The Creeper (27 Jan. 2010)

A cat burglar named "The Creeper" is breaking into the estates of Causton, and an alcoholic writer threatening a "tell-all" book about his friends turns up dead.

Director:

Renny Rye

Writers:

Andrew Payne (screenplay), Caroline Graham (characters)

Stars:

John Nettles, Jason Hughes, Jane Wymark

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	...	DC Gail Stephens
Paul Shelley	...	CC Richard Lovell
Jane Booker	...	Janet Lovell
George Costigan	...	Jack Filby
Oliver Le Sueur	...	Rupert
Amanda Ryan	...	Martha Filby
Nathalie Cox	...	Tallis Filby
Oliver Kieran-Jones	...	Freddy Chettham
Jenny Agutter	...	Isobel Chettham
Barbara Jefford	...	Elizabeth Chettham
Julian Wadham	...	William Chettham

Storyline

DCI Barnaby finds himself in charge of investigating The Creeper, a man who has been entering peoples homes in the dead of night, after the Chief Constable becomes the latest victim. It all becomes more serious when after one of the burglaries, a man is found dead in his bed. The dead man is David roper, a ghostwriter by profession who was staying with the Chettam family. They had spent the previous evening at the home of Jack Filby who now owned the Chettham estate forcing the family to live in the dower house. Filby and roper had a very loud argument after dinner with Roper, a reformed alcoholic, storming out of the house with a bottle of brandy in hand. He made it back to the dower house and was put to bed. The mystery grows when a second attendee at the same dinner is murdered and the Creeper visits the Barnabys in the dead of night, not to steal anything but to leave behind two clues. The discovery of a Chettham family secret, the second death and a bit of DNA testing not only ...

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Plot Keywords:

estate | reformed alcoholic | brandy | chief constable | dna | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 January 2010 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Polesden Lacey, Great Bookham, Dorking, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bentley Productions, Independent Television (ITV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
CC Richard Lovell: [to the cat] Go on.
[opens door]
CC Richard Lovell: Out you go.

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Soundtracks

"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
Traditional
Performed by Birthday Party Group

User Reviews

Trouble in successful families

Once again there are crimes being committed in the Midsomers although as the episode starts the crime is theft rather than murder. Somebody is breaking into the houses of the well to do and stealing items from the residents' bedrooms while they sleep, this thief has been given the nickname The Creeper. Sgt. Jones is in charge of the case until the Creeper robs the Chief Constable then Barnaby is put on the case. Of course the case will get more serious. Jack Filby has invited family and friends around to celebrate the birthday a friend's son. This being Midsomer the party ends with raised voices; Jack's daughter Martha being thrown out for flirting with friend David Roper and him later leaving after an shouting match with his host over a threat to write a book featuring the lives of their circle of friends. David turns up at the Chetthams' house bleeding from the head. During the night The Creeper pays a visit and the next day David is dead... was he murdered by The Creeper or is there somebody else committing crimes?

At first The Creeper is the obvious suspect but Barnaby isn't convinced, he is even more convinced when The Creeper pays him a late night visit but instead of robbing him leaves him two photographs, one of which has a hair caught in the frame... it appears the Creeper has made their first mistake. I won't say more as I don't want to spoil the ending.

While the plot is fairly standard for country house murder mysteries it doesn't feature the silliness some episodes contain. Having become a classic of its genre Midsomer attracts a range of well known guest stars including Rik Mayell, Jenny Agutter and Amanda Ryan, these all performed well as did the less well known guests. I especially liked Amanda Ryan in the relatively minor roll as "bad daughter" Martha who flirts with David, Sgt. Jones and the audience. I had an idea what the ending would be and it turned out Barnaby had the same idea... but this proved to be incorrect and he had to turn to an unlikely source to solve the crime.