Rating summary
Movie | | 4.5 |
Video | | 4.5 |
Audio | | 3.5 |
Extras | | 2.0 |
Overall | | 4.0 |
Midsomer Murders, Series 17 Blu-ray Movie Review
It's a Dog's Life, Sykes
Reviewed by Michael Reuben September 15, 2015
(Warning: The following review assumes that the reader is current with the lives of the
recurring characters in Midsomer Murders. Anyone who has yet to watch Series 16, a/k/a Set 25,
should read no further and avoid looking at screenshots.)
With this set of Midsomer Murders, Acorn Media has now adopted the numbering system used
in the U.K., and it is reissuing the previous Set
25 as Series 16. Series 17 of
Midsomer Murders
opens with Sarah and John Barnaby experiencing the joys, disorder and sleep deprivation that
come with being new parents. Meanwhile, their depressed terrier, Sykes, must adjust to the
unaccustomed role of playing second fiddle in the Barnaby household, alternately sulking and
"acting out" like an elder sibling. Sarah Barnaby (Fiona Dolman) has taken maternity leave from
her teaching responsibilities, but her skills as a historical researcher prove useful to husband John
(Neil Dudgeon) in his criminal investigations, especially now that he no longer has a sergeant
with local connections. His new sergeant, Charlie Nelson (Gwilym Lee), is settling in nicely, and
both Nelson and his landlady, Coroner Kate Wilding (Tamzin Malleson), are vastly entertained
by the sight of DCI Barnaby in his non-official role as a doting dad.
It's just as well that infant Betty Barnaby is blissfully unaware of the hazardous environs into
which she has been born. In Series 17, Midsomer Murders continues to revel in taking us to
charming country locales only to reveal them as dens of iniquity teaming with duplicitous
neighbors nursing ancient grudges and committing foul deeds. Any parent who has seen as much
of Midsomer's dark side as Barnaby might be pardoned for insisting on home schooling and an
armed nanny.
The Dagger Club (disc 1) Jan. 28, 2015
Luxton Deeping was the home of celebrated crime author George Summersbee, creator of the
popular Jed Dagger series. Now, three years after Summersbee's death, the manuscript of an
unpublished Dagger novel has been found by the writer's executor, Suzie Colebrooke (Oona
Kirsch). The new book is expected to be the highlight of the third annual crime fiction festival
run by Maggie Markham (Lia Williams), who is married to Summersbee's brother, Nick (Adam
Kotz), a doctor. Nick's recently published memoir about his famous older sibling will also be a
major item at the festival, and the entire affair should be good business for the book store run by
Summersbee's daughter, Bella (Georgia Taylor), and her husband, Rob Mead (Kobna
Holdbrook-Smith). About the only person who doesn't seem thrilled by the festival is
Summersbee's embittered widow, Jeannie (Charlotte Cornwell).
But then Suzie Colebrooke is murdered just as the festival starts, and the only copy of the
manuscript for the new Jed Dagger novel mysteriously disappears. What's more, Suzie is killed
by an odd and innocent-seeming device in a package delivered to her home, and DS Nelson
determines that another, identical package was sent to someone unconnected to either the festival
or the Summersbee family. The killings are a dead ringer for those in the very first Jed Dagger
book. What is the killer's motive? What connects the two targets?
Like any
Midsomer Murder, there are plenty of interesting suspects, including George
Summersbee's former publisher, Miles Rattigan (Simon Kunz), to whom Suzie Colebrooke
refused the rights to the new Jed Dagger book, and the Braylesfords, a mother and son (Una
Stubbs and Ed Birch), neighbors of the Summersbees who seem to bear them an ancient grudge.
But despite much suspicious behavior, Barnaby can't tie any of the suspects to both of the
victims, who appear to have nothing in common other than being killed by the same peculiar
means.
Murder by Magic (disc 1) Feb. 4, 2015
Midsomer Oaks has recently become home to a famous magician (or, as he prefers to be called,
"illusionist") named Gideon Latimer (Andrew Lee-Potts), who is giving a series of benefit
performances to raise funds for the restoration of St. Cyprian's Church. The local vicar, Magnus
Soane (Jack Shepherd), is grateful, as is the vicar's wife, Lorna Soane (Deborah Findlay), but the
vicar's assistant, curate Andrew Maplin (Justin Salinger), is a zealot who considers the practice
of magic, even as make-believe, to be an abomination to the Lord. Maplin also objects to Gideon,
because he purchased Melmouth Hall, the estate of an 18th Century paganist, Sir Hugo
Melmouth, whom Maplin regards as a devil-worshipper.
