you'd be worried you might be next. The pub owner is next.

The Straw Woman February 29 2004 Pagen festivals will lead to murder, in Midsomer. Well, just about anything will lead to murder in Midsomer. A straw woman is burned at the festival. Oops, someone left the curate inside. Everyone hears him yelling but the fire is roaring and no one has any fire suppression. He was alive, drugged unconscious, when he was put in there. Some really fuckin' awful people live in Midsomer. Who put that guy in there, and why? Tom wants to know and he takes DS Scott for a poke around. Before too long there's another murder. Good thing they have a huge morgue in Causton. It's one of my favorite episodes so far, a nice complicated story, clever tricks, plenty of great entertaining characters, and well detailed place to play.  

Ghosts of Christmas Past December 25 2004 Good show for the holidays and a pretty good episode. A Christmas cracker announces that 2 members of the Villiers family will die by midnight Boxing Day. That's the 26th. When someone turns up dead, Tom is almost glad to be out of the house. He's got a bad case of in-laws.

Midsomer Murders Series 6

  

The 6th series of Midsomer Murders all aired January 0f 2003. John Nettles is Detective Chief Inspector Thomas "Tom" Geoffrey Barnaby and Daniel Casey is plain old Sgt Gavin Troy. Jane Wymark plays Tom's wife Joyce Barnaby. I find them enjoyable murder mysteries with a couple of coppers digging into the lives of the locals looking for the clue that triggers the capture of a murderer. There are plenty of guest stars, some of whom make it though the whole 90 minute episode. Each week our CID men are in a different town or village and the English country side is often pretty to look at. If you've seen any of the previous episodes you'll find these about the same. I copied the descriptions from the Wikipedia. You can see all the episodes on YouTube though I have to admit they aren't all the best copies.

A Talent for Life January 3 2003

When Barnaby starts a casual investigation into a slap on the face after the Malham Bridge Fly Fishing Club meeting he has no reason to expect it to lead to the double murder of eccentric widow Isobel Hewitt (Honor Blackman) and adulterous doctor Duncan Goff (Richard Durden). Troy soon begins to suspect Isobel's younger "friend", antique dealer Quentin Roka (Philip Franks).

Death and Dreams January 10 2003

Martin Wroth is found shot dead, apparently having committed suicide in an unnecessarily complex fashion. However, in Midsomer, things are never that simple. Then another man is found dead, drowned and strung up on an assault course. He clearly didn't kill himself, so why is the murderer playing games?

Painted in Blood January 17 2003

Ruth Fairfax, an elderly lady whom Joyce Barnaby (Jane Wymark) finds murdered at an art class, turns out to a 30-year-old woman in disguise. Almost as soon as she is identified Barnaby is pulled off the case by the NIS. At first Troy is dazzled by the visiting detectives who take him under their wing, but eventually he becomes disillusioned and helps Barnaby solve the case.

A Tale of Two Hamlets January 24 2003

Arrogant actor Larry Smith is killed when he walks into a summerhouse that subsequently explodes. The director of Smith's new hit film, The House Of Satan, is then electrocuted on his exercise bike. Barnaby and Troy soon discover a century old dispute between the villages of Upper and Lower Warden.

Birds of Prey January 31 2003

When an investor in a millionaire's latest scheme becomes desperate to get his money out, and then is found dead in a lake, it raises the question of whether he killed himself or someone else did it for him. While Barnaby investigates that death, Troy is tramping around the woods with an attractive wildlife liaison officer (Candida Benson) looking into the theft of protected bird eggs. Barnaby's wife is interested in wildlife, too – dreaming of an African safari.

