Product Details

• Actors: John Nettles, Jane Wymark, Barry Jackson, Jason Hughes, Laura Howard
• Writers: Caroline Graham
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Acorn Media
• DVD Release Date: May 13, 2003
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1569385882
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,227 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Midsomer Murders - Set One" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Acorn Media presents a beautifully realized boxed set that brings to life all the ghastliness and arch humor of Caroline Graham's intriguing mystery series. Set 1 includes four episodes: Death's Shadow, Strangler's Wood, Blood Will Out, and Beyond the Grave Each is set in a different village in the quaint but surprisingly lethal Midsomer County, complete with sharp portraits of the love and loathing that small-town life can breed. John Nettles plays Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby with a wry wit, a satisfyingly keen-but-not-supernatural intelligence, and a deep understanding of human nature. Daniel Casey as the much younger Sergeant Troy has a somewhat tougher job, painting his younger policeman's character in shorter bits over the course of the series, but he becomes a most welcome face. The series is beautifully acted and produced and the solutions are satisfying--not a clinker in the bunch. The DVDs include selected cast filmographies, a biography of author Caroline Graham, and a map of Midsomer County. --Ali Davis

Product Description

MIDSOMER MURDERS SET 1 - DVD Movie

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

591 of 592 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sorting out the Viewing order, Great series!, December 1, 2005

By 

andreas838 (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Midsomer Murders - Set One (DVD)

Fully in line with my expectations for BBC excellence, the Midsomer Murders series doesn't disappoint. I did find however the Set numbering quite confusing as it didn't seem to correspond to the character developments.

For those new to the series, I would recommend viewing the series in the order in which it was aired, not by the consecutive order of the Set numbers. For instance, "Set 5" is actually Season 1 which aired in 1998. "Set 4" is mostly Season 5 which aired in 2002. Below, is an overview for your viewing convenience.

The Killings at Badger's Drift S 1 x E 1 1998 US Box Set 5
Written in Blood S 1 x E 2 1998 US Box Set 5
Death of a Hollow Man S 1 x E 3 1998 US Box Set 5
Faithful Unto Death S 1 x E 4 1998 US Box Set 5
Death in Disguise S 1 x E 5 1998 US Box Set 5
Death's Shadow S 2 x E 1 1999 US Box Set 1
Strangler's Wood S 2 x E 2 1999 US Box Set 1
Dead Man's Eleven S 2 x E 3 1999 US Box Set 2
Blood Will Out S 2 x E 4 1999 US Box Set 1
Death of a Stranger S 3 x E 1 2000 US Box Set 2
Blue Herrings S 3 x E 2 2000 US Box Set 2
Judgement Day S 3 x E 3 2000 US Box Set 2
Beyond the Grave S 3 x E 4 2000 US Box Set 1
Garden of Death S 4 x E 1 2001 US Box Set 3
Destroying Angel S 4 x E 2 2001 US Box Set 3
The Electric Vendetta S 4 x E 3 2001 US Box Set 3
Who Killed Cock Robin? S 4 x E 4 2001 US Box Set 3
Dark Autumn S 4 x E 5 2001 US Box Set 3
Tainted Fruit S 4 x E 6 2001 US Box Set 4
Market for Murder S 5 x E 1 2002 US Box Set 4
A Worm in the Bud S 5 x E 2 2002 US Box Set 4
Ring Out Your Dead S 5 x E 3 2002 US Box Set 4
Murder on St. Malley's Day S 5 x E 4 2002 US Box Set 4
A Talent For Life S 6 x E 1 2003 US Box Set 6
Death and Dreams S 6 x E 2 2003 US Box Set 6
Painted in Blood S 6 x E 3 2003 US Box Set 6
A Tale of Two Hamlets S 6 x E 4 2003 US Box Set 6
Birds of Prey S 6 x E 5 2003 US Box Set 6
The Green Man S 7 x E 1 2003 US Box Set 7
Bad Tidings S 7 x E 2 2004 US Box Set 7
The Fisher King S 7 x E 3 2004 US Box Set 7
Sins of Commission S 7 x E 4 2004 US Box Set 7
The Maid in Splendour S 7 x E 5 2004 US Box Set NA
The Straw Woman S 7 x E 6 2004 US Box Set NA
The ghost of Christmas Past S 7 x E Special 1 2004 US Box Set NA
Things That Go Bump In The Night S 8 x E 1 2004 US Box Set NA
Dead in the Water S 8 x E 2 2004 US Box Set NA
Orchis Fatalis S 8 x E 3 2005 US Box Set NA
Bantling Boy S 8 x E 4 2005 US Box Set NA
Second Sight S 8 x E 5 2005 US Box Set NA
Hidden Depths S 8 x E 6 2005 US Box Set NA
Sauce for the Goose S 8 x E 7 2005 US Box Set NA
Midsomer Rhapsody S 8 x E 8 2005 US Box Set NA
The House in the Woods S 9 x E 1 2005 US Box Set NA
Dead Letters S 9 x E 2 2006 US Box Set NA
Vixen's Run S 9 x E 3 2006 US Box Set NA
Down Among the Dead Men S 9 x E 4 2006 US Box Set NA
Death in Chorus S 9 x E 5 2006 US Box Set NA
Country Matters S 9 x E 6 2006 US Box Set NA
Last Year's Model S 9 x E 7 2006 US Box Set NA
Four Funerals and a Wedding S 9 x E 8 2006 US Box Set NA
Dance With The Dead S 10 x E 1 US Box Set NA

