"Midsomer Murders"
Death in a Chocolate Box (2007)

Director:

Richard Holthouse

Writers:

Tony Etchells (screenplay)
Caroline Graham (characters) ...

TV Series:

"Midsomer Murders" (1997)

Original Air Date:

28 August 2007 (Season 10, Episode 8)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Sergeant | England | Murder | Police | Rural

Cast

John Nettles	...	DCI Tom Barnaby
Jason Hughes	...	DS Ben Jones
Jane Wymark	...	Joyce Barnaby
Laura Howard	...	Cully Barnaby
Barry Jackson	...	Dr Bullard
Sam Hazeldine	...	Simon Dixon
Pip Donaghy	...	Jack Colby
Clare Higgins	...	Gina Colby
Edward Petherbridge	...	Lord Holm
Christopher Fairbank	...	Ronnie Tyler
Nigel Harrison	...	Eddie Marston
Chris Barrie	...	Lionel Poulter
Philip Bond	...	Dr Wyatt
Keith Drinkel	...	Tommy Crinney
Marcia Warren	...	Melissa Shrike

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Filming Locations:

Chinnor railway station, Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway, Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Bentley Productions

Trivia:

The part of Lord Holm (played by Edward Petherbridge) was originally given to Ian Richardson, who died two weeks before filming started.

Another average Midsomer Murders episode.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Midsomer Murders: Death in a Chocolate Box is set in the small village of Midsomer Holm where retired Segeant Jack Colby (Pip Donaghy) lives & works as a probation officer with his wife the criminal psychoanalyst Gina (Clare Higgins) both helping ex-criminals readjust into society. Things take a sinister turn when recently paroled criminal Eddie Marston (Nigel Harrison) becomes their latest case, the body of Jack Colby is found having been bludgeoned to death & DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & Sgt. Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) are on the case. Tom & Jack used to be good friends, they joined the force together but Jack had to retire amidst a sex scandal involving the murdered Maria Godbold the wife of Lord Holm (Edward Petherbridge) who was convicted of her murder shortly after but they haven't spoken in over sixteen years. Barnaby feels he must reopen the Godbold murder case to get to the truth & bring a killer to justice...

Episode 8 from season 10 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Richard Holthouse & one has to say Death in a Chocolate Box pretty much ends the tenth season on a distinctly average & lacklustre note, more or less in keeping with the whole season really. The script by Tony Etchells is utterly unremarkable & one of those really slow going ones that takes literally ages to start, it's over half an hour before the first murder happens & then a further ten minutes before the body is found & Barnaby is called in. For the first thirty minutes there's a lot of unnecessary exposition, character build up & scene setting that really doesn't go anywhere & feels like padding. The actual plot is alright I suppose, it involves blackmail gone wrong, a past vendetta, a scandal & plenty of lies & cover ups. Par for the course really. The problem is that you can't really do anything different with the show, I mean Midsomer Murders is Midsomer Murders because people are murdered in Midsomer for the usual reasons such as jealously, money, greed & self preservation. There's just not a whole lot you can do with that basic requirement so a lot of the latter episodes feel like rehashes, predictable & the wonderful writing, eccentric character's & intricate plots full of clever red herrings just aren't there anymore like in the earlier seasons either. At almost two hours in length Death in a Chocolate Box is yet again a very exposition heavy episode with only two murders so you need to pay attention. The end of this episode sees Barnaby's daughter Cully reveal that she is about to get married to her boyfriend which leads directly into the season eleven episode Blood Wedding (2008).

As usual the production values are flawless, beautifully shot in the English countryside this looks great. There are only two murders in Death in a Chocolate Box neither are graphic although you do see a pool of blood on the floor & a dead body on an autopsy table. The acting is top notch as usual too, Clare Higgins makes her second Midsomer Murders appearance after Midsomer Rhapsody (2005) from season eight & the only real reason I know that is because she starred in the first two Hellraiser films which are amongst my favourite films ever. The other main cast member of note is Chris Barrie who is better known for his comedy roles including Rimmer in the popular sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf (1988 - 1999) & The Brittas Empire (1991 - 1997).

Death in a Chocolate Box is an average Midsomer Murders episode to finish what I truly believe to be a pretty average tenth season, I can't really think of one outstanding episode from the season at all if I'm honest.