Midsomer Murders Series 5

 

The fifth season has DCI Tom Barnaby, played by John Nettles, and Sgt Gavin Troy, played by Daniel Casey, solving murder cases in the fictional country of Midsomer. The 5 episodes aired in 2001 and 2002 and like the previous programs each episode runs about 98 minutes. Midsomer is a fairly large place and there are plenty of large houses and small villages. Causton is the main large town but Tom and Gavin rarely seem to have any cases there. No matter, there's enough murder in the country. Someone is always ready to slaughter for some cash or property, or love or lack of it. I find the stories to be fairly interesting. I got some of them from the library and some I watched on YouTube. Obviously the dvds look much better. Usually the stories are rather sordid and the murders are often unusual.

Tainted Fruit - Murder amongst the naughty villagers. If only they had kept their tainted fruit in their pants.

Ring Out Your Dead - Murder in a group of bell ringers. Ding, dong, dead.

Murder on St Malley's Day - Murder at a posh school. Couldn't happen in a better place. Gavin is still a poor driver. Those English country roads are often windy and narrow. Dangerous in themselves.

Market For Murder - Elderly lady has her head bashed in with her own cane. Damn, huh. Gavin has been collecting the Eagle since he was a boy.

A Worm in the Bud - There's plenty of murder in the woods, which you would expect. I don't like going in the woods anymore. I used to as a kid but we often had woods around us. We didn't live in the city all the time and there was the farm in summers when we did.

Midsomer Murders Series 4

 

Midsomer Murders continues with John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby and Daniel Casey as Sgt Gavin Troy. They work out of the city of Causton in the fictional county of Midsomer. It's a pretty place with picturesque small towns and villages and farms and murder. The guys are always hopping about from one small town to another tiny village. There are unusual murders and odd characters with problems that supply the motive. It's up to the guys to root them out and it usually takes about 90 minutes. They don't do that many shows per season but the ones they do are usually pretty good. I like the characters and there's a bit of comedy tossed in. I watched the lot of these from the library. They have a good handful and most of them were sitting on the shelf. Hardly any of them have a waiting list, newer movies can have hundreds of people the first week sign up, some tv shows can have several dozen.

 

Usually I'm not so lazy but I've been working on the October TwinLUG contest entry and that's been taking up a bit of time I might have spent blogging. I usually like to write a bit about the shows I watch myself. I constantly use these blog posts as a memory enchancement. I sure I know I need it. So with that lazness set up the synopsis of each show comes from the Wikipedia. Someone does a god job of telling the basic story without divulging the murder's identity. There's a link for each movie in the title.

Garden of Death  September 10 2000

The Inkpen family cause controversy in Midsomer as they are planning to turn their popular public memorial garden into a commercial teashop. A village meeting is held where Elspeth Inkpen announces to the shocked villagers that it is none of their business, and later that evening her daughter is murdered with a shovel. Twenty four hours later Elspeth is found dead in an apparent suicide. Barnaby and Troy's investigation takes them to a father and daughter who are mourning their missing wife/mother, and to a violent man with a shotgun. There are also the two remaining Inkpens - one is the snobbish grandmother and the other is the illegitimate daughter who was adopted for most of her life but returned to get to know her mother. One thing is certain-the village is full of greed.

Destroying Angel  August 26 2001

Hotel Owner Karl Wainwright dies and splits his will between 4 beneficiaries. However, on the day of his funeral, a severed hand is found in the woods, belonging to Gregory Chambers, a beneficiary and a Punch-and-Judy showman. A murder investigation begins and DCI Barnaby and Sergeant Troy are called to the village. With the help of local Punch-and-Judy artists, they understand that at the summer fete show Gregory had always uncovered a piece of local controversy. Barnaby suspects he was killed to silence him from revealing this year's piece of information. However this theory is thrown out when the other beneficiaries receive death threats. And when they are murdered one by one Barnbay has to make a connection between the deaths and a dangerous mushroom called Destroying Angel.

This is one of several episodes that contain veiled tributes to classic mystery stories; the Amanita "Destroying Angel" mushroom is the same one used in Dorothy L. Sayers "The Documents in the Case". 

