Midsomer murders Set 2
(DVD Video)

Based on the characters created by Caroline Graham.

Special features: Map of Midsomer County; Production notes; Caroline Graham biography & booklist; Filmographies (John Nettles, Daniel Casey, Jane Wymark, Laura Howard, Robert Hardy, Terence Rigby, Anthony Calf, Richard Johnson, James Bolam, Phyllis Calvert, Nigel Davenport, Geoffrey Bayldon, Orlando Bloom, Timothy West, Hannah Gordon).

Costume designer, Reg Samuel ; music composed by Jim Parker ; production designer, Robert Foster ; editor, Derek Bain ; director of photography, Graham Frake.

John Nettles, Daniel Casey ; (Dead man's eleven) Annabelle Apsion, Penelope Beaumont, Anthony Calf, Robert Hardy, Laura Howard, Duncan Preston, Terence Rigby, Imelda Staunton, Jane Wymark ; (Death of a stranger) James Bolam, Janet Dale, Diane Fletcher, Jeanne Hepple, Jennifer Hilary, Laura Howard, Richard Johnson, Simon McBurney, Dominic Mafham, Sarah Winman, Jane Wood, Jane Wymark ; (Blue herrings) Geoffrey Bayldon, Phyllis Calvert, Nigel Davenport, Angela Down, Deborah Findlay, Laura Howard, Carolyn Pickles, Colin Tierney, Gudrun Ure, Mary Wimbush, Clive Wood, Jane Wymark ; (Judgement day) Orlando Bloom, Marsha Fitzalan, Hannah Gordon, Nickolas Grace, Richard Hope, Laura Howard, Barbara Jefford, Maggie Steed, Josephine Tewson, Moray Watson, Timothy West, Jane Wymark.

Dead man's eleven: Schock ripples across the village of Fletcher's Cross when a prominent businessman's trophy wife is bludgeoned to death with a cricket bat. While the victim had no apparent enemies, her avaricious husband, Robert Cavendish, is hated by all. Death of a stranger: As the Upper Marshwood hunt heads off into the woods, a filthy tramp runs for cover, stumbles and falls into a pit screaming. This suspicious death, and the puzzling behavior of several villagers, leads Barnaby to discover a tangle of sordid secrets. Blue herrings: When Muriel Harrap's lifeless body is found late one night in the elevator at Lawnside, a home for the elderly, everyone assumes she died of natural causes. But when another seemingly healthy woman dies, rumers of fraud and murder terrify the residents. Judgement day: Amid the excitement of preparations for the Perfect Village Competition in Midsomer Mallow, a local rogue is found brutally murdered. Barnaby discovers a wealth of suspects, all of whom appear to be lying, and a determination by the villagers to keep his investigation quiet so as not to jeopardize their chances in the competition.

Dead Man's Eleven: Troy is in the Midsomer Worthy cricket eleven for the annual match against Fletchers Cross, so he is on the spot when the wife of Robert Cavendish, the Team Captain and a big local landowner, is found bludgeoned to death with a cricket bat. As often happens, the death toll mounts before the killer can be unmasked. Why should the cricket team's scorer be stabbed to death with a Nazi dagger at the following match? Cavendish, as a mine owner, may have been responsible for the 'accidental' deaths of two of his employees in years gone by. If someone is out for revenge, who is it? Meanwhile, a protest march to maintain footpaths across Cavendish's land finds a foot-bridge has been sabotaged, and their leader takes a ducking.

Death of a Stranger: As the Upper Marshwood hunt heads off into the distance with the unforgettable sound of the horses and hounds in pursuit of the fox, a filthy tramp runs for cover in the woods, he stumbles and falls into a pit ... screaming. The tramp is later found murdered in the woods near Marshwood. Barnaby is on holiday when he hears that Superintendent Ron Pringle (who is on the point of retirement) has a local poacher arrested and charged, and he is later convicted of the crime. But then there is a second murder, and Barnaby thinks Pringle has got it badly wrong. He intends to see matters straightened out. Then Pringle himself is killed in what seems at first to be a riding accident - but Barnaby rightly suspects foul play.

Blue Herrings: Barnaby is planning to take a week's holiday to decorate his new house. He also wants to visit his Aunt Alice, who is in a local nursing home, Lawnside, recuperating after an operation. When one of the residents dies it is assumed to be just a case of old age, but Auntie Alice is not so sure. She tells her nephew that she had heard footsteps in the corridor in the dead of night and claims to have spotted a stranger sneaking around the place. When another resident is found dead followed by another, Barnaby and Troy take notice, and set out to uncover the truth. Are they really facing a murder case or just a series of unfortunate events expected in rest home.

Judgement Day: A thief gets killed with a pitchfork, and the villagers of Midsomer Mallow worry that the killing may undermine their chances of a prize in this year's Perfect Village competition. Things clearly take a turn for the worse when two of the competition judges are the next to be murdered.

Not rated.

DVD; (16.9) anamorphic presentation; Dolby digital.