The Sword of Guillaume (10 Feb. 2010)

Tom Barnaby joins the Causton Chamber of Commerce trip to Brighton as he is suspicious of dodgy mayor Hicks' plan to buy coastal land on which to buy chalets. Also opposed to the plan is ... See full summary »

Director:

Renny Rye

Writers:

Michael Aitkens (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
Lucy Cohu	...	Jenny Russell
Rosina Carbone	...	Lucy Terry
Darren Tighe	...	Trent Terry
Tim McInnerny	...	Hugh Dalgleish
Janet Suzman	...	Lady Matilda William
Brian Capron	...	Dave Hicks
Neil Dudgeon	...	DCI John Barnaby
Saskia Reeves	...	Marcia Macintyre
Colin Brummage	...	Richard William
Mark Gatiss	...	Rev Giles Shawcross

Storyline

Tom Barnaby joins the Causton Chamber of Commerce trip to Brighton as he is suspicious of dodgy mayor Hicks' plan to buy coastal land on which to buy chalets. Also opposed to the plan is Lady Matilda William,who has had threatening letters, as have the local vicar, oily property developer Hugh Dalgleish and hotelier Jenny Russell. Lady Matilda is descended from Richard of Guillaume,a ruthless contemporary of William the Conqueror,and believes that her son Richard,last of the line and brain-damaged for twenty years,was the victim of ancestral jealousy.In Brighton Dalgleish is murdered with the sword stolen from Guillaume's tomb and Hicks is arrested for fraud. Having learnt how Richard came by his accident Barnaby is convinced that Richard and not the property scam is the cause of yet another victim being claimed by the sword of Guillaume.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Release Date:

10 February 2010 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Quotes

[last lines]
Lady Matilda William: Well, things to be done. Duties. Always duties. You will excuse us.
DCI Tom Barnaby: Lady Matilda.
Lady Matilda William: Come along, Richard. People to visit; gardens to tend.

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Connections

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

User Reviews

A good episode.

After some rather disappointing instalments recently, i was quite impressed with this episode. An impressive guest cast helped bring a brilliantly over the top, Gothic story to life.

That's not to say its perfect mind you. There is an incredibly tedious sub plot about a land deal and the story only really gets quite dark towards the end, when a bizarre and twisted motive for the murders reminds us of earlier Midsomer Murders stories. I prefer a dark and sinister note to run through Midsomer Murders episodes because the team pull it off so well when they do it.

More gory than usual (and better for it!), i was still disappointed with the low body count and the fact that no one dies for 40 minutes! Also, ITV insist on cramming these mysteries with adverts so the running time is down by 15 minutes from the original episodes which doesn't give the writers the time they need to throw in the detail they used to be able to. For example the identity of the culprit is clear from the start and wont surprise anyone, although their motive is harder to fathom though there are plenty of clues given.

I like Neil Dudgeon as a replacement for John Nettles and think he'll fit in well.