As longtime fans of "Midsomer Murders" my wife and I were horrified by what has been done to this wonderful series. First off, Neil Dudgeon is a wooden actor: he plays John Barnaby with grim determination. He seems angry, angry at the killer (whoever he is), angry at Jones and angry at his wife, who by the way is some sort of career woman with whom John has little chemistry. A cute dog enters the picture, a cheap and obvious trick to lighten the mood at the Barnaby house. John Nettles played Barnaby with irony and humor, there's none of that with Dudgeon. "Midsomer Murders" is supposed to be a send-up of the English mystery, but that atmosphere of dark humor is missing in this episode, not only as the result of the acting but the writing too. John Barnaby delights in insulting Jones gratuitously, for no good reason. This is really ugly.
The writing is thin and the plot unconvincing. The killer's motive is contrived and preposterous, and by the way, insulting to people of faith. The murders are elaborately staged for no other reason to fill in for what is missing in plot and character development. John Barnaby sort of happens on the solution rather than solving it with his supposed detective skills.
There is no excuse for ruining a good detective series. The resources are there and surely a better actor could have been found to play the lead role. Of course with the retirement of Nettles you would suppose that the next 'Barnaby' would be a different sort of character, but why make him so unlikable? Our only consolation is that we have have about a decade's worth of really good "Midsomers" to go back over. No TV series can last forever.
The writing is thin and the plot unconvincing. The killer's motive is contrived and preposterous, and by the way, insulting to people of faith. The murders are elaborately staged for no other reason to fill in for what is missing in plot and character development. John Barnaby sort of happens on the solution rather than solving it with his supposed detective skills.
There is no excuse for ruining a good detective series. The resources are there and surely a better actor could have been found to play the lead role. Of course with the retirement of Nettles you would suppose that the next 'Barnaby' would be a different sort of character, but why make him so unlikable? Our only consolation is that we have have about a decade's worth of really good "Midsomers" to go back over. No TV series can last forever.