PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Midsomer Murders Series 15

I had watched these over a couple of months as they became available at the library and I thought about checking to see if the next DVDs had made it to the library. Series 15 has 6 movie length episodes. Each nicely self contained and right pretty to look at. There's the usual well written scripts, entertaining characters, great locations and plenty of corpses.

Neil Dudgeon plays DCI John Barnaby, Jason Hughes plays DS Ben Jones, Fiona Dolman plays John's wife Sarah Barnaby and Tamzin Malleson plays Dr Kate Wilding, the police forensic lady. Sadly it will be the last series of John Hughes. I'll miss him, he was a good detective sergeant and a nice guy.

The Dark Rider February 1 2012  A headless horseman scares a guy into falling off his big ass house. His family is putting on an English Civil War re-enactment in the area and that's got them all in a tizzy. Another local family are their enemies, since the time of the original English Civil War. Tom and Ben dig into the life of Bentham DeQuetteville and find some stinky secrets. William Gaunt is one of the guests. I remember him from the British TV series The Champions.

Murder Of Innocence March 21 2012  A dead barrister fills John and Ben's days. The guy that looks like the likely suspect has an alibi. That's a good thing to have, huh. Kate comes up with a nice clue and John and Ben get the baddie. 

Written In The Stars September 25 2012  There's a total eclipse of the sun and an amateur astronomer Jeremy Harper has his head smashed by a meteorite. John suspects foul play, the man had had a row with the head of the university observatory, and starts digging. There's murder, sex, and ambition, as the academic's get active.

Death And The Divas January 2 2013  All the murders have a film tie in. The first murder victim is found with vampire like puncture marks in her throat.

The Sicilian Defense January 9 2013 A woman wakes up from a coma and there's death at the chess club. That Midsomer is a dangerous place to be in a club or organization. Or in business, or in a family, or walking your dog. Just damn deadly dangerous.

Schooled In Murder January 30 2013  A woman is killed by a giant wheel of cheese in the first of a series of dairy related deaths.

I was quite pleased with the stories but I've liked the consistency of the writing and plotting since I first saw a few episodes. It maintains a high standard for production and you can see that they spent money on the series and it was well spent. The show sells well and it's popular in many countries. I have to admit I like the John Nettles episodes a bit more than the Neil Dudgeon ones but it's a minor quibble. I hope 16 comes right quick, I'm ready to watch them.

Midsomer Murders Revisited

I've been watching Midsomer Murders over again. I liked this image in one episode, they hold on the blood spattered flower for a couple of beats before they cut to the title image. I caught a copy to save.

Midsomers Murders Series 14

The 14th series of Midsomer Murders aired in 2011 and it's the series that starts with a new Barnaby in town. Niel Dudgeon is DCI John Barnaby and he's the cousin of the retired DCI Tom Barnaby. John's married to Sarah who is played by Fiona Dolman. Here's a bit from the Wikipedia on their characters:

John transferred from Brighton to Midsomer's Causton CID to replace his older cousin, Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, when Barnaby retired. He has a degree in Psychology from Durham University, which earned him some ribbing from DS Jones when he first arrived; however, despite a rocky start, the two make a formidable team. Barnaby lives in a large country cottage with his wife Sarah and their dog Sykes. He first makes a guest appearance in the series 13 episode, "The Sword of Guillaume" before taking over in the series 14 premiere, "Death in the Slow Lane." Dudgeon actually made his first appearance on the show not as John Barnaby, but as womanising gardener Daniel Bolt in the series 4 opener "Garden of Death".

Sarah is the headmistress of the local primary school. As she has a full-time career of her own (unlike Joyce), she does not figure as much in her husband's cases; and they don't have any children (until the end of the sixteenth series), although you may consider Sykes, their dog, as their child. Despite this, they have a loving marriage and celebrated their fifteen year anniversary in "Schooled for murder". Throughout the sixteenth series Sarah is pregnant and in the last episode of the series she gives birth to their first child, a daughter, called Betty.

