When a famous 1860 bareknuckle boxing bout is restaged in Midsomer Morchard with great pomp, dead bodies begin to pile up for Barnaby.When a famous 1860 bareknuckle boxing bout is restaged in Midsomer Morchard with great pomp, dead bodies begin to pile up for Barnaby.When a famous 1860 bareknuckle boxing bout is restaged in Midsomer Morchard with great pomp, dead bodies begin to pile up for Barnaby.
- Gerald Farquaharson
- (as Kevin R. McNally)
- Kinsella's Opponent
- (as Rob Cooper)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThere are 5 actors from the Dr. Who Universe in this episode from the old and new Dr. Who and Torchwood series.
- GoofsJust as Jones enters 'Midsomer Norton Turf Accountants', there is a spelling mistake on the poster in the window advertising the John Kinsella fight; Accountants is spelled Accounants.
- Quotes
[Grace apologises for getting carried away in the heat of the moment when she was watching the boxing match a few days before]
Grace Bishop: Sorry for squeezing your hand like that.
[Iris looks uncomprehending]
Grace Bishop: During the fight the other night. You must think I'm awful.
Iris Holman: [coldly] How perceptive.
Grace Bishop: Is that a smile? Or just your lips sliding off your teeth?
"The Noble Art" is somewhere in the middle as far as Season 13 goes. It is a let-down after "Master Class", which blew me away and was the best 'Midsomer Murders' episode since "The House in the Woods". However, it is infinitely better than "The Made-to-Measure Murders" and especially "Blood on the Saddle" (almost anything is better than that episode this said).
Starting with what "The Noble Art" does well, the production values 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.
Writing provokes a lot of thought mostly, and has a healthy balance of the humorous and the darkly twisted. Love the chemistry between Barnaby and Jones, the incorporation of boxing is entertaining and there are some nice twists and turns along the way and intriguing subplots.
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). The supporting cast are good, especially Kevin McNally.
Little if anything in "The Noble Art" is done terribly, but it is one of those episodes that executes its components with competence but all those components have been done in previous 'Midsomer Murders' episodes better and with more impact. Competent but a bit safe and bland.
Very little is ridiculous (though there is the odd part that's a bit of a stretch agreed) and the story is mostly involving, plausible and easy to follow, but also too easy to solve and resolved slightly on the pat side in the episode. The killer is one suspected somewhat too early, and while the motives are far easier to swallow than most middle-period 'Midsomer Murders' episodes they're a little too restrained too.
Overall, decent and watchable episode but one of the forgettable ones. 6/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Feb 24, 2017
Details
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 widescreen
- 4:3