- Radio Times
- Review by:
- David Brown
On the surface, this is a very traditional village mystery where a smashed watch points to the time of death and the locals mutter, “It’s a terrible business.” But, as far as I’m aware, no Agatha Christie story ever featured a man being shaken to death by an apple harvester and then dumped in a barrel of cider.
As the case steadily turns into a well-heeled Wicker Man, thanks to Warren Clarke playing dress-up in a very odd costume and the leader of the local temperance movement being portrayed as a frothing zealot, you can see why DCI John Barnaby begins to wonder whether he’s living in a madhouse. He’s right: the whole thing’s certifiable.
About this programme
6/8. A tax inspector goes missing as he tries to track down the maker of an illicit, potent cider popular among the residents of Midsomer Abbas. Barnaby and Jones have a murder investigation on their hands when the man's body is found floating in a vat at the village's spring fair, where the duo are sampling the local brew. Pathologist Kate Wilding says the victim's injuries look as if he was shaken to death by a giant, and as their inquiries continue, they discover the area is steeped in bizarre local traditions. Guest starring Warren Clarke (Dalziel & Pascoe) and Denise Black (Coronation Street).
Cast and crew
Cast
- DCI John Barnaby
- Neil Dudgeon
- DS Ben Jones
- Jason Hughes
- Sarah Barnaby
- Fiona Dolman
- Kate Wilding
- Tamzin Malleson
- Samuel Quested
- Warren Clarke
- Smudgepot
- Francis Magee
- Wilberforce
- Ian Peck
- Byron Street
- Bernard Lloyd
- Rev Norman Grigor
- Greg Hicks
- Evelyn Grigor
- Beatrice Comins
- Prudence
- Niamh Quinn
- Chloe Baker
- Denise Black
- Esme Baker
- Natalie Klamar
- Rev Walker
- Andrew Havill
- Will Green
- Richard Hawley
- Silas Trout
- Stephen Marcus
- Anthony Devereux
- Patrick Ryecart
- Alice Quested
- Eleanor Yates
- Jonathan Oak
- Jonathan Jaynes
- Peter Slim
- Richard Bradshaw
Crew
- Director
- Simon Langton
- Executive Producer
- Grant Mansfield
- Executive Producer
- Rod Williams
- Executive Producer
- Karen Dewey
- Producer
- Brian True-May
- Series Director
- Ben Mitchell
- Series Producer
- Caroline Ross-Pirie
- Writer
- Nicholas Martin
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