Whilst this isn't a saga, I do think a production of this quality deserves to be viewed in the correct order. Happy sleuthing!

108 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Successful entry in a great British mystery tradition., January 2, 2004

By 

Themis-Athena (from somewhere between California and Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midsomer Murders - Set One (DVD)

They are amateurs and pros, London dwellers moving equally comfortably in international society as in that of their occasional forays into the English countryside, and lifelong inhabitants of those rural settings. They investigate crimes in the Thames valley and cities as large as Oxford, midsize towns like a certain Kingsmarkham, and villages with such all-English names as St. Mary Mead or King's Abbot. And they have been portrayed by some of Britain's finest contemporary actors, from Jeremy Brett and David Burke/Edward Hardwicke (Sherlock Holmes & Doctor Watson) to Roy Marsden (Commander Adam Dalgliesh), John Thaw and Kevin Whately (D.C.I. Morse & D.S. Lewis), David Jason (D.I. "Jack" Frost), George Baker and Christopher Ravenscroft (D.C.I. Reginald Wexford & D.I. Mike Burden), Peter Davison and Brian Glover (Albert Campion & Magersfontein Lugg), Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walter (Lord Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane), David Suchet/Albert Finney (Hercule Poirot) and last but not least Joan Hickson as Miss Jane Marple, the grandmother of all English village detectives.

To that illustrious group, British author Caroline Graham in 1987 added another sleuthing couple, the middle-aged D.C.I. Tom Barnaby and his young colleague D.S. Gavin Troy, coppers in a cluster of villages which, collectively, make up an area known as Midsomer County, and which could easily rival Agatha Christie's very own St. Mary Mead in per-capita occurrences of treachery, crime and bloodletting. The series' first entry, "The Killings at Badgers Drift," was so successful that it won a Macavity Award for best first mystery and, for its author, an instant loyal following. Before long, the books spawned a television series, which at almost 30 episodes has long since outrun the number of its print originals. Starring as Barnaby and Troy are Royal Shakespeare Company alumnus John Nettles, best known to TV audiences as Jerseyan Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac in the 1980s' series of the same name (based on the books by Andrew Saville), and Daniel Casey, whose most notable other roles to date have been appearances in the BBC's "Our Friends in the North" and the 1998 Catherine Cookson adaptation "The Wingless Bird." Nettles and Casey are an engaging team, not quite faithful to their characters' literary versions - which however works well to their advantage; particularly in the case of Daniel Casey's Troy, who is less brash and more goodnaturedly witty than in the books, and who presents a good foil for Nettles's emphatic Barnaby; in turn overall more reminiscent of George Baker's Wexford than of Nettles's own Bergerac, whose domestic bliss is spoiled, again and again, by the callings of his job; to his regret as much as to his family's; yet, he is to much of a professional not to heed those callings every single time.

