"Midsomer Murders" Judgement Day (2000)

Director:

Jeremy Silberston

Writers:

Caroline Graham (characters) and
Anthony Horowitz (screenplay)

TV Series:

"Midsomer Murders" (1997)

Original Air Date:

29 January 2000 (Season 3, Episode 3)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

The residents of Midsomer Mallow fear for their chances in the Perfect Village competition when a local thief and womanizer is brutally killed with a pitchfork.

Plot Keywords:

Pitchfork | Killed With A Fork | Watching Television | 20 Year Old | Murderer

Cast

John Nettles	...	D.C.I. Tom Barnaby
Daniel Casey	...	Sergeant Gavin Troy
Jane Wymark	...	Joyce Barnaby
Laura Howard	...	Cully Barnaby
Timothy West	...	Marcus Devere
Hannah Gordon	...	Bella Devere
Richard Hope	...	Gordon Brierly
Marsha Fitzalan	...	Laura Brierly
Maggie Steed	...	Rosemary Furman
Nickolas Grace	...	Frank Mannion
Josephine Tewson	...	Samantha Johnstone
Barbara Jefford	...	Barbara Drinkwater
Moray Watson	...	Edward Allardice
Shelagh Fraser	...	Jane Rochelle
Orlando Bloom	...	Peter Drinkwater

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:15

Filming Locations:

Chenies Manor House, Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Bentley Productions

Trivia:

As Barnaby and Troy are investigating a series of burglaries and murders, Barnaby points out the name of one of the houses they visit, "Lothlorian", commenting it was from Tolkein's 'Lord of the Rings'. The burglaries they were investigating were committed by the character portrayed by Orlando Bloom (who is also the first murder victim), who later played Legolas, the Elf, in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" movies. Lothlorian was the centre of Elfdom on Middle Earth.

Top-notch episode with all the puzzle pieces of the plot fitting together neatly at the end

Midsomer Mallow hopes to win the Perfect Village competition on what is ominously called Judgement Day, but the village representatives are worried about their chances when a local young burglar and gigolo (Orlando Bloom) is found stabbed to death with a pitchfork. Barnaby and Troy are on the case. Meanwhile, Joyce ends up in Mallow, too, when she wins a contest to be one of the judges for the competition. Cully also has business there: interviewing a famous retired actor for her book about the theater.

"Judgement Day" is a top-notch episode with all the puzzle pieces of the plot fitting together neatly at the end. The prologue takes us to 1955, where we meet a little girl, her parents, the housekeeper and a stuffed toy with a bloody knife. Then the story proper starts and once again we meet a village full of interesting people with dirty little secrets - some more likable and more forgivable than others. As in all the best whodunits, the secrets seem inevitable and perfectly in character, even though we usually can't guess them in advance and don't really know our characters until their secrets are revealed.