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By
WADE GOSSETT
The set may be the eighth
released, but it is not of the eighth season. It
instead features three 90-minute episodes from
Midsomer Murders' seventh series.
John Hopkins is beginning to create his own
persona as the assistant to John Nettles's DCI
Barnaby. I find him more pleasant that Daniel
Casey's character, who exited at the end of Set 6.
And the gentle DCI Barnaby, with his uncomplicated
personal life, is always welcome in out home.
But the protagonist of course is the idyllic
county of Midsomer county. The contrast between
the beautiful locale (where it's almost always
sunny, despite the fact that this is England) and
violent murders is the main attraction of the
series. It's a winning formula, and the 3 episodes
live up to it splendidly.
The first one, The Maid in Splendour, is my
favorite episode. It is about a beloved local pub,
a secret cottage in the woods, and there's
infidelity, unrequited love, complicated family
histories, and business shenanigans. In The Straw
Woman Scott becomes bewitched by a village
schoolteacher, and in the Ghosts of Christmas Past
Barnaby's family Christmas with his in-laws is
interrupted by an old secret involving a
mysterious local family.
An interview with Nettles, a Midsomer map, a
Caroline Graham biography and cast filmographies
round up the extra features. |
