Midsomer Murders - General Discussion

[Prevailing Wind]

It's gotten so that when I'm watching another Brit show, I keep IMDb open on my laptop - I know that person from somewhere - and it's usually Midsomer Murders.

[peacheslatour]

17 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

It's gotten so that when I'm watching another Brit show, I keep IMDb open on my laptop - I know that person from somewhere - and it's usually Midsomer Murders.

I had to check when I saw Orlando Bloom.

[msani19]

Anytime I see a British actor, I'm pretty sure they HAD to have been in an episode of Midsomer! That's true at least 95% of the time. 

[peacheslatour]

21 minutes ago, msani19 said:

Anytime I see a British actor, I'm pretty sure they HAD to have been in an episode of Midsomer! That's true at least 95% of the time. 

Same with the various iterations of Law and Order in the US.

[msani19]

13 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Same with the various iterations of Law and Order in the US.

So true. L&O is our version of Midsomer. Almost every NYC-based actor has been on the show and I've heard interviews from actors who didn't get a part on the show years ago and still feel hurt by it.

[Prevailing Wind]

It also seems like a lot of Brit actors that I look up have also been on "The Bill" - I don't know that that is; it doesn't seem to be available on Acorn or Britbox.

Back to Midsomer...Acorn says (I forget how many) one or two new episodes will be release in April, the rest of the season in the fall.  Phooey.

[Hiyo]

The Bill was a long running police show. It was on for like 25 years or so, so yeah it definitely has a long, long, cast list of it's own.

[VCRTracking]

Re: "Birds of Prey" How did that creepy egg collector played by the mad scientist from Game of Thrones make those two old sisters his servants, taking over their house and force them to give him their money? They never explain that!

[Prevailing Wind]

8 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

Re: "Birds of Prey" How did that creepy egg collector played by the mad scientist from Game of Thrones make those two old sisters his servants, taking over their house and force them to give him their money? They never explain that!

I agree. Are old people REALLY that gullible?  I'm old and there's no way I'd be bullied by that asshole.

[Mabinogia]

9 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Re: "Birds of Prey" How did that creepy egg collector played by the mad scientist from Game of Thrones make those two old sisters his servants, taking over their house and force them to give him their money? They never explain that!

Every time I watch that ep I keep looking for something I missed, but I never find it. It will end up being the only mystery the Cousins Barnaby could never solve. lol

[dgpolo]

13 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

10 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Re: "Birds of Prey" How did that creepy egg collector played by the mad scientist from Game of Thrones make those two old sisters his servants, taking over their house and force them to give him their money? They never explain that!

Every time I watch that ep I keep looking for something I missed, but I never find it. It will end up being the only mystery the Cousins Barnaby could never solve. lol

I think it probably started the way a lot of abusive relationships start. He did something, apologized and said he wouldn't do it again, then did it again. He manipulated them, made them think things were their fault, threatened them, maybe even hurt them. They were trained to be submissive to him a bit at a time. He was stronger than they were. The threats and manipulations were not something that can be 'proved', he probably told them no one would believe them if they told anyone and then threatened to hurt the other one, if one tried to tell. He could 'accidentally' break something precious to them. I'm more concerned about say, the butcher, or other villagers that must have noticed the change in their behavior and did nothing to find out why.

[dgpolo]

On a completely different topic, has anyone noticed the plethora of psychopathic children on this show? It always uses it's kid characters well, better than any other show I can think of but we've had a lot of kid killers.

The 3 psychos who had a psychiatrist mother, for all that Tom thought she was so great, she certainly missed the boat with her own kids.

The little girl that stabbed her housekeeper/babysitter for sending her to bed.

The little boy directing his great uncle? to kill people as part of a game? (if I got that right0

There were a group of boys responsible for another little boy hanging himself, and another group that threw a boy down a well.

 

[VCRTracking]

2 hours ago, dgpolo said:

On a completely different topic, has anyone noticed the plethora of psychopathic children on this show? It always uses it's kid characters well, better than any other show I can think of but we've had a lot of kid killers.

The 3 psychos who had a psychiatrist mother, for all that Tom thought she was so great, she certainly missed the boat with her own kids.

The little girl that stabbed her housekeeper/babysitter for sending her to bed.

The little boy directing his great uncle? to kill people as part of a game? (if I got that right0

There were a group of boys responsible for another little boy hanging himself, and another group that threw a boy down a well.

 

I think its just to mix things up. You don't want it to be another jealous spouse or lover. It's also hard to find really good non famous kid actors especially locally in the UK so they don't write these stories more often.