The Electric Vendetta  September 2 2001

UFO mania hits Midsomer Padrva when a man's naked body is found electrocuted in a crop circle in Sir Harry Chatwyn's (John Woodvine) wheat field. Local ufologist Lloyd Kirby (Kenneth Colley) is certain it's alien activity and appreciates the boost the murder's publicity has given his lecture and tour business. Later that night the body of a local burglar is found with identical injuries in another circle.

Who Killed Cock Robin?  September 9 2001

One night, a local doctor returns home in his car in a drunken state. However, as he swerves round a corner in the road his car hits an Irish horse whisperer who had just moved to the village. DCI Barnaby and Sergeant Troy arrive in the village but the body is nowhere to be found. Barnaby encounters an old adversary who had been imprisoned for a short while. His daughter is getting married to a local boy whose mother is missing. And when the best man's dad's body is found at the bottom of a well the investigation really heats up.

Dark Autumn  September 16 2001

Postman Dave Cutler is on his morning rounds when 1950's dance music is heard across the village of Goodman's Land. Later that morning Dave is discovered murdered. DCI Barnaby and Sergeant Troy arrive in the sinister village to discover that Dave was a flirtatious man who had many of the village's women over his shoulder. He had upset many husbands in the process. Did one of these angry husbands murder him? However, later that night a woman is murdered in shrubbery near the village. Barnaby realises that most of the people in the village have adulterous relationships and that anyone could have a motive. But something is lurking in the autumn trees ready to murder and frighten. 

You can see that there's a good selection of methods of being done in. The guys have their hand full with all the characters but they always get the villain of the piece. I'm enjoying these, nice light entertainment.

Midsomer Murders Series 3

The 3rd series was broadcast in 1999. Period. There were four 100 minute episodes, each set in the fictional countryside area called Midsomer. Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and Sgt Gavin Troy are headquartered in Causton. Tom has a wife, Joyce, and a daughter named Cully. Poor Gavin remains single. Once again YouTube users have put the you in YouTube and you've got a chance to see these shows for free. Sharing, that's nice, isn't it.

  

Dead Man's Eleven has Joyce thinking of a new house in the country. Tom isn't so keen: "Every time I go into any Midsomer village it's always the same thing: blackmail, sexual deviances, suicide, and murder. How could you possibly expect me to go and live in one of them?" The murders at the Midsomer Worthy Cricket Club sure help convince Joyse that it might be better to stay in Causton.

 

Blue Herrings has murders at a nursing home where Tom's aunt is having a short stay. He doesn't believe that the first death wass murder but once more bodies start piling up he gets busy.

 

Judgement Day Joyce ia a judge on the Perfect Village panel. Orlando Bloom guest stars as a local layabout and womanizer who turns up pitchforked through the chest. More murders follow, including members of the Perfect Village panel, so Tom and Gavin have their hands full.

  

Death of A Stranger has Tom and Joyce in France on vacation. Guest star James Bolam is filling in for Tom and he arrests a man suspected of killing a tramp. It's just the start of the killings and all because some people are right horrible. There's some fox hunting which isn't something that I think much of.

Another fairly good batch of programs. Again the area used for Midsomer,  Wallingford, Oxfordshire proves to be colorful, mostly green, and photographable.

Midsomer Murders Series 2

 

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.  

Midsomer Murders Series 1-4 Death Of The Hollow Man

  

Death Of A Hollow Man has Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby investigating a murder of a woman fished from a river. The Causton Amateur Dramatics theater group is putting on a production of Amadeus. Joyce Barnaby has a small part in the play and Tom is helping with the backgrounds. The woman in the river is the cousin of a lady in the play and during the opening night a man dies onstage. Someone had tanpered with a prop razor. It was a pretty entertaining story willed with a mix of characters, some awful and some much nicer. Nice complicated story that had a screenplay by Caroline Graham, who wrote the novel it was based on.

The last of the first season, Faithful unto Death, is on YouTube but it has no soundtrack. Acorn TV, the producers of the Midsomer Murders dvds in the US have their own channel on YouTube but you have to pay for that.