Midsomer Murders (TV Series) The Magician's Nephew (2008) User Reviews

lively season 11 entry

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 9 October 2012]

"Midsomer Murders: The Magician's Nephew" is from season 11 (2008) and has lots going for it: a magic show for children, a Halloween party for which Barnaby needs a costume, children named, of all things, Tristan and Isolde, an antique book, a fragile mother, a secret group, and incest. Add a couple of murders, and you've got yourself a nifty mystery.

A older woman named Jean Wildacre is killed on stage during a magic show as she works as a magician's assistant. She's been killed, it's learned, with a rare poison from a frog. Wildacre was a member of an occult group led by Ernest Balliol, who spends a lot of time fighting with an ex-group member, Aloysius Wilmington. Both men want an antique book that is somewhere in Aloysius' vast library. Balliol's children are Tristan and Isolde, and his first wife, Rosemary, drifts in and out of reality. Isolde is desperate to find the book, believing that in it is some sort of incantation or something that will help heal her mother.

There are two more deaths, one of which is from the poison. It takes Barnaby a while to figure out what the connection is among the victims.

Very good, with enough happening to keep one's interest, and good performances all around. For some reason, I've always liked it when Barnaby's home life is part of the story.

Someone here said the motives for the murders weren't clear, but I felt they were. However, these stories are never simple, and if you blink, you'll miss something.

Recommended, as is the whole series.

Very enjoyable

[Paularoc · 8/10 · 30 September 2012]

While I agree with the previous reviewers about the lack of a plausible motive for the murders and the lack of suspects, I liked this episode considerably better than they did. The whole occult business and search for a valuable book in a magnificent private library was very interesting. The scene of the magic show for a group of cute and credulous kids was delightful (until the murder, of course), the bit of the middle aged man and woman secretly meeting so they could perform Gilbert and Sullivan was touching and the preparations for the Halloween party at the Barnabys was a fun side story. As to be expected, the guest actors were super, especially Ronald Pickup, Rachel Pickup, and Stuart Wilson. One niggling question for me is about the practice of Isolde referring to her father as "pa." Sounded odd in an English production but perhaps it is now the custom. At any rate, another engaging show.

Rather good

[enkiddu-725-703632 · 7/10 · 29 April 2010]

In some ways I agree to the previous review, but one has to remember that everything is relative. Compared to the next two episodes this one is pretty good, I enjoyed it greatly. I am not a specialist, so I cannot judge if the whole affair with an exotic frog poison was reflected truly enough or not, but to me it all looked very convincing. This episode is marked with some very specific characters, which MM lacks sometimes. Isolde is a very interesting character, a little bit unstable, a little bit obsessed, engaged in some very bizarre relationship with Simon whose uncle-father Aloysius is also an interesting participant. On the whole and considered in the row of series this one is not so bad. But I can agree in one point: the investigation is not strengthened here, we know very little about the victims, the culprit turns up very rarely during the film and towards the middle of it one starts losing the thread of the plot. The personality of the murderer is very poorly reflected, unlike of some other characters, Tristan looks as a pale shadow and is almost imperceptible behind such strong personalities like his sister or his father. And the motives of his serious deeds also seem at least unconvincing, his passion for his mother didn't make an impression that he could kill even his own father for her, and I also gained an impression that he had committed the murders almost mechanically. Psycology - that's what MM lack very much! Still, this episode is not as bad as it could have been!

Hocus Pocus

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 13 March 2020]

An ancient text holds the key to a small fortune, and several interested parties want to get their hands on it.

I get why people aren't a fan of this episode, and it's fair to say it isn't one of the best, but it's entertaining all the same. It is loaded with references to literary texts and to my mind other shows. It has some very good moments, including the magic show and of course the dramatic ending.

I see references to Father Brown and Taggart, and of course Tristan and Isolde.

Ronald Pickup and his real life daughter Rachel are entertaining and Ernest and Isolde, but all are overshadowed by Stuart Wilson who plays Aloysius, I think he's wonderful in it, perhaps the best element.