[dgpolo]

5 minutes ago, VCRTracking said:

I think its just to mix things up. You don't want it to be another jealous spouse or lover. It's also hard to find really good non famous kid actors especially locally in the UK so they don't write these stories more often.

Oh, I know. I just find that no other show I watch uses kids in quite the same way. And it's not just the killer kids, almost every time a kid character is used it's interesting, not just in the background. Loved the little girl who knew all the dogs. And one I just saw where I didn't much like the character but it was effective, the one who kept saying 'fact' in her dialog. The boy in the Christmas one with the magic tricks. They just seem to use kid characters better than most.

[Prevailing Wind]

4 hours ago, dgpolo said:

Oh, I know. I just find that no other show I watch uses kids in quite the same way. And it's not just the killer kids, almost every time a kid character is used it's interesting, not just in the background. Loved the little girl who knew all the dogs. And one I just saw where I didn't much like the character but it was effective, the one who kept saying 'fact' in her dialog. The boy in the Christmas one with the magic tricks. They just seem to use kid characters better than most.

Was that "fact" girl the one where some of the villagers were acting as "Fantasy Island" for sex-fetish visitors? Wasn't Miss Fact the daughter of the cook?

[dgpolo]

4 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Was that "fact" girl the one where some of the villagers were acting as "Fantasy Island" for sex-fetish visitors? Wasn't Miss Fact the daughter of the cook?

yep, that's the one, I was amused when she and the boy were sitting in the dark and she was yelling at him to stop touching her and he lit a match or something to show her he wasn't touching her and it was a dead man's hand on her knee.

And I forgot to mention the psychic baby, the one that cried everytime a 'bad guy' was near. There was a family who had precognition.

[isalicat]

So, having discovered Midsomer Murders just last year, I've been watching them from Season One, Episode One, on BritBox and had got up to Season 13....and now all the episodes have vanished except for Seasons 20 and 21. Any ideas where I might take up where I left off? YouTube??? I would prefer not to have to subscribe to yet another streaming service for this one show but I watching Season 20, Episode 1 last night and was not terribly happy. The newer cast seemed so cold and I hate stupid barking little dogs so is that dog going to be in every episode from now on?

[peacheslatour]

26 minutes ago, isalicat said:

So, having discovered Midsomer Murders just last year, I've been watching them from Season One, Episode One, on BritBox and had got up to Season 13....and now all the episodes have vanished except for Seasons 20 and 21. Any ideas where I might take up where I left off? YouTube??? I would prefer not to have to subscribe to yet another streaming service for this one show but I watching Season 20, Episode 1 last night and was not terribly happy. The newer cast seemed so cold and I hate stupid barking little dogs so is that dog going to be in every episode from now on?

I just watch it on regular tv. It's on PBS twice on Thursdays and Mon., Tues., and Wed. almost all day on Ovation.

[Kemper]

59 minutes ago, isalicat said:

So, having discovered Midsomer Murders just last year, I've been watching them from Season One, Episode One, on BritBox and had got up to Season 13....and now all the episodes have vanished except for Seasons 20 and 21. Any ideas where I might take up where I left off? YouTube??? I would prefer not to have to subscribe to yet another streaming service for this one show but I watching Season 20, Episode 1 last night and was not terribly happy. The newer cast seemed so cold and I hate stupid barking little dogs so is that dog going to be in every episode from now on?

I think it may also be on The Acorn streaming service; also The Roku Channel?  I have also been watching it since the beginning.  Anyone remember one of the murders was accomplished by catapulting wine bottles at an intended victim?  I think the new episodes will be returning to PBS.

 

 

 

[dgpolo]

1 minute ago, Kemper said:

Anyone remember one of the murders was accomplished by catapulting wine bottles at an intended victim?  I think the new episodes will be returning to PBS.

While the man's wheelchair bound wife gives directions? yep, that's the one where Tom and Sgt. Scott are locked in a wine cellar and he thinks Joyce is frantically worrying about him and she actually just went out dancing by herself and didn't even notice that he didn't come home. When Scott telephones her in the morning she asks him to have Tom bring home some yogurt.

[scorpio1031]

1 hour ago, isalicat said:

So, having discovered Midsomer Murders just last year, I've been watching them from Season One, Episode One, on BritBox and had got up to Season 13....and now all the episodes have vanished except for Seasons 20 and 21. Any ideas where I might take up where I left off? YouTube??? I would prefer not to have to subscribe to yet another streaming service for this one show but I watching Season 20, Episode 1 last night and was not terribly happy. The newer cast seemed so cold and I hate stupid barking little dogs so is that dog going to be in every episode from now on?

