Midsomer Murders has been accused of becoming less bizarre over the years but it still has its moments and this 2014 episode opens up with someone being eaten by a wild boar. I was kind of hoping for an army of wild boar to attack the town but I think that may be a different series! What transpires is that local farmer Martin Strickland’s demise is not particularly mourned by several women in his life and what ensues is wrangling over his estate, Wyvern House. This includes a restaurant, run with an iron spoon by chef Ruth Cameron a sort of female Gordon Ramsay.
The chief suspect was the donut.
Played with gusto by Sharon Small she is the kind of chef who shoots around the kitchen micro managing every dish and rarely offering praise. I’d have imagined this never happens except I’ve seen it does on other programmes and the early part of the episode manages to reproduce the kitchen atmosphere fairly well. Mind you does any establishment have such a generously sized kitchen as this one?
As
Renny Rye is behind the cameras this is one of those especially well directed
episodes that takes advantage of it surroundings whether it’s the steel of the
kitchen or the dark browns of the office and of course the picturesque woods.
It’s also an episodes that manages to draw its plot over its ninety minutes to
maximum effect. There are plenty of red herrings that lead us to supposed drugs,
illegal auctions and Ruth’s latest recipe book allegedly taking ideas from one
of her staff. The results of Stickland’s murder also provide much rivalry- a
common theme used in a number of episodes- as first his daughter Amy inherits
in an amusing scene when his second wife
is more than a little upset. Then along comes the second murder in which Amy herself
is offed after quaffing some soup. I have to mention that Amy is a slightly
oddly written character - her wry reaction to inheriting seems at odds to the
hardworking member of the kitchen brigade. One minute she is somewhat haughtily
proposing a business deal with the restaurant owner, the next diligently
preparing food.
Like
any good menu these elements gel together to make a satisfying meal especially
as a lot of people might care to queue up to harm Ruth Cameron probably
including some of the diners! The ending too is atypical in that rather than
show the viewer what’s happened the script tricks both us and the main suspect
as Barnaby tries the sort of deception more normally practised in urban police
shows and it’s a satisfying change from the increasingly lengthy dialogue
scenes that seemed to conclude some episodes around this time.
The
cast are great with most of them making the most of heartily written roles
allowing them to protest and shout at various developments. Yet there are also
some masterly played relationships that surprise especially that between Johnny
and his ex- wife Angela (played with subtlety by Arabella Weir) which remains
cordial and realistic. There’s also Hayley mills whose character Lizzy Thornfield
is still hurting from a car crash that killed her son twenty one years ago and
which she blames Ruth for.
At
this point Barnaby’s deputy is Gwilym Lee’s Nelson who is underrated in the pantheon
of Midsomer assistants because his stay was relatively short. Nelson may lack humour
but he makes up for this with a great chemistry with Neil Dudgeon’s Barnaby and
it was a shame their partnership ended so soon. Neil Dudgeon incidentally seems
to relish this episode gleefully picking up every suspicious moment. The sub plot involving Mrs B undertaking
decorating while on maternity adds a homely touch to balance out the coldness of
some of the characters we’ve met. Just think- if this was Joyce Barnaby she’d probably
have a part time job at the restaurant!
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