Entertaining, 7/10.

Could have been better

[boxyfella · 6/10 · 19 April 2022]

This is one that I think could have been so much better. You wouldn't have thought it was possible to make a story about satanists and the occult dull, but it must be, because I've just seen the result. Apart from a couple of good performances from (especially) Stuart Wilson and Ronald Pickup, this has little to commend it. The childrens' magic show was nice, as were Joyce's efforts to celebrate Halloween and the old mansion with it's library looked great.

I did think that the killer's motives made sense, but why wait so long to wreak revenge on those who had harmed his mother? What was it that tipped him over the edge to think "I must do this now?" Didn't the original ritual take place 30 years ago?

Books and Magic

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 27 April 2016]

A group of Satanists practice the dark arts in the wood. For a small town, there seem to be a lot of them at the site. Anyway, one day a woman is killed when she is in one of those iron maidens. The spikes, however, aren't what killed her; she is rather the victim of frog poison (you know those colorful little blow dart guys from South and Central America. As it turns out there are numerous charlatans around who have their own agendas. There is one young woman who fancies herself a witch, feeling that somewhere there is a secret book that will grant power to anyone who finds it. Or it could kill them. Unfortunately, death comes to some, but it's not a curse. It's something much more humdrum than that. Barnaby and Jones intervene. They get some honest answers from some people who have had enough mumbo-jumbo. Others aren't quite so forthcoming. It's a passable episode but never seems to get to the point.

Antique Book People, beware.

[2Tissues · 9/10 · 15 August 2021]

Always a wonderful series, but am I the only one freaking out when that guy flips through the ancient book without wearing gloves?!

Rubbish

[rharding-54449 · 9/10 · 13 May 2021]

Rubbish to all the bad reviewers. Some suspension of belief is required when viewing most tv shows.

Boo!!

[darbski · 9/10 · 14 September 2018]

***SPOILERS*** Right around All Hallows Eve, A.K.A. "Halloween", a bunch of elderly to late middle age geeks get together to play with spooky stuff, and supposedly ancient magical rituals. That's just great - everyone has their own religious nonsense to get them through life, don't they? The problem here is that these dorks actually believe in this silliness, and also that there is a book - The One Book - or whatever you want to call it - that has mystical power over mere mortals, and mortals who recognize and obey it's wisdom. Therefore, the quest for this book produces a couple of murders that Tom Barnaby and company must solve. A couple of the other reviewers apparently didn't like this entry into the murderous world of Thoth (the ancient keeper of the dingbat). I won't really spoil it for you, because it really is a fun one, at that. There are old names, and old books, and a cool end to a bad guy that I KNEW was just creepy by nature. The end of the episode is quite good, with a reminder of who Halloween is really for.

There is also one thing that I'm going to ruin for you, if you haven't heeded the SPOILERS. That is... the find of at least the half-century, in an old scripted book that truly would have held some very serious power. The find was three pages of an old bible. When it was published, the very possession of it was a death sentence. This is historically accurate. "The Church" at that time was so terrified of anyone but their own upper ranked churchmen being able to read anything like the so-called "word of god" that they would happily torture and murder anyone who dared even touch such a book. These kind of fears exist today in politics and religion. In this episode, I was compelled at least twice to say to the television screen "Look out behind you". Of course, the turkey never did, but at least once the fireplace poker didn't immediately kill the victim. Rachel Pickup (her real name) played Isolde Balliol, and the only other blond who could have pulled off the pretty-but crazy part would have been Olivia D'Abo. One other thing that I liked was the fact that the old books were so creepy to look at. I use to draw treasure maps when I was a kid, and I liked that real old spookiness that went with pirates, gold, and such. This episode had a great ending (oh, wait -- did I already say that?), and great acting... I'm giving it a 9.

