Things That Go Bump in the Night (10 Oct. 2004)

Undertaker Patrick Pennyman is found dead with his wrists slashed and suspicion turns towards a spiritualist church.

Director:

Peter Smith

Writers:

Peter Hammond (screenplay), Caroline Graham (characters)

Stars:

John Nettles, John Hopkins, Jane Wymark

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
John Nettles	...	DCI Tom Barnaby
John Hopkins	...	Sergeant Dan Scott
Jane Wymark	...	Joyce Barnaby
Laura Howard	...	Cully Barnaby
Barry Jackson	...	Dr Bullard
Dearbhla Molloy	...	Elizabeth Key
Mary Jo Randle	...	Janet Pennyman
Jonathan Slinger	...	Thomas Marr
Cathryn Bradshaw	...	Anne Marr
Liza Sadovy	...	Rosetta Price
Philip Martin Brown	...	John Whittle
Garry Cooper	...	James Griss
Julian Curry	...	Ronald Burgess
Linda Spurrier	...	Sylvia Burgess
Kathryn Pogson	...	Eve Whittle

Storyline

Det. Supt. Barnaby and DS Scott investigate the murder of Patrick Pennyman, an undertaker in the village of Fletcher's Cross. The man's wife thinks he committed suicide but the pathologist determines he was killed. The man died soon after his return home after attending a service at the local spiritualist church, itself the source of some controversy in the village. As the investigation progresses, the police learn that Pennyman was generally disliked. Former employees, business partners and others all had a grudge against him of one sort or another. Barnaby believes the head of the Spiritualist church to be a charlatan and while there is a link to the ever increasing number of murder victims, the solution to the crimes is to be found in an illicit love affair.

---

Plot Keywords:

spiritualist | undertaker | murder | village | medium | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 2004 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Quainton Railway Station, Quainton, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bentley Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 94 min (DVD)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Eve Whittle: Let us start with a prayer.
Rosetta Price: Great Spirit, we welcome you. Place a pyramid of protection over this building, and around every home represented here this evening. We ask our guides and the doorkeepers who help us to be with us during this meeting. We speak to you in love, and light, and truth, and leave ourselves in your loving hands. Eternity was yesterday, and is today, and continues forward forever.

User Reviews

Decent Midsomer Murders mystery.

Midsomer Murders: Things That Go Bump in the Night is set in the Midsomer village of Fletcher's Cross where strange things are afoot, a local woman named Rosetta Price (Liza Sadovy) holds séances in which she attempts to contact the dead for a fee paying audience. Then one night Janet Pennyman (Mary Jo Randle) discovers her undertaker husband Patrick dead with his wrists slashed, an autopsy confirms that Patrick was hit over the back of the head & then had his wrists slashed & the lack of any knife at the scene means DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & Sgt. Dan Scott (John Hopkins) have a murder on their hands. As Barnaby investigates he finds there are plenty of people with motives & when another Fletcher's Cross resident named Elizabeth Key (Dearbhla Molloy) is found murdered in the same way the pressure to find the killer or killers intensifies...

Episode 1 from season 8 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Peter Smith & was a pretty uninspired way to kick off the 8th season. The script by Peter Hammond has a spooky edge to it as indicated by the title which does seem a little out of place in a normally straight murder mystery series, I thought the ending was particularly out of sorts with the series in general. I like Midsomer Murders as a series, it's a generally excellent series especially during it's earlier seasons so I still definitely like Things That Go Bump in the Night but it isn't up there with my favourite episodes. The character's are good, there's not too many suspects or red herrings in this one, the twists aren't that good & the whole spirits of the dead angle essentially comes to nothing. The killers motives here aren't great & rather lacklustre, the final revelation isn't as surprising or shocking as I would have liked either. Things That Go Bump in the Night is a decent Midsomer Murders episode but hardly a classic or one that stands out.

This episode makes fun of itself as it has a brass band at a local fair play the Midsomer Murders theme! A nice touch I thought. As usual the locations are very nice & I would like to think ITV will stump up the extra cash to make this visually rich series in HD (high definition) as this is one show which would really benefit from it, the Crystal Goddess shop seen in Things That Go Bump in the Night was in fact a real shop in Chesham in Buckinghamshire & this story also features some classic British steam engines as several scenes are set at Quainton railway station in Buckinghamshire. There are three murders in this one, none are graphic although there's a bit of blood including some slit wrists & there's the unpleasant sight of seeing an old age pensioners bare bum. This is well made with high production values & good acting from all involved.

Things That Go Bump in the Night isn't classic Midsomer Murders & a fairly average way to kick off season 8 but it's still a watchable murder mystery & a must if your a fan of the series like me.