Customer Reviews

Midsomer Murders, Set Three [VHS]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

Many of you might have watched "Midsomer Murders" over the commercial-ridden A&E channel and have joined millions on both sides of the Atlantic in becoming devoted fans. For you, good news. Acorn Media has issued the third set that includes five more episodes in boxed sets of 5 DVDs.

Briefly, in the first set, "Death's Shadow" deals with several weird murders in Badger's Drift, "Strangler's Wood" with the seeming renewal of serial killings after many years, "Blood Will Out" with the effect of nomadic groups on local problems, and "Beyond the Grave" (the most gothic of the four) with ghostly doings in a museum.

In the second, we have "Dead Man's Eleven" dealing with a cricket bat as a murder weapon and a cricket game as the scene of yet another murder; "Death of a Stranger" dealing with fox hunting, strange tramps, Oscar Wilde, and murder; "Blue Herrings" dealing with suspicious deaths in a home for the elderly; and "Judgement Day" dealing with a "perfect" village trying to win an award as the bodies pile up.

In this latest set, "Garden of Death" involves local outrage at the commercialization of a local treasure; "Destroying Angel" is about murders concerning a hotel; "The Electric Vendetta" centers around those who do and do not believe in UFOs; "Who Killed Cock Robin" is about a love affair, while "Dark Autumn" is about multiple love affairs.

In a former review, I said that I found the first two series just a little less striking, a little more low-key, than those I have raved about in the Wimsey, Poirot and Miss Marple series. I added that "Midsomer Murders" seems a recycling of the Inspector Morse series but without that character's idiosyncrasies. But by now, I am pretty hooked on the show and complain only about extremely complex plots that will make you want to view them a second time. But that is the point in owning recordings.

I should interject here that some television series are rich and enjoyable enough to deserve repeated viewings. Poirot for its humor and period settings, Marple for its characters, Wimsey for all three of those elements, and now "Midsomer Murders."

John Nettles plays Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby with a droll sense of humor that is most appealing and most of his ongoing problems stem from his job's keeping him away from his lovely wife (Jane Wymark) and daughter (Laura Howard). His sidekick, Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) is simply Barnaby's sidekick but there is a humorous interplay between them. Notice that Inspector Morse's assistant is also named Troy.

And it is very good to see that gorgeous English scenery with its old inns and the like. Oh yes, and no foul language, but some unnecessary nudity of the "we may do it so we must do it" variety adds nothing to the quality of the show.

The Midsomer Murders series is the best contemporary British mystery series available on DVD for Anglophiles who want to believe England has not changed for the worse. I am a big fan of the older Mystery series as seen on PBS, and have purchased most of the DVDs available for `Morse', `Poirot', `Marple" as well as others that reflect `crime' in earlier imaginary ages. Most of us who travel to the UK from time to time are painfully aware that England as a Never-Never land disappeared long ago, if indeed it ever existed, but the Midsomer series allows us to play "adult pretend" as it portrays England as it might have been and might still be if you know where to look in Kent and the Cotswolds.

While other excellent mystery series depict the UK (especially London) as it really is -- gritty and not terribly different from many major cities in the US (BBC-America `Mystery Monday' lineup, i.e., `Murder in Suburbia' and `Wire in the Blood.'), the `Midsomer Murders' series fits the definition of "cozy" as given by PBS Mystery host Diana Rigg (I think these shows are A&E products that have never been shown on PBS, however). Although the series is set in modern times with cell phones and computers, the producers know where to take the crew on location (as they describe in the extra features on the DVDs), as well as the fact that many Americans want England served up as a kind of fantasy-land where a finite line-up of suspects falls into place and social order is maintained (One wag described England as the American Anglophile's Disney Land). And, just like the old mysteries by Christie and March, motive and timing become the means of entrapment-not forensics, while sleuths not terribly unlike Dectective Allyn solve the crime.

In Series #3, beautiful places such as old hotels, commons, and memorial gardens are threatened with renovation and change. You can get yourself killed in Midsomer if you threaten to change anything. One way to stay alive is stick to tradition. Mailmen who deviate from their appointed rounds and threaten the supposed marital bliss of villagers, couples who commit fornication in broad daylight, and cheating spouses run great risks. Like their role model Allyn, Barnaby and Troy are ready to get to the bottom of the crime and understand the forces that lie within the heart of village life.

The unflappable DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) with his young associate, Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey) continue to find nasty secrets and motives for murder in Midsomer County. Set Three's mysteries are: Garden of Death (death by shotgun), set in the village of Midsomer Deverell; Destroying Angel (asphyxiation and mushrooms), set in Easterly Grange; The Electric Vendetta (electrocution), set in Midsomer Parva; Who Killed Cock Robin? (bludgeoning), set in Newton Magna and Dark Autumn (bludgeoning again), set in Goodman's Land.