Average Midsomer Murders episode.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 28 July 2008]

Midsomer Murders: The Magician's Nephew is set during the lead up to Halloween & DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) has to investigate the Midsomer Magic Circle when one of their number Jean Wildacre (Kate Crutchley) drops down dead while performing the 'Cabinet of Death' magic trick in front of some local children. Forensics prove that the spikes inside the cabinet that were meant to be retractable were deliberately jammed & coated in the deadly poison from the Central & South American Poison Dart Frog. Tales of witchcraft, Satanic rituals & cults are rife throughout the village & Barnaby has to sort through the tales of magic & curses to find a very real flesh & blood killer before they strike again...

Episode 5 from season 11 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Richard Holthouse I was actually a bit disappointed with The Magician's Nephew after a relatively strong start to the eleventh season. The script by Michael Russell starts out promisingly enough with some sinister religious ritual set in the English countryside late at night that looks like it could have come straight out of a Hammer Horror film (where's Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee when you need them?) but then settles down soon after into a fairly mundane & forgettable episode that was far too talky for me & had a pretty weak central plot. I thought the episode as a whole lacked focus, there aren't any red herrings & the only subplot is about Mrs. Barnaby organising a Halloween party for the local kids. Not enough people could have done it, there weren't enough motives for murder flying around & I never felt like any of the character's could have done it because there's never any reason given for them to have done it. Like a lot of Midsomer Murders episodes the twist ending reveals that sinister past events were responsible for present day murder but I must admit it's pretty hard to swallow & take seriously when the twist finally comes. I just didn't think any part of The Magician's Nephew worked that well, no motives, no suspects, little plot, lots of silly detours which amount to zero & a rather absurd twist.

There are three murders in The Magician's Nephew although all are committed the same way with poison from an exotic Poison Dart Frog, of course this isn't the first time Barnaby has had to deal with exotic rare poisons as he has already had to catch a killer who was using rare poisons in Orchis Fatalis (2005) from season eight. The ending also features a poetic justice type just desserts send off for the killer too. As usual the production values are excellent & the locations used include Buckinghamshire & Englefield House in Berkshire. The acting is very good while TV presenter Angela Rippon has a small cameo as a TV presenter! The end of The Magician's Nephew sees Barnaby dressed up as Count Dracula complete with fangs & cape for a Halloween party while Joyce is the Bride of Frankenstein & Cully looks cute as a Witch.

The Magician's Nephew is a somewhat disappointing Midsomer Murders episode, I think the plot is unfocused & thin & there's not enough mystery or intrigue here to maintain ones interest for nearly two hours.

What is the obsession with incest???

[Apd227 · 4/10 · 3 September 2022]

What on earth is this series' obsession with incest. This is the fourth episode where there has been sister and brother incest. Other episodes hint at it. Another has rape by a father. What the hell goes on in the English countryside???

And how much devil worship/mystical crap goes on also??? I'm beginning to think this representation might be akin to painting all of the US in a ye how cowboy film with confederate flags like another one of their absurd episodes.

Just when I was beginning to understand why people liked earlier episodes, this moronic one comes along.

All this inbreeding has to stop.

Okay at best!

[harrykivi · 5/10 · 22 June 2021]

The 11th season of "Midsomer Murders" has never been one of my favorites of the series, I have said it multiple times, but that season does have some good episodes. "Blood Wedding" being particularly strong (haven't seen "Talking to the Dead" in a long time). "The Magician's Nephew" on the other hand is a very average entry. It's not the worst of the series, it is just quite forgettable.

Let's start with the good aspects.

. The production values of "The Magician's Nephew" are great as usual. The episode is well-directed. The music is marvellous and always fits the scenery. The acting's solid all around. Sian Brooke's cute in her small role, quite liked Ronald Pickup and Stuart Wilson is very good too.

. The mystery, agreed, has an interesting set-up. A frog poison used in the murders is a compelling killing method and there are a couple of very charming moments in the script. The subplot about a Halloween party being particularly entertaining. I am also one of those people, who thought the motive for the murders (revenge) was not that bad of an idea.

But....

