Midsomer Murders - Death's Shadow

 

More Killings at Badger’s Drift…

 It’s a wonder there’s anyone left living in Badger’s Drift. The location for the very first episode the village is one again under investigation in this second season episode from 1999 in which a local property developer is somewhat brutally killed. Well it does take twenty seven minutes for this to happen by which time we’ve been given some vital clues in flashbacks about what all this may be about. While the programme generally avoids continuity references so episodes can be watched in no particular order `Death’s Shadow` contains several callbacks to that opening episode including a couple of characters appearing. The story is written by Anthony Horowitz and very effectively directed by Jeremy Silbertson. The editing is especially good too. Whereas some episodes tend to jar when leaping from one scenario to another there is a consistent mood and pace to this one.

 

After a flashback shows us a group of schoolboys in the woods smashing windows and seemingly taunting a younger kid, we cut to the present ay where property developer Richard Bayley is receiving the shock news from his GP that he has a malignant tumour. Then he is then found by his cleaning lady hacked to death the following day and it’s the same cleaning lady from the episode ``Written In Blood`. I wonder why Barnaby doesn’t question her. She doesn’t seem to have got used to the high likelihood that they are going to find a client murdered sooner or later. This time she runs out of the house screaming but I bet after it happened another few times she’d just shrug and vacuum around the body! Anyway it’s a crime that perplexes Barnaby as everyone in the village seems to know the man was going to die so what would be the motive for killing him? Early guesses revolve around a controversial development which has met considerable local opposition but could it instead be something to do with the past?

By a coincidence that does threaten to undermine some of the episode’s credulity, Barnaby and his wife have decided to renew their wedding vows after twenty five years in the very same place memorably described by the inspector as “this bloody village”. You’d think he’d prefer somewhere else but as if that wasn’t enough this very same time renowned theatre director Simon Fletcher has come back to the area to host a summer masterclass to which Cully is partaking.

The title is well chosen as the denouement, to no viewer’s surprise really, turns out to have nothing to do with the development and everything to do with those flashbacks and what happened afterwards. This itself is an unlikely tale and the sort of idea the show would use again in future seasons. This is a story that might work better in literary form than it does on tv. The slight plot means we have a lot of material that underlines what we already know and though its sort of refreshing to have a murderer who, upon being confronted, admits they did it and isn’t sorry. Mind you what happens after this scene adds more incredulity.

There’s an issue with the flashback sequences when we find out what happened. If a suicide was suspected then how could the victim tie their own hands together and then put the rope round their neck? The tied hands would indicate manslaughter or even murder. I suppose one of Barnaby’s predecessors wasn’t as thorough as he might be!

The direction is a huge help to the episode which might otherwise drag, especially the first half hour. Jeremy Silbertson again excels with his choice of shots and the way he can conjure up a mood with just the movement of the camera in a certain way. A strong cast help too. Richard Briers as put upon vicar Stephen Wentworth is excellent and you can always sense the character is hiding something. Judy Parfitt as his imperious, bored wife is great and there strong performances from Vivian Pickles, Anna Cropper and Gordon Gostelow. Its good to see Cully getting a bit more to do- Laura Howard always makes the most of this role. As ever the rapport between the regular characters remains strong though the humour seems to be getting even darker in the second season.

In many respects this is quintessential Midsomer Murders complete with gruesome almost Biblical violence (beheading, burning and being killed by an arrow) set against such quaint traditions as parish council meetings and summer fetes amidst the hedges and flowers. The murders are shot tastefully though we do get an (accidental?) glimpse of charred remains in one shot. This was shown as the first story of season two, though some lists and the DVD releases place it third in the season but whichever order it appears this is something of a template for what the series became.