Maplin's predictions of doom seem prescient when Gideon's equipment collapses from sabotage
during a performance in the church, killing Hannah Altman, owner of the local pub, who
happened to be playing piano for the occasion. Gideon's manager (Fraser Ayres) and his over-protective mother (Amanda Burton) are convinced
that
the magician was the target, but Barnaby
has doubts. Among other things, Hannah and her husband, Luke (Joe Absolom), were having
marital troubles, and investigation quickly reveals irregularities in their finances.
Curate Maplin may also be onto something about the town's pagan history. The woods
surrounding Melmouth Hall are the scene of odd occurrences: hooded and masked figures,
ceremonial bonfires and sinister rituals. But what does any of this have to do with a celebrity
magician or a piano-playing pub owner? The answers lie in the past, some of them hundreds of
years ago.
The Ballad of Midsomer County (disc 2) Feb. 11, 2015
If a song is named after Midsomer County, it must be homicidal, and indeed the folk song "The
Ballad of Midsomer County" tells of a beautiful country maid who lures a young man to a cabin,
then slits his throat. Several artists have recorded the ballad, but now an actual killer seems to be
using the lyrics as inspiration for a series of killings in Lower Crosby on the eve of its annual folk
festival. The first victim is the festival's organizer, Toby Winning (Stuart St. Paul), who is
drowned in a bowl of fresh eggs and eels, one of the ballad's more vivid images. Are these
macabre references meaningful or misdirection? As it turns out, they are both.
The evening before his death, Winning announced to the assembled business owners of Lower
Crosby his intent to move the festival to London the following year, thereby depriving them of
their biggest source of revenue. The response was predictably negative. Winning's widow, Alice
(Rakie Ayola), was divorcing him, but now stands to inherit everything, if there's anything to
inherit. Winning's assistant, Brian Grey (Daniel Brocklebank), ran up considerable debts
arranging the festival's move to London, but Winning seemed confident of a major windfall in
the offing. Perhaps it has something to do with the headliner he managed to secure for this year's
festival, a folk star named Jay Templeton (Stephen Hagan). Or perhaps it's something else. The
alert Sgt. Nelson notices that a laptop is missing from Winning's residence. What secrets (or
songs) might it have contained?
Many of Lower Crosby's residents are amateur musicians, including bar owner Frank
Wainwright (Clarke Peters,
The Wire
), who used to perform with the town's most famous
musician singer, Johnny Carver, the object of a cult obsession since he committed suicide 25
years ago. Johnny's niece, Melody Carver (Lucie Jones), dreams of a musical career, but her
father, Danny (Sean Gilder), won't hear of it. Convinced that the music business destroyed his
brother Johnny, Danny hasn't picked up an instrument since Johnny Carver's death. The most
that Danny will do is wire the sound systems for the festival, while his daughter Melody remains
safely tucked away, waiting tables in the hotel and restaurant operated by Tom and Claire Asher
(Dean Andrews and Claudie Blakely). Or at least that's what Melody's father thinks she's been
doing. Secretly Melody has been writing and recording songs.
As is so often the case in Midsomer County, explaining the present requires a journey into the
past, and the past often proves elusive. Just ask Barnaby, who spends much of the episode trying
to solve the mystery of what he and Sarah once chose as "their" song. To his great
embarrassment and his wife's reproachful glee, the chief inspector can't recall.
A Vintage Murder (disc 2) Feb. 18, 2015
The town of Midsomer Vinae is home to the winery owned by William and Diana Carnarvon
(Mark Bonnar and Ruth Gemmell), who, after five years of struggle and debt, believe they have
created a winning vintage. However, at a gala tasting intended to launch the brand, a noted wine
critic Nadia Simons (Naoko Mori,
Torchwood) pronounces the Carnarvons' creation a flop.
Shortly thereafter, a dozen guests collapse from what turns out to be slug poison slipped into
their glasses. "Everyone's a critic", mutters Nadia, smiling.
Barnaby and Nelson quickly discover that the Carnarvons have enemies everywhere. The
Farmers Wives Association led by Elspeth Rice (Selina Griffiths) accuses them of damming up
streams and other environmental damage in the construction of their wine-making facilities. Even
more serious is the death of ten-year-old Jennifer Tyler in a hit-and-run accident immediately
following the Carnarvons first promotional event five years ago. The culprit is assumed to be an
intoxicated attendee; in fact, the chief suspect is the very same Nadia Simons who delivered such
an unkind review just before the poisoning. The dead child's mother, Judy Tyler (Rosie
Cavaliero), has never recovered and can barely leave her house. The father, Roger Tyler (Wayne
Foskett), is bitter and angry. Only the older daughter, Tina (Sabrina Bartlett), seems to have
moved on.