In this part cosy, part procedural mystery series, DCI Barnaby's territory takes in the English county of Midsomer. All the little picture-perfect villages and small towns have a wide and varied assortment of English citizens, ranging from wealthy magistrates and high Church of England prelates to milkmen and shopkeepers, wives and lovers, thieves and...a lot of murderers. Barnaby must apply all his experience, skepticism, intelligence and persistence to solve them.

The charm of this series lies partly in its setting. Midsomer County is a very pretty place, green and cared for. The towns are tidy, filled with competent and knowledgeable tradesmen; the villages tend to have a few eccentrics and a lot of thatched roofs. This could be much too cosy except for three things. First, the performance by John Nettles. He's a fine actor who is completely at home in the role. Watching his Barnaby think his way through clever mysteries, unfailingly polite and unfailingly unintimidated, is a pleasure. Second, the mysteries themselves. This series has been going on through eight seasons. DVD sets are out for six of them so far. The mysteries are almost always real puzzlers; not flashy, but well disguised. They are consistently interesting and well written. They play fair with the viewer. The clues Barnaby discovers all have been there for us to find as well as for him. Third, the quality of the production and the actors. I suspect a substantial budget has been allocated for each episode. The series looks first-rate. The actors are first-rate, too, which is typical of British productions which find their way over here. Daniel Casey does a fine job as Barnaby's assistant. He respects his boss and is smart enough to learn from him. But he also can be exasperated at Barnaby's penchant for not sharing everything. And he occasionally gets put out when an apparently important car trip (Troy almost always drives them) turns out to be a trip for a bacon sandwich Barnaby's been thinking about. Barnaby's wife is played by Jane Wymark, and it's a pleasure to observe how much at ease the two actors are with each other. They play a long-married couple, still in love and with a comfortable kind of middle-aged affection for each other. All the actors do outstanding jobs, and there usually is a sprinkling of well-known names. In Set Three, which consists of five programs of about an hour and forty minutes each, there are Alan Howard, Rosemary Leach, Anthony Bate, Margaret Tyzack, Ian McNeice, Samantha Bond, Alec McCowan, Celia Imrie and Jane Lapotaire.

If you're in the mood for civilized British television mysteries, where the mean streets have more cobblestones than crushed beer cans, where the occasional drug user is not a grubby loser but a member of the upper class, where the chief copper has a happy home life and no angst to share with the viewers, Midsomer Murders might be just the thing. The mysteries are consistently well developed and puzzling, and the acting is solid.

The programs in each set do not reflect very accurately the order in which the programs appear in each season's series. It doesn't make any difference since each mystery is self-contained. The DVD picture is excellent. There are a few extras such as a map of Midsomer County showing the towns and villages, cast filmographies of the major players and a biography of Carolyn Graham, the author of the books the series is based on.

I started watching on the BIO channel and got so hooked,I started ordering them on DVD. i intend to get the entire set before I'm done. It's great watching without lots of blood,guts and gore!!!!!!

This series is always enjoyable, even as reruns, so it was purchased as a birthday gift for a senior with hearing loss. It was disappointing in that she can enjoy the action but not follow the dialog as well as she would have if the DVD had closed captioning avalaible.

This show never ceases to amaze. The storylines are always fresh, Barnaby is always hilarious and Troy deserves a Noble prize for his horrid driving and not so politically correct remarks. My favorite episode in this set was Dark Autumn. Buy it cause you will not regret it. Only complaint is that I wish they would sell the sets they way they do in the UK. They break them up into so many dvd sets here in the States and many times you have the seasons mixed together.

This is a nice little series that does not get old. There is always something new to find at each viewing. Detective Barnaby and his sidekick Sgt Troy have a nice chemistry which makes them a good team for their investigations as Barnaby is teaching Troy the crust of being a detective.

I love this series and own practically all of it. But when the issue of religion enters the script, the writers seem abnormally anti-clerical and ignorant of church history and doctrine. One of the stories in Part 3 has a man in his early 40s as a Catholic bishop who wears civilian clothes and is in the "running" for Cardinal. Utter nonsense. Similar examples abound throughout Midsomer Murders. Oh well, the series on the whole is entertaining and interesting, despite the often mind-boggling complexity of the plots and the many sneers at those who take the Christian faith seriously.

These are just great, painless, evenings' entertainment. There is no nastiness, obscenity or heavy violence. Family viewing is advised. I now have the first 6 seasons and plan on purchasing the rest. Well acted in the British tradition of mysteries.