Pluto tv is free.  There is a midsomer murders channel 24/7 or you can go into the on demand section and pick what ep you want to watch 

[Prevailing Wind]

Just know that Pluto cuts in at the weirdest times for commercials. They'll even snip off a few seconds of the last scene before the ad, but when It comes back from the ads, they replay a wee bit of the last scene, so you remember where you are. (The commercial breaks are so long, I sometimes forget what show I was watching.)

 

I loved that wine-bottle catapult.  "Try 5 degrees to the left..."  I also liked the one where the hubby wanted to go back to Africa, where the wife hated it. He got all decked out in his tribal outfit and sang and danced as if he WERE a Zulu.  So wifey burned all his African decor & souvenirs.  I seem to really like the ones where the wife takes revenge on an abusive husband.

[peacheslatour]

43 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Just know that Pluto cuts in at the weirdest times for commercials. They'll even snip off a few seconds of the last scene before the ad, but when It comes back from the ads, they replay a wee bit of the last scene, so you remember where you are. (The commercial breaks are so long, I sometimes forget what show I was watching.)

 

I loved that wine-bottle catapult.  "Try 5 degrees to the left..."  I also liked the one where the hubby wanted to go back to Africa, where the wife hated it. He got all decked out in his tribal outfit and sang and danced as if he WERE a Zulu.  So wifey burned all his African decor & souvenirs.  I seem to really like the ones where the wife takes revenge on an abusive husband.

Ooh, I love the one where the woman comes back from America after her uncle dies and finds out her husband has been bleeding the old man for money for years. She dumps his sorry ass and takes off for the Continent with her new gal pal and leaves him in the dust.

[Pine]

4 hours ago, dgpolo said:

While the man's wheelchair bound wife gives directions? yep, that's the one where Tom and Sgt. Scott are locked in a wine cellar and he thinks Joyce is frantically worrying about him and she actually just went out dancing by herself and didn't even notice that he didn't come home. When Scott telephones her in the morning she asks him to have Tom bring home some yogurt.

One of my favourites.  Rewatching all of them this year, with my husband, who never watched them the first go around.

[Prevailing Wind]

I just saw (on Pluto) the one where the guy gets impaled in his own Iron Maiden. <giggle>  The more over-the-top gruesome, the better. Bwaahahahaha

Then they started that one about the girls' school with the catty alumnae and the one gets killed by a wheel of cheese. I don't like that one. I changed the channel.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Prevailing Wind

[scorpio1031]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Ooh, I love the one where the woman comes back from America after her uncle dies and finds out her husband has been bleeding the old man for money for years. She dumps his sorry ass and takes off for the Continent with her new gal pal and leaves him in the dust.

I love that one too:)  And I would love to know where to find a Carmen Miranda fruit bowl like the one in the uncle's kitchen😅

 

[Mabinogia]

23 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Ooh, I love the one where the woman comes back from America after her uncle dies and finds out her husband has been bleeding the old man for money for years. She dumps his sorry ash and takes off for the Continent with her new gal pal and leaves him in the dust.

I do like that one. But it always throws me when someone on the show has an American accent. I am American, but I get so used to the British accents that when I hear an American one it seems so wrong. 

The other one I can think of, American accent, is the son of the actress in the episode about the horror actress sisters. It's a great ep, one of my faves, some good Kate moments. The son just sounded so odd. I've not looked it up to see if it's a Brit doing an American accent or not though. 

[peacheslatour]

23 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I do like that one. But it always throws me when someone on the show has an American accent. I am American, but I get so used to the British accents that when I hear an American one it seems so wrong. 

The other one I can think of, American accent, is the son of the actress in the episode about the horror actress sisters. It's a great ep, one of my faves, some good Kate moments. The son just sounded so odd. I've not looked it up to see if it's a Brit doing an American accent or not though. 

I get that too. It's sort of jarring.

[isalicat]

Thanks for the recommendation of PlutoTV! I found Season 13, Ep 1 (where I left off previously) and it was great: the ep where there is both Tom and John Barnaby and Tom goes to Bristol to find the decapitator 🙂

[Prevailing Wind]

"The Sword of Guillaume"

[Mabinogia]

That is one of my favorite eps! I liked having both Barnaby's working the case. I like that they actually worked together and weren't trying to one up each other like a US cop show would have done. 

I do have a question about that one though. At the end, when Richard overhears his mum and Barnaby talking (I think it was Barnaby) and then he goes wheeling off frantically only to be stopped at the gate, what do you think he wanted to do? Stop Marcia from killing so she wouldn't go to jail because he loved her or stop her from killing Giles because he still loved him? 

