Things take a gruesome turn when Ferabbees Circus comes to town, bringing with it a chain of sinister clown sightings, threatening notes and deathly dangerous circus acts.Things take a gruesome turn when Ferabbees Circus comes to town, bringing with it a chain of sinister clown sightings, threatening notes and deathly dangerous circus acts.Things take a gruesome turn when Ferabbees Circus comes to town, bringing with it a chain of sinister clown sightings, threatening notes and deathly dangerous circus acts.
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Did you know
- TriviaJay and Jodi Miller of Jay Millers circus were advisers in this episode as well as doubles for circus performers, their daughters also doubled for the trapeze sequences.
- GoofsFleur suggests exposing Barnaby to clowns would be 'aversion therapy'. It's not. Aversion therapy is to build a dislike of something. This would be 'exposure therapy'.
- Quotes
DCI John Barnaby: Where on earth do you get your energy from?
Fleur Perkins: Donuts. A couple of these, and I'm unstoppable for 24 hours.
- ConnectionsReferences Hi-de-Hi! (1980)
Featured review
Circus of death
Am somebody who has always gotten a lot of enjoyment out of 'Midsomer Murders' and there are a lot of good to outstanding episodes throughout. More the Tom Barnaby era than the John Barnaby era (where the show in general has not quite felt the same), but there are some surprisingly good later episodes about. Really liked the idea for "Send in the Clown" and the cicus setting has much nostalgic value, so a large part of me was really looking forward to the episode.
Only to be met with disappointment. As has been the case too often with the John Barnaby era 'Midsomer Murders' episodes. Does that mean that "Send in the Clown" is a bad episode? No, not at all. Considering the premise and the setting, this had potential to be one of 'Midsomer Murders' best episodes. The sadly quite average execution here sadly only makes it as far as the show goes a middling episode. Not one of the best later episodes, or episodes in general, at the same time also not one of the worst (nowhere near in both cases).
"Send in the Clown" is certainly watchable and has things good about it. It looks great, the scenery is both picturesque and atmospheric and the circus has a nostalgic and even unsettling look. All beautifully photographed, Even in the worst episodes, and the show was hardly immune ftom weak episodes, the music never disappinted and was continually one of the good things. That is the case here with "Send in the Clown", the main theme is still immortal.
The episode does well in evoking the excitement and danger of the circus setting, doing better at that than with the mystery, and the murders themselves are cleverly staged. Especially the last one overall, which had the most suspenseful build up, though the second was the most elaborate. There is some nice humour here and there, the clown sightings were genuinely creepy and the cast are fine, Jason Watkins and Neil Stuke do a particularly nice job of the guest stars (Lorraine Ashbourne also does very well but her character felt underdeveloped) and Annette Badland continues to be a hit as Fleur, proving to still a worthy addition. Neil Dudgeon isn't taking it as overly-seriously as he did when he took over from John Nettles. Not hard to relate either to Barnaby's uneasiness with clowns, being somebody who was scared of mascots when younger.
However, the mystery could have been a lot more engaging outside of the murders. It tends to be pretty mundane and quite padded, as well as a little too overshadowed by everything to do with the circus. Which caused some of the episode to drag, quite badly in places. The subplots intrigue initially, but too many of them felt under-explored (the clown sightings could have been better explained) and the same can be said for too many of the supporting characters in general, Curtis being by far the most interesting.
Like too many 'Midsomer Murders' episodes nowadays, the denouement felt rushed and almost last-minute, the identity of the murderer was a surprise but the motivation for the killings felt too came out of nowhere and extreme. Also felt rather cheated by that for the last murder, you have such a suspenseful build up and cleverly staged scene and you go and give it the weakest and almost cop-out-like motive. While the dialogue is not necessarily awful, it doesn't stand out either.
In summary, watchable but disappointing. 5/10
Only to be met with disappointment. As has been the case too often with the John Barnaby era 'Midsomer Murders' episodes. Does that mean that "Send in the Clown" is a bad episode? No, not at all. Considering the premise and the setting, this had potential to be one of 'Midsomer Murders' best episodes. The sadly quite average execution here sadly only makes it as far as the show goes a middling episode. Not one of the best later episodes, or episodes in general, at the same time also not one of the worst (nowhere near in both cases).
"Send in the Clown" is certainly watchable and has things good about it. It looks great, the scenery is both picturesque and atmospheric and the circus has a nostalgic and even unsettling look. All beautifully photographed, Even in the worst episodes, and the show was hardly immune ftom weak episodes, the music never disappinted and was continually one of the good things. That is the case here with "Send in the Clown", the main theme is still immortal.
The episode does well in evoking the excitement and danger of the circus setting, doing better at that than with the mystery, and the murders themselves are cleverly staged. Especially the last one overall, which had the most suspenseful build up, though the second was the most elaborate. There is some nice humour here and there, the clown sightings were genuinely creepy and the cast are fine, Jason Watkins and Neil Stuke do a particularly nice job of the guest stars (Lorraine Ashbourne also does very well but her character felt underdeveloped) and Annette Badland continues to be a hit as Fleur, proving to still a worthy addition. Neil Dudgeon isn't taking it as overly-seriously as he did when he took over from John Nettles. Not hard to relate either to Barnaby's uneasiness with clowns, being somebody who was scared of mascots when younger.
However, the mystery could have been a lot more engaging outside of the murders. It tends to be pretty mundane and quite padded, as well as a little too overshadowed by everything to do with the circus. Which caused some of the episode to drag, quite badly in places. The subplots intrigue initially, but too many of them felt under-explored (the clown sightings could have been better explained) and the same can be said for too many of the supporting characters in general, Curtis being by far the most interesting.
Like too many 'Midsomer Murders' episodes nowadays, the denouement felt rushed and almost last-minute, the identity of the murderer was a surprise but the motivation for the killings felt too came out of nowhere and extreme. Also felt rather cheated by that for the last murder, you have such a suspenseful build up and cleverly staged scene and you go and give it the weakest and almost cop-out-like motive. While the dialogue is not necessarily awful, it doesn't stand out either.
In summary, watchable but disappointing. 5/10
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- TheLittleSongbird
- Feb 18, 2020
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- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
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