"Midsomer Murders" Birds of Prey (2003)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Jeremy Silberston

Writers:

Michael Russell (screenplay)
Caroline Graham (characters)

TV Series:

"Midsomer Murders" (1997)

Original Air Date:

31 January 2003 (Season 6, Episode 5)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

The police investigate the apparent suicide of Julian Shepherd who drowned after driving his car into a nearby river...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Suspect | Police | Sergeant | Detective

Cast

John Nettles	...	DCI Tom Barnaby
Daniel Casey	...	Sgt Gavin Troy
Jane Wymark	...	Joyce Barnaby
Laura Howard	...	Cully Barnaby
Barry Jackson	...	Dr Bullard
Kate Buffery	...	Mallory Edmonton
David Calder	...	George Hamilton
Alexandra Gilbreath	...	Naomi Sinclair
Robert Morgan	...	Julian Shepherd
Rosalind Knight	...	Eleanor Macpherson
Sheila Shand Gibbs	...	Jane Macpherson
Anton Lesser	...	Eddie Darwin
Candida Benson	...	PC Sarah Pearce
Janet Maw	...	Eileen Hamilton
Trevor Cooper	...	Sean Moorcroft

Runtime:

UK:100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

UK:12 (VHS/DVD rating) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Bledlow, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Bentley Productions

Quotes:

[first lines]
George Hamilton: As long as George is kept out of the way and no-one sees him in a week, we'll all be done.
Mallory Edmonton: That phone never stops ringing.
George Hamilton: Oh, refer them to me; I'll handle it.
Mallory Edmonton: You handling Julian Shepherd?
George Hamilton: Let's just ignore him.
Mallory Edmonton: No, he's making trouble, George; I don't want anything to go wrong.
George Hamilton: All right. I'll see to it.

Another top quality Midsomer Murders.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Midsomer Murders: Birds of Prey is set in Midsomer Magna where Sgt. Troy (Daniel Casey) is assigned to look after PC Sarah Pearce (Candida Benson) a wildlife liaison officer investigating stolen birds eggs, meanwhile DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) is called when a car in a lake is discovered to have the dead body of Julian Shepherd (Robert Morgan) inside. The autopsy proves that he drowned, but not in the lake as it first appeared. Barnaby does some digging which leads him to an inventor named Charles Edmonton (Richard Todd) who he had invested a lot of money with, then another local resident Edward Darwin (Anton Lesser) turns up dead & soon after Charles himself dies. Somehow Barnaby is sure the death's are connected...

Episode 5 from season 6, the last episode of season 6 in fact, this Midsomer Murders was directed by Jeremy Silberston & is another fine addition to this British crime drama series & a fine way to round of season 6. The script by Michael Russell which sidelines Troy for most of the episode has all the usual ingredients we have come to expect, the neatly woven red herrings that actually work, the eccentric Midsomer character's that give the show that extra bit of life & charm, a high body count, plenty of mystery & a killer who I'm sure the majority of viewers will be a surprise. The actual motives are a bit dull as it all basically comes down to money, there's no sinister dark secrets or over-the-top explanations here which is a shame because I prefer the twisted & unusual motives but money's as good as any I suppose & the rest of Birds of Prey is excellent. As usual at the 2 hour mark you have to be patient with it as it's very exposition heavy with lots of dialogue that if you don't pay attention too the final revelation will probably not be as effective or possibly not even make any sense. Another great murder mystery & it's as simple & straight forward as that.

As usual Birds of Prey has high production values & is very well made by people who cared about the finished product, the cinematography is stylish & the unmistakably English country locations are well represented. The murders aren't graphic & only one is shown where a guy has an African spear stuck into his chest & this particular sequence has one of the single most coolest pieces of incidental music in all of TV history, it's annoyingly catchy & funky! The acting is to the show's high standards, I love the look John Nettles gives to his wife at the end when she says she's booked an Elephant back trip around Africa!

Birds of Prey is another great Midsomer Murders mystery, I used to love these for the twisted & dark motives so the bland 'murder for money' plot revelation here is a tad dull although up to that point Birds of Prey had been excellent & the ending works well enough so I shouldn't really complain. Should I?