I can never make up my mind what his motivation was for going after them. 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Mabinogia

[Prevailing Wind]

I choose to think he still loved Giles.

[Mabinogia]

24 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I choose to think he still loved Giles.

That's the way I've always leaned. I like the tragic love story of it all. That one incident changed their lives but didn't destroy the feelings they had and all that. Plus, I've got a soft spot for Mark Gatiss so there's that too.

I also love Lucy Cohu and Tim McInnerny so it's no wonder this is one of my favorite episodes. 

[scorpio1031]

3 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

That's the way I've always leaned. I like the tragic love story of it all. That one incident changed their lives but didn't destroy the feelings they had and all that. Plus, I've got a soft spot for Mark Gatiss so there's that too.

I also love Lucy Cohu and Tim McInnerny so it's no wonder this is one of my favorite episodes. 

I need to sit and watch the whole ep.  It's one of those where I have caught bits and pieces.  My favorite episode from that season is Master Class, with the young piano player - the one where her sisters wanted her to sleep with their father🤢.  And I also liked The Made to Measure Murders.

[Mabinogia]

1 minute ago, scorpio1031 said:

My favorite episode from that season is Master Class, with the young piano player - the one where her sisters wanted her to sleep with their father🤢. 

OMG that one is INSANE. I do like it though. When I first saw it I was like "this can't be what I think it is....yep, he wants to have sex with his daughter/granddaughter, charming man." 🥵

Another of my favorites is, I think it's Ben's first case, the "haunted house" with the twin brothers. The end is chilling, where the one says something like "you'll never be rid of me". 

[scorpio1031]

1 minute ago, Mabinogia said:

Another of my favorites is, I think it's Ben's first case, the "haunted house" with the twin brothers. The end is chilling, where the one says something like "you'll never be rid of me". 

Yes, that was good!  Season 9 had some good ones and it was nice to see Barnaby bonding with Ben after two seasons of not being all that thrilled with Dan Scott.

[Prevailing Wind]

I love "The House in the Woods" because it's Ben's introduction. But "Master Class" squicks me out. Every time I see James Fox, though, I can't help but remember he was that goofy "Jimmy" in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" - then I get his stupid song in my head..."Tap, tap, tap, tapioca. Do the Tapioca now." His son is Laurence Fox (Hathway on Inspector Lewis), and his brother is Edward Fox - who played the dotty old man in MM's "Dark Secrets" where, years ago, the older son & daughter ran away & sank the car in the lake, and now his equally dotty wife got crushed by the stacks of newspaper they'd been saving, hoarding.

On a side note, I once had a Congressman named Ben Jones - yes, the guy who played Cooter in the Dukes of Hazzard was my Congressman. But his name is Ben Jones. Hahahaha

Edited April 15, 2021 by Prevailing Wind

[scorpio1031]

 

On 4/10/2021 at 12:35 PM, dgpolo said:

Oh, I know. I just find that no other show I watch uses kids in quite the same way. And it's not just the killer kids, almost every time a kid character is used it's interesting, not just in the background. Loved the little girl who knew all the dogs. And one I just saw where I didn't much like the character but it was effective, the one who kept saying 'fact' in her dialog. The boy in the Christmas one with the magic tricks. They just seem to use kid characters better than most.

I don't know if we have mentioned the young boy in "Strangler's Wood" who was trying to frame his father for murder cause he was having an affair.

Looks like you can also watch full eps on Ovation.com without having to sign in or even have a tv provider.  I like how some sites are realizing not all of us have a tv provider, or even want one

[LisaM]

Just watched the first episode of Season 22 - The Wolf Hunter of Little Worthy. Not my cup of tea. 

While it was nice to see Siobhan Redmond and Matt McCooey (from Agatha Raisin), I thought the Wolf Hunter part of the story was dumb and too violent. 

I eagerly awaited the return of MM and was not pleased with this one at all. I continue to love Fleur, however. 

[isalicat]

I found Midsomer Murders on PlutoTV and was able to watch Season 13/Ep 1 (The Sword of Guillame!) but now its stuck on that ep each time I go back to the channel and request that program (even if I go all the way through that ep it just wants to start over). I have opened an account and all but there doesn't seem to be any way to contact them about what seems to be either a glitch or my ineptness. Any suggestions? I don't watch anything else on PlutoTV so perhaps I don't know how it works.

I did try again to watch the eps on Britbox now (I think it starts at Season 20, so I've seen S20/Ep 1 so far) but the new Barnaby is so much more stern, in my opinion. Does he lighten up?

