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*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Midsomer Murders: They Seek Him Here is set in the small Midsomer village of Midsomer Magna where a film crew are shooting an adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel at Mangna Manor which is owned by Terence (Nicky Henson) & Diane Charteris (Fiona Mollison) who are experiencing financial difficulties. DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & DC Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) are following the movements of known villain George Ince who is on their patch sniffing around the Manor. Then the film set's security guard Jed Norris (Jonathan Moore) makes a horrifying discovery when he finds the body of the films universally disliked director Nick Channey (Jay Villiers) at a prop guillotine with his head cut off. Barnaby & Jones are on the case but with plenty of disgruntled actor's, producers, lovers & associates it seems there are no shortage of suspects...Episode 7 from season 10 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Sarah Hellings & in keeping with a lot of the later episodes from this once great series They Seek Him Here really isn't much for seasoned Midsomer Murders fans to get excited about. The script by Barry Purchese just feels so by-the-numbers & throughly uninspiring. During early Midsomer Murders seasons the programme would usually open on a well shot & atmospheric murder scene to get the viewer hooked straight away but They Seek Him Here is one of those episodes where the script spends ages building the character's up & setting the scene, in They Seek Him Here the first dead body isn't found until nearly the forty minute mark which is just far too long considering not that much else happens other than to establish that a film is being shot at Midsomer Magna Manor & introduce a few of the character's with a lot of exposition which ends up meaning nothing. I also didn't like the fact that there was no build up to the murder, we never saw Channey get killed & his body is merely found. Then there's the plot hole, after Channey's body is found at the prop guillotine Barnaby has a local bobby stand guard, now assuming Barnaby wouldn't mind lots of people walking around & using the murder weapon how & where did the killer commit his second murder? It is said that the cop is called away to investigate a break in but then it's explained that the body was already there so where did he cut off his second victims head off? During the day it was a busy film set so how could he cut someones head off without being noticed or covered in blood & since the guillotine was being watched at all times? There's not much subtlety here or clever writing, there aren't too many suspects or clues or red herrings & the subplot about an insurance scam goes absolutely nowhere & feels like padding although it's unusual to see Barnaby investigate a crime other than a murder. This is a very exposition heavy episode with only a couple of murders in it's 100 odd minute duration, for Midsomer Murder fans only.The one thing that always stands out in Midsomer Murders are the locations & photography, when scenes from The Scarlet Pimpernel are shown the screen ratio goes from almost 16:9 fullscreen to 2:35:1 widescreen to signify that a portion of the film is playing & it really does show how cinematic Midsomer Murders is. The usual mix of English country locations are used including Loseley House Park in Surrey which was used as Magna Manor. There are only two murders in this episode & neither are seen as both bodies are simply discovered. The acting is very good as usual with Nicky Henson coming back from the dead after he appeared & died in Dark Autumn (2001) from season four. In case you don't know & are interested the title They Seek Him Here refers to a verse written about the Scarlet Pimpernel & featured in the novel itself.They Seek Him Here is an average Midsomer Murders episode, it's very leisurely paced & in the end not a great deal actually happens. I wouldn't say it's the worst Midsomer Murders episode but I don't think it could be described as any sort of classic either.
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