The Oblong Murders (25 May 2011)

Barnaby sends Jones undercover into a New Age cult to investigate the disappearance of a young woman who entered an introduction course and then never left the movement.

Director:

Renny Rye

Writers:

David Hoskins (screenplay), Caroline Graham (characters)

Stars:

Neil Dudgeon, Jason Hughes, Barry Jackson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Neil Dudgeon	...	DCI John Barnaby
Jason Hughes	...	DS Ben Jones
Barry Jackson	...	Dr. Bullard
Fiona Dolman	...	Sarah Barnaby
Will Knightley	...	Max Fuller
Richard Albrecht	...	Mr. Oliver
Heather Tobias	...	Mrs. Oliver
John Woodvine	...	Commodore
Kevin Doyle	...	Paddy Powell
Holly Aird	...	Claire Powell
Sophie Stanton	...	Josie Palmer
Josephine Butler	...	Freddie Raft
Paul Hilton	...	Dominic Segal
Christine Bottomley	...	Blaze Leadbetter
Simon Day	...	Combover Guy

Storyline

Dr. Bullard asks Barnaby to investigate when friends' daughter Lucy Oliver goes missing after joining the Oblong Foundation,a new age group leasing a house from Ruth Lambert,whose parents died in an explosion on their boat. Dan Jones goes undercover as a new inductee and hears group leader Dominic Segal take a call implying there has been foul play. Local publicans the Powells tell Barnaby that Lucy argued with Oblong's directrix Freddie Raft before leaving but Ruth denies this. However it is discovered that Ruth's parents loaned a large sum of money to somebody,leading Barnaby to believe that they may have been murdered by the payee. If having his dog trained by Dr. Bullard's formidable sister was not enough he once more finds himself confronting a killer,the perpetrator of the Oblong murders.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 May 2011 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Chenies Manor House, Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bentley Productions, Independent Television (ITV)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

The old staircase at Malham Hall within the staff residence, at the top of which Freddie's and Dominic's bedrooms are located is the same staircase where Jeff Bowmaker hosts his ghost tour at in Midsomer Murders: The Silent Land.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Max Fuller: [answering enterphone] Yes?
Max Fuller: Yes, of course. This is a surprise.
Max Fuller: How awful.
Max Fuller: Not at all, come on up. It's the, uh, third floor.

User Reviews

Jones goes undercover

Before the opening credits have begun we see a man open his door to an unidentified person; he is stabbed and not referred to again until well after the halfway point of this episode. The initial case isn't a murder at all but a missing person; at the request of George Bullard DCI Barnaby investigates the disappearance of the daughter of a friend. She had been involved with The Oblong Foundation; apparently a cult although there seemed to be little religious about it. The parents had hired a private investigator who was due to attend a course there until they had a disagreement; this provided Barnaby with a way to see what was happening there… Jones could take the PI's place! Once inside Jones was approached by a woman who was also curious about the missing girl; and by another woman who was just interested in him. As the case continues it looks as if there may have been a murder after all; the parents of the woman that owns the house the cult was based in had been killed in an explosion; it was assumed to be an accident at the time but Barnaby wasn't so sure.

This was another enjoyable episode that saw Jason Hughes take the lead in the role of Jones; it was fun watching him trying to deal with the awkward situations while undercover. As one would expect it was fairly silly although nowhere near as silly as some Midsomer episodes. I liked how the initial killing was almost incidental to the main story; it took place some time before in London and by the time Barnaby and Jones heard about it the case was virtually solved. Away from the mystery Barnaby was trying to get Bullard's sister to act as a dog-sitter, this was a fun little distraction as his sister was played by the excellent Barbara Flynn; her character treated people no differently to how she treated the dogs!