John partner is Detective Sergeant Ben Jones, who's played by Jason Hughes. Jones is Tom Barnaby's third junior. Unlike Troy and Scott, who first appeared on the series as plain-clothed detective sergeants, Jones was a uniformed police constable when he was first introduced. Jones was first appointed as a Detective Constable, as well as Barnaby's second-in-command. (after assisting Barnaby during Sgt Scott's absence) and promoted to Detective Sergeant by the end of his first series. Jones is considerably less naive than Troy or Scott, possessing an insight into cases that neither would have. Jones was born in Wales and remarks about his love for Wales when he and Tom travel there in the episode "Death and Dust". He is formerly a Freemason, as revealed in "King's Crystal". In the episode "Death in Chorus", Jones exhibits a remarkable vocal talent and is recruited to sing tenor in the Midsomer Worthy choir. In "Death in the Slow Lane", it is revealed that Jones was interested in replacing Tom Barnaby upon his retirement and was a little put out by his cousin, John Barnaby, being transferred to the position instead. In reality, he could not have been given the post because it would have required him to bypass the rank of inspector. In "Murder Of Innocence", it is revealed that Jones is in a relationship with firefighter Susie Bellingham. In the series 16 opener, "The Christmas Haunting", it was revealed that Jones had been promoted to Inspector and transferred to Brighton. He sent a Christmas card to the Barnabys, though it was addressed to their dog, Sykes.

Death in the Slow Lane  March 23 2011

John arrives in the town to take over the Detective Inspector spot. His first case is a death by crushing. More death's follow. It's a tough place, that Midsomer.

Dark Secrets  March 30 2011

Someone's killed a social worker and it opens a mess of deadly family secrets. Some people sure have some shitty lives and then they make it worse by trying to cover it up.

Echoes of the Dead  April 20 2011

There's a dead bride in a bathtub and more wedding themed murders occur.

The Oblong Murders  May 25 2011

John and Ben investigate the disappearance of a woman who was in a cult and an old case about a couple killed in a boat explosion.

The Sleeper Under the Hill  September 21 2011

Someone's been murdered in a stone circle. It's not even a real circle. The guy's still dead. That leads to some weird dead bodies that take some good detecting to get to the bottom of the mystery.

The Night of the Stag  October 12 2011

There's moonshine being made in the countryside. People at the Midsomer Abbas spring fayre drink cider from a barrel with a dead man in it. Good thing I don't care that much for cider.

A Sacred Trust  October 26 2011

Someone strangled a nun. Ben and John have to intrude on a sheltered religious order and it's a sad thing.

A Rare Bird  January 11 2012

A rare bird leads to murder. Some hobbies are jsut too dangerous for me. 

Sadly there aren't many on YouTube. I've been happily getting them from the library and I keep enjoying them. The productions writing remains consistant and I'm getting to like the new Barnaby.

Midsomer Murders Series 13

Series 13 of Midsomer Murders is the last series with John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby. He'll retire and we won't see him or his wife Joyce and his daughter Cully anymore. I'll miss Tom, he was a good detective and an interesting guy. I'll miss his wife and daughter too, they were nice ladies. Sgt Benjamin Jones will stick around. He'll have another Barnaby to deal with when Series 14 starts. I'm still enjoying the program, there's plenty of good writing and great locations, plus all the interesting characters.  

The Made-to-Measure Murders  May 12 2010

A lady is found dead in a church yard. Tom and Ben start digging into the ladies life.

The Sword of Guillaume  February 10 2010

Someone cuts off the head of a hated land developer and Tom has some help from his cousin DCI John Barnaby. Neil Dudgeon plays John and he will take over when Tom retires.

Blood on the Saddle  September 8 2010

In a town with a Wild West Show someone killed the lady in the dunk tank.

The Silent Land  September 22 2010

Joyce thought she kissed the cloaked figure on the road but the next day there's a dead body. That Joyce has some bad things happen to her. Tom soon sorts it out even though the villagers are hiding stuff. They are good at that, I've seen it in so many movies and tv shows, it must happen.

