"Midsomer Murders" Midsomer Life (2008)

Director:

Peter Smith

Writers:

Caroline Graham (characters) and
David Hoskins (screenplay)

TV Series:

"Midsomer Murders" (1997)

Original Air Date:

31 May 2008 (Season 11, Episode 4)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

When a man who's been missing for two weeks is found dead in the woods near Midsomer, Barnaby finds connections between him and a magazine editor known for his killing reviews of local hotels and restaurants. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Suspect | Police | Sergeant | Detective

Cast

  (Episode Cast overview, first billed only)

John Nettles	...	DCI Tom Barnaby
Jason Hughes	...	DS Ben Jones
Jane Wymark	...	Joyce Barnaby
Barry Jackson	...	Dr. Bullard
Kirsty Dillon	...	WPC Gail Stephens
Simon Williams	...	Guy Sandys
Pooky Quesnel	...	Julia Benson
Selina Cadell	...	Eleanor Crouch
David Crow	...	Garth Platt
Debbie Chazen	...	Gemma Platt
Thomas Lockyer	...	Matt Morecroft
Daniel Hill	...	Martin Reid
Serena Gordon	...	Christina Finleyson
Samuel Oatley	...	Brad
MyAnna Buring	...	Mandy (as Myanna Buring)

Filming Locations:

Berkshire 4x4, Overbury Avenue, Wokingham, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Bentley Productions

Good solid Midsomer Murders episode.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Midsomer Murders: Midsomer Life is set in Midsomer Sonning & starts as the body of Charles Finleyson is discovered in his car just off a bridal path deep in some woods. DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & DS Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) are on the case but the corpse is up to two weeks old & identifying the cause of death is proving a problem. Meanwhile in the local village tensions are rising as rich upper-class Midsomer Life magazine owner Guy Sandys (Simon Williams) seems intent on antagonising the whole village & it's not long before he too turns up dead in a clear case of murder. With two seemingly unconnected death's on their hands Barnaby & Jones again have to uncover the truth in a village full of dark secrets & lies...

Episode 4 from season 11 (well according to the IMDb it is but episode 3 Left for Dead (2008) definitely hasn't aired yet) this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Peter Smith & after the entertaining Blood Wedding (2008) the show is starting to pick up a little consistent form again with Midsomer Life which is a terrific little episode in it's own right. The script by Guy Andrews gets things going straight away with a dead body turning up before the opening credits have even run & then there's another couple of murders, a missing man, a subplot about city off-roaders, a bar room brawl in which Barnaby gets a bloody nose, death by tumble dyer & letter spike, scandal, affairs & a charcoal shortage. The character's are well balanced for this type of show, there are plenty of people who could have done it with reasonable motives & the script doesn't make it too obvious who the killer is & there's enough subtly here to keep one guessing right up until the very end & a traditional flashback filled conclusion in which the killer is unmasked & their plans revealed where all the clues & exposition fall into place rather nicely. I am not sure about the motives here, OK so the killer had something to lose but to commit two murders is a little excessive just to prevent being ousted out as a not very nice person. At nearly two hours you need to concentrate as usual as the show is very exposition heavy but at the same time when it does all come together at the end it's very satisfying & rewarding. Anyone with an interest in murder mysteries or are just plain armchair detectives should love this, plain & simple. This episode sees Joyce get in on the act & do some detective work for Tom in an amusing subplot that doesn't get too silly. Midsomer Life is actually very well paced with a dead body turning up straight away to get the mystery going & then there's another couple of murders to keep things interesting & the last twenty odd minutes is the who, the where, the how & the why.

As I have said there's a good few dead bodies in this including a maggot covered leg, a surprisingly gory slit throat, a letter spike plunged into someone's chest & someone is killed by being stuffed in a tumble dryer & it being started! The Midsomer Murders production team do come up with imaginative ways to bump various character's off don't they? Again as usual the scenery is very distinctive & nice to look at, apparently the Spread Eagle Hotel in Thame in Oxfordshire was the location used for the Morecroft Hotel in this episode while Flaunden in Hertfordshie was another location used. The acting is top notch as usual too from a good cast.

Midsomer Life along with Blood Wedding have started off season eleven of Midsomer Murders really well & while not at it's absolute best this is still a great episode with lots of mystery, murder & intrigue. Fans of the series & murder mysteries in general with some patience should enjoy it.