The Night of the Stag 

Local bootleggers come under suspicion after the disappearance of a government inspector.

Director:

Simon Langton

Writers:

Nicholas Martin (screenplay), Caroline Graham (based on characters by)

Stars:

Neil Dudgeon, Jason Hughes, Fiona Dolman

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Neil Dudgeon	...	DCI John Barnaby
Jason Hughes	...	DS Ben Jones
Fiona Dolman	...	Sarah Barnaby
Tamzin Malleson	...	Kate Wilding
Warren Clarke	...	Samuel Quested
Francis Magee	...	Smudgepot
Ian Peck	...	Wilberforce
Bernard Lloyd	...	Byron Street
Greg Hicks	...	Rev Norman Grigor
Beatrice Comins	...	Evelyn Grigor
Niamh Quinn	...	Prudence
Denise Black	...	Chloe Baker
Natalie Klamar	...	Esme Baker
Andrew Havill	...	Rev Conrad Walker
Richard Hawley	...	Will Green

Storyline

Whilst temperance campaigners, led by fervent ex-alcoholic parson Norman Grigor, protest against the Midsomer Abbas May Festival, the body of Peter Slim, a revenue inspector investigating illicit stills, is found dumped in a cider vat. The murder weapon, an apple tree harvester which shook him to death, belongs to boozy cider mill owner Anthony Devereux, a man with something to hide though he denies murder. Then Barnaby discovers a secret connecting Slim to a village girl and a party to that secret is murdered. As pub landlord Samuel Quested leads the villagers in the revival of an old fertility custom Barnaby and Jones find themselves in peril during the night of the stag.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 2011 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Henton Mission Room, Chiltern Open Air Museum, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bentley Productions, ITV - Independent Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

[All trivia items for this title are spoilers.]

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Goofs

Throughout the episode, Beltane is given as 4 May. It is actually 1 May (although fertility rites such as The Stag were often performed the night of 30 April, sometimes known as Walpurgisnacht). In addition, while some Beltane fertility rites were, indeed, incorporated into the modern Easter, that festival is more generally descended from Eostre, the festival of the Spring Equinox.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Samuel Quested: Okay. Who's next? Reuben, what do you want? Same again, mate?

User Reviews

Terrible and offensive

In all the years of Midsomer Murders, they've made many good episodes and a few poor ones that disappointed. But this is the first episode that I can truly say was absolutely dreadful to the point that it left both my wife and myself with really bad tastes in both our mouths and that we both felt deeply offended by it. Angry and embarrassed for the actors who had to take part in it, in fact. I hope the producers in the U.K. received numerous letters and emails of complaint after it aired thereabout the content and the story-line as it was so awful. What were Dudgeon and Clarke thinking in agreeing to take part in this drivel? It was beyond belief.

I won't say more as it may be viewed as a spoiler but I'll close by saying that I can think of better ways to pass an hour and a half: like resting on a bed of nails while someone piles weights on your chest.

Sorry, but rating it a 1/10 really is giving it too much credit.