"Midsomer Murders" The Animal Within (2007)

Director:

Renny Rye

Writers:

David Hoskins (screenplay)
Caroline Graham (characters)

TV Series:

"Midsomer Murders" (1997)

Original Air Date:

19 January 2007 (Season 10, Episode 2)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

When Faith Alexander arrives in Midsomer Deverell to meet her long-lost uncle Rex Masters, she is surprised...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Suspect | Police | Sergeant | Detective

Cast

John Nettles	...	DCI Tom Barnaby
Jason Hughes	...	DS Ben Jones
Jane Wymark	...	Joyce Barnaby
Barry Jackson	...	Dr Bullard
Lisa Eichhorn	...	Faith Alexander
Roger Bingham	...	Taxi Driver
David Troughton	...	Miles King
Emily Woof	...	Janet Bailey
Linda Bassett	...	Eileen Carnack
Malcolm Stoddard	...	Richard Carnack
Samuel West	...	Jeremy Thacker
John Cater	...	Jack Pearce
Freda Dowie	...	Amie Pearce
Richard Johnson	...	Rex Masters
Helen Masters	...	Jane Benbow

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Filming Locations:

Hambleden Lock, Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Bentley Productions

Quotes:

[first lines]
Taxi Dispatcher: [over radio] When you've dropped her off, can you pick up Mr Lavender at 15 Harley Street?
Taxi Driver: No problem.
[both get out of the taxi]
Faith Alexander: Wow!
Taxi Driver: So. He's worth a few bob then, your uncle?
Faith Alexander: Looks like he is. Stunning. Just beautiful.
Taxi Driver: Well, best of luck anyway.
Faith Alexander: Thank you.
[holds out a bill]
[...]

I liked this one.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Midsomer Murders: The Animal Within is set in the village of Midsomer Deverell where a woman named faith Alexander (Lisa Eichhorn) has just arrived in after flying out from Philadelphia to visit her Uncle Rex Masters (Richard Johnson) who lives there & whom she hasn't seen for forty years. First Faith meets the gardener Miles King (David Troughton) who is very surprised to see faith since Rex has told everyone that she died in a plane crash, he calls several other interested parties who all have their own agenda & are equally surprised. Wanting to confront Rex no-one can find him, DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & DS Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) become involved when Rex's dead body is found in a nearby river with suspicious head wounds. Barnaby has to unravel a mystery spanning back decades, lies & petty squabbling over Rex's will to get to the truth & catch a killer...

Episode 2 from season 10 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Renny Rye & for my money is one of the more enjoyable episodes from the more recent seasons which have generally been not much better than average. I suppose the main reason I liked The Animal Within so much is the way in which the story unfolds & that there are plenty of twist's & turns that aren't necessarily part of the murder but are still relevant. I liked the fact that we never saw Rex before his body was found so we never really knew him & he was a total mystery, his odd behaviour was a mystery especially him telling everyone Faith was dead when she wasn't. Then there are the photo's, the murder itself, the wills that keep turning up & as usual for Midsomer Murders some dark event in the distant past which proves to be a motive for murder in the present. The actual motives aren't the best, I am not sure I buy the fact that someone would brutally murder three people just to keep someone's reputation intact let alone someone who isn't even alive anymore, there really isn't any other motive here at all. It's not for love or money or jealously or revenge & as such the final reveal is a little weak & somewhat underwhelming considering the rest of the episode was so strong. I just felt after such a good build-up the final unmasking of the killer was a little disappointing & like not much thought had gone into it. Having said that the episode still works well, the story is engaging with lots going on & plenty of red herrings, suspects & mysteries for all you armchair detectives to try & work out. At almost two hours & lots of exposition as usual you will need to pay attention & actually make sure you watch it all but like all the best Midsomer Murders episodes if you put the effort in you will be rewarded with a top murder mystery, simple as that.

The production values are great as usual, this has to be one of the best looking show's we British make, there's plenty of English countryside, quaint cottages & stately homes to admire. There are three murders in this one although all happen off-screen & there's nothing graphic here. The acting is pretty good but I wasn't keen on the two American accents.

Midsomer Murders: The Animal Within in my opinion as a long standing fan of the series is one of the better episodes from recent seasons because there's quite a lot going on & the way it plays out is different than usual without being too different if you know what I mean.