. I agree with the previous reviewers, who have said that the story lacks intrigue. At times I found myself uninterested of what was going on and there were not enough compelling characters in the episode. Aloysious being easily the most interesting. The mystery could have been better as well with more twists, red herrings and subplots.

. Even though the solution is not awful, it is not very good indeed. The identity of the killer (Tristan) feels left at the last minute. The ending is glossed over way too quickly and Tristan's character was a bit underdeveloped for my taste.

Overall, an average episode.

5/10 HK.

Passable but could have been much better

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 13 February 2017]

As has been said by me a number of times, 'Midsomer Murders' is one of my most watched and most re-watched shows. It is nowhere near as good now and the Tom Barnaby-era wasn't alien to average or less episodes, but when it was on form or at its best boy was it good.

"The Magician's Nephew" (in case you're wondering there is no relation to CS Lewis and 'The Chronicles of Narnia') is a long way from 'Midsomer Murders' at its worst, but also nowhere near 'Midsomer Murders' at its best. Compared to the previous episodes of Season 11 it is a superior episode to "Shot at Dawn", which was a 'Midsomer Murders' low-point, but the excellent "Blood Wedding" in particular is much better, the other two "Midsomer Life" and "Left for Dead" were decent despite the latter having a terrible ending.

Starting with its strengths, the production values in "The Magician's Nephew" as always are just great, the idyllic look of it contrasting very well with the story's grimness, and quaint and atmospheric photography. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the theme tune one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre.

It gets off to an effectively creepy start and the concept of a cult was interesting as were some of the characters' names (any fans of opera and Wagner will be nicely surprised). The very end scene with Barnaby and his family dressing up for Halloween was a great touch.

John Nettles and Jason Hughes are both superb, individually and together (their chemistry, and the chemistry with Daniel Casey and John Hopkins before Hughes, being a huge part of their episodes' charm). Can't fault the supporting cast either (although the murderer was forgettable), with the always dependable Ronald Pickup and Stuart Wilson faring particularly strongly.

However, despite an effective start "The Magician's Nephew" was an example of an episode that could have done much more with its concept. It does suffer from far too much padding (something that all three episodes after "Shot at Dawn" and before this avoided), a sluggish pace and having a story that was too thin and under-populated to make up for it.

Suspects are too few and there are red herrings that come out of nowhere and are unresolved. Then there is the ending which is absurd, not quite as much as "Left for Dead" but the murderer was very sketchily developed and forgettably played throughout the episode and the motives didn't ring true. Was expecting more intrigue than the by-the-numbers one here.

Overall, passable but not very satisfying. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Clichéd

[westsideschl · 4/10 · 3 December 2021]

Satanic summoning in the usual forest with bonfire, pentagrams, flashpowder in the flames for effect. Billed as dressed up superstition being sold to the gullible. Usual least expected who did the nasty exposed at the end. Highlight: Nice rabbit appearing/disappearing act.

Malarkey

[atrickyone · 3/10 · 15 May 2020]

Now everyone knows that every other prosperous village in England has its witches' coven or some thriving society of the occult, so this nitwitted episode should come as no surprise. You might be able to swallow the hogwash were the characters interesting or the writing less dull, but no, you'd be out of luck. Nor is a mystery satisfactorily concluded by the exposure of the culprit out of the blue. The actors must really have needed the money when they agreed to sign up for this farrago of nonsense.

Uninspired, a time waster

[vitoscotti · 2/10 · 29 January 2020]

A real drudge to watch. Never got interesting. No suspense, no comedy. Tried too hard to be dark with the occult. The script was very flat. Bit of a surprise ending couldn't save it. Tiny bit of Cully back. This episode stops a decent stretch of episodes.

I noticed no one ever warms their car up a minute, even if it's cold. Hop in, start it up, and go. Now I'm thinking John Nettles after watching this had plastic surgery sometime. Nearing the end, talking to the butcher in the red van. If you freeze it Nettles has rows of loose skin under his ear on his neck. Vito S 1-28-20