Master Class  October 6 2010

Someone jumping off a bridge leads to more murder. Busy week for Tom and Ben.

The Noble Art  October 13 2010

Boxing and blackmail lead to murder.

Not in My Back Yard  12 January 2011

There's murder when a land development goes sour.

Fit for Murder  2 February 2011

While on a relaxing visit to a spa with Joyce a body turns up in the floation tank.

Midsomer Murders Series 12

Series 12 of Midsomer Murders started airing in the summer of 2009. There are 7 movie length episodes featuring the detecting adventures of DCI Tom Barnaby and Sgt Benjamin Jones in the fictional Midsomer area. I get the discs fromthe library. Each episode comes out on a separate disc and they are about a 100 minutes long. I've been getting them from the local library system who have a nice selection of British tv. Sadly only one of this series is posted to YouTube. You can join Acorn TV and see plenty of British programming for 5 bucks a month.

The Dogleg Murders  July 22 2009

Someone is killing members of the posh and snooty gold club. There's some illegal schnanegans going on there and Tom and Ben have to sort that out.

The Black Book  August 5 2009

There's a series of murders having a connection to a newly discovered painting by a famous local but long dead artist.

Secrets and Spies  July 29 2009

We find out that Tom Barnaby was a spy at one time. Peter Davison guests as a spy. A man visiting his house is killed by the 'beast of Midsomer'. When Tom figures out there are spies involved MI5 kick him off the case until there's another murder. It seems hard to stay breathing in Midsomer.

The Glitch  September 23 2009

There's murder attached to the men of a software company.

Small Mercies  October 28 2009

A guy is killed and staked out like Gulliver amongst the tiny buildings in a Model Village. Tom and Ben start to dig around and try to figure out who done that guy in.

The Creeper  January 27 2010

There's a cat burglar working in Midsomer and Tom and Ben get called in when a woman turns up dead. Rik Mayall plays a dead guy.

The Great and the Good  April 14 2010

A woman is sleep walking and she believes she killed someone while out and about. Tom and Ben are on the case.

Midsomer Murders Series 11

I'm still getting the Midsomer Murders series from the library. They have a ton of great British tv and some real crap too. The 11th series of MM started airing in July of 2008 and went on through May of 2009. There were 7 episodes, each about 100 minutes in length. The stories are contained in each episode but there's the occasional bit of Barnaby family business that continues from episode to episode. John Nettles is DCI Tom Barnaby, Jason Hughes is Sgt Benjamin Jones, Jane Wymark is Tom's wife Joyce and Laura Howard is Tom's daughter Cully.

Blood Wedding  July 6 2008

Cully's getting married and the Barnaby family has that going on. Tom's old partner Gavin Troy make a guest appearance. The maid of honor from the Fitzroy wedding party turns up dead in her room. The honeymoon is cancelled and the cops are under foot. There are family secrets for our coppers to dig out and some nasty people to deal with.

Shot at Dawn  January 1 2008

A feud leads to murder and Tom and Ben have to spend a lot of time with some crappy people. Sure seems a lot of them in the Midsomer area. That and all the murders sure make me less interested in visiting. There's a brief bit of nudity that I wasn't expecting.

Left for Dead  July 20 2008

A reclusive couple are found dead and that's followed by a builder being murdered.

Midsomer Life  July 13 2008

A dead man in the woods leads to Midsomer Life magazine and a second body leads to a feud at the Morecroft Hotel.

The Magician's Nephew  July 27 2008

A magician dies during his preformance at a kid's show and he was poisoned with a rare toxin extracted from Ecuadorean poison frogs. Cool, huh.

Days of Misrule  December 24 2008

Tom and Ben have to take part in a team building excercise that the new acting Chief set up. There's an explosion in a truck and the dead guy was into some shady business deals.

Talking to the Dead  May 5 2009

A couple vanish when the visit the village of Monks Barton.

Another good batch of programs. There's the usual pretty countryside and stately homes to wonder around in, just don't trip over all the corpses.