More than moved on: Tina has fallen for the Carnarvons' son, Tom (Tom Rhys Harries), a
relationship they must both keep secret. But Tina also has to evade the romantic clutches of
Kevin Payton (Max Bennett), who works for the Carnarvons and whose father, Louis Paynton
(Lloyd Owen), owns the local hotel that derives substantial business from visitors to the
Carnarvon vineyard. Louis, in turn, has been carrying a torch for Diana Carnarvon for years and
wouldn't mind seeing the winery fail, so that she will have no choice but to turn to
him. Diana's
mother, Matilda Stowe (Claire Bloom), lives at Paynton's hotel, and she might not be unhappy
with that outcome.
When bodies begin to fall (literally, in one instance), Barnaby cannot decide whether the motive
is greed, jealousy, revenge or family loyalty. The solution to this particular episode of
Midsomer
Murders is unusually complex, and multiple motives overlap.
Midsomer Murders, Series 17 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Cinematographer James Moss returned for Series 17 of Midsomer Murders, which continues to
be shot on the Arri Alexa. Like Sets 23, 24 and 25, this latest series has been released by Acorn
Media with two episodes per BD-50, providing the same superb clarity, detail, depth of field and
color that has been typical of the series on Blu-ray. Although I noticed a few fleeting instances of
aliasing in these episodes, I have not decreased the video score, because I suspect these are there
in the original capture; they resemble the kind of edge "flickers" that sometimes appear even in
feature films finished on 2k digital intermediates. For those interested in numbers, the average
bitrate of these digitally shot episodes is around 23 Mbps per episode, which is somewhat lower
than on the previous set, but is still very good. The compression has been capably performed.
Midsomer Murders, Series 17 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
Provided in lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0, the stereo sound design for Midsomer Murders has not
changed in any major respect, and none of the episodes in Series 17 presents any obvious
opportunity for directional effects. "The Ballad of Midsomer County" includes several acoustic
and vocal performances that have a warm and natural sound, and the opening "illusion" in
"Murder by Magic" has a few sound effects that are unusually loud for this show. Otherwise, the
sound design remains modest and restrained, with emphasis on the dialogue, which is always
clear, and on the spare underscoring by Jim Parker, including his signature theme.
Midsomer Murders, Series 17 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
This set of Midsomer Murders has some interesting extras, but an unfortunate omission is the
complete lyrics for "The Ballad of Midsomer County".
- Murder by Magic—The Actors (disc 1) (1080p; 1.85:1; 9:14): Director Charlie Palmer
discusses the casting of the episode. Additional interviewees include Jack Shepherd
(Magnus Soane), Gwilym Lee (DS Nelson), Neil Dudgeon (DCI Barnaby), Amanda
Burton (Carole Latimer, Gideon's mother) and Stephanie Leonidas (Annabelle Latimer,
Gideon's wife), who describes her character as "not a happy bunny".
- Murder by Magic—The Tricks (disc 1) (1080p; 1.85:1; 7:26): Introduced by Neil
Dudgeon, this featurette looks at the various illusions performed in the episode.
- Behind the Scenes (disc 2) (1080p; 1.85:1; 10:25): This featurette was made during the
filming of "The Ballad of Midsomer County" and includes interviews with director
Renny Rye, Dudgeon, Lee, Clarke Peters (Frank Wainwright), Rakie Ayola (Alice
Winning) and other cast members.
- Bonus Trailers: At startup, disc 1 plays trailers for Acorn Media, Foyle's War, Set 8 and
New Tricks, Season 11.
Midsomer Murders, Series 17 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
As with many other series released by Acorn, the U.S. has now caught up with the U.K. Series 17
is the most recent set of Midsomer Murders to air in Great Britain. Series 18, which is currently
filming, is scheduled for release in 2016. About a year from now, we can expect to see another
Blu-ray set that will bring us the latest skullduggery from England's green and pleasant land.
Although nothing was said at the conclusion of Series 17's final episode, it has already been
reported that Tamzin Malleson's Dr. Kate Wilding will not be returning as coroner, for reasons
that will presumably be explained in the first episode of the new series. I look forward to meeting
her successor. Meanwhile, Series 17 is highly recommended.