With release of the series' episodes already underway in Britain, Acorn Media has now proceeded to the "region 1" transcription of its installments, individually and in collections of four episodes each. And while it is unfortunate that the TV version of "The Killings at Badgers Drift" - which not only introduced the characters of Barnaby and Troy but is also expressly referenced in this first collection's installment "Death's Shadow" - is neither part of this first nor even of the second boxed set released in the U.S., overall this is a most welcome and long overdue opportunity for fans of the series to reacquaint themselves with this winning pair of detectives and the not-so peaceful, albeit wonderfully filmed setting of rural Midsomer County.

This collection features the following episodes:

"Beyond the Grave:" Assisted by Barnaby's son, who is to "shadow" Troy in preparation of a school theatre appearance as a policeman, the two detectives have to get to the bottom of a series of seemingly paranormal events at Aspern Tallow Museum, all the while investigating the murders of a descendant of a long-deceased village hero and another local man who, like so many of the village residents, turns out not to always have been the honorable citizen his neighbors had known him to be.

"Blood Will Out:" Martyr Warren magistrate Hector Bridges is a Falklands hero, but also a man with an irascible temper, which endears him to few of his neighbors - and even less so to the traveler clans who assemble in the village one summer week, and whose leader has a bone of his own to pick with the magistrate. But are the wayfarers - the quintessential "usual suspects" for everything from theft to horsetrading - also guilty of his murder? (And will Barnaby survive the diet imposed on him by his wife and daughter without succumbing to the temptations of candy bars and chocolate cakes?)

"Death's Shadow:" Dark childhood memories haunt successful director Simon Fletcher as he returns to Badgers Drift to teach a summer acting workshop, one of whose attendees is Barnaby's daughter Callie. As he arrives, a series of arcane and seemingly unconnected murders begins in the village. Caught between the investigation and the preparations of the ceremonial confirmation of his marriage vows at Badgers Drift church, Barnaby eventually realizes that he has to dig deep into the hamlet's past to find the deeply disturbed mind responsible for the horrors visited upon its population.

"Strangler's Wood:" The forest's true name is Raven's Wood, but ever since three young women were found there strangled with a necktie years ago, it is more commonly known as "Strangler's Wood." Not surprising, then, that the discovery of yet another murdered woman ten years after the original crimes (this time a beautiful Brazilian model) brings forth premonitions of the worst kind; especially since the culprit responsible for the first three crimes was never caught. But did he really return to his evil ways, as suddenly as he had stopped murdering so long ago? As Barnaby and daughter Callie make an attempt at father-daughter bonding and Troy seizes an opportunity to demonstrate his linguistic prowess, they investigate the dead beauty's movements in Midsomer County - and unmask, yet again, more than one of its residents who is not quite as honorable as he seems.

Also recommended:
The Killings at Badger's Drift (Inspector Barnaby Mysteries)
Midsomer Murders - The Early Cases Collection
Inspector Morse - Complete Collection
Ruth Rendell Mysteries - Simisola / Road Rage
P.D. James: The Essential Collection

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Boxed Set, September 26, 2003

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midsomer Murders - Set One (DVD)

One of the things I have enjoyed about the release of so many television series on DVD is the opportunity to own so many British television series that I have missed for one reason or another over the years.

As a reader of Caroline Graham's mysteries, I was pleased to find this series based on her characters. Well written and well acted-- John Nettles as Inspector Barnaby is particularly appealing-- these stories peer under the peaceful facade of Midsomer County where a whole bunch of worms are writhing.

One thing I really enjoyed about this series is the lack of prettification of the actors. Many of the main characters are unabashedly middle aged and their faces show it, yet they are still attractive and vibrant. I think it was Charlotte Armstrong who once wrote how some signs of experience in the face was more interesting than "the bald brow of youth." This show illustrates this.

Don't buy this series for the DVD bonus extras though. They hardly exist.