[scorpio1031]

4 minutes ago, isalicat said:

I found Midsomer Murders on PlutoTV and was able to watch Season 13/Ep 1 (The Sword of Guillame!) but now its stuck on that ep each time I go back to the channel and request that program (even if I go all the way through that ep it just wants to start over). I have opened an account and all but there doesn't seem to be any way to contact them about what seems to be either a glitch or my ineptness. Any suggestions? I don't watch anything else on PlutoTV so perhaps I don't know how it works.

I did try again to watch the eps on Britbox now (I think it starts at Season 20, so I've seen S20/Ep 1 so far) but the new Barnaby is so much more stern, in my opinion. Does he lighten up?

Are you in the On Demand Section?

[isalicat]

Just now, scorpio1031 said:

Are you in the On Demand Section?

Yes. I click on Midsomer Murders and it will only play that S13/Ep 1 episode. I can "X" out of it, but I don't get any sort of directory of the season's episodes like you do on Britbox, you just get sent on to other streams of shows. I can't find a search window at all anywhere.

[scorpio1031]

Just now, isalicat said:

Yes. I click on Midsomer Murders and it will only play that S13/Ep 1 episode. I can "X" out of it, but I don't get any sort of directory of the season's episodes like you do on Britbox, you just get sent on to other streams of shows. I can't find a search window at all anywhere.

I am watching it on my roku.  I exit out of an ep and then on the left, it gives me the option of continuing with the ep and underneath that, it says view all episodes???  You don't get that option?

[Ms Lark]

Yes, Wolf Hunter was a strange one for MM. I was thrilled to see Matt McCooey (fav character from Agatha Raisin) and Mark Williams (Fr Brown) and enjoyed it simply for them.

I'm saving S22 E2 for a bit, since there won't be any more new ones until Fall. I've been watching MM since the early 2000's when an older friend recommended it. Watched DVDs from Netflix and PBS then moved over to streaming. Picked up Acorn TV (which I love) when Netflix dropped it. I've seen every ep at least twice. Now I'm the older one recommending it to my cozy-loving younger friends!

[scorpio1031]

2 minutes ago, Ms Lark said:

Yes, Wolf Hunter was a strange one for MM. I was thrilled to see Matt McCooey (fav character from Agatha Raisin) and Mark Williams (Fr Brown) and enjoyed it simply for them.

I'm saving S22 E2 for a bit, since there won't be any more new ones until Fall. I've been watching MM since the early 2000's when an older friend recommended it. Watched DVDs from Netflix and PBS then moved over to streaming. Picked up Acorn TV (which I love) when Netflix dropped it. I've seen every ep at least twice. Now I'm the older one recommending it to my cozy-loving younger friends!

Oh, the new eps are on Acorn????  Don't know why I haven't bothered looking for them.  Now I have something to watch:)

[Ms Lark]

2 hours ago, scorpio1031 said:

Oh, the new eps are on Acorn????  Don't know why I haven't bothered looking for them.  Now I have something to watch:)

Yes, but only 2 of them. Covid and all. Still, we have a whole new season of Brokenwood Mysteries, so I can't complain! (Yay, New Zealand!)

[isalicat]

17 hours ago, scorpio1031 said:

I am watching it on my roku.  I exit out of an ep and then on the left, it gives me the option of continuing with the ep and underneath that, it says view all episodes???  You don't get that option?

Nope! I am watching on my computer through PlutoTV and if you exit it out of an episode (well, I can only get the one episode, as I said), you are back in the main menu. When I watched it on BritBox (and when I now watch what BritBox has, which starts at Season 20, Ep 1) then I get what you are describing.

[scorpio1031]

26 minutes ago, isalicat said:

Nope! I am watching on my computer through PlutoTV and if you exit it out of an episode (well, I can only get the one episode, as I said), you are back in the main menu. When I watched it on BritBox (and when I now watch what BritBox has, which starts at Season 20, Ep 1) then I get what you are describing.

The ep shows on the top part of my computer screen.  Then I had to click on popular tv shows underneath while it was playing, click on the midsomer murders square, and then another little menu pops up with options of what other eps to watch.  How confusing!!!!  Even the app on my phone gives you the options of other eps to watch...lol

[isalicat]

Okay, I just tried an experiment and now am even further puzzled. I have two laptops - the one in my office which is super old and still running (quite well!) Windows 7, and the one in my living room which is brand new and running Windows 10. On the old one I can watch PlutoTV and select any ep of Midsomer Murders I want (there is the drop down menu of which season I want and I can scroll down and select whichever episode I want); on the new one, I can watch PlutoTV and select the season of Midsomer Murders but whichever season I pick, I can only watch the very first episode of that season, no more. Any ideas out there of what is going on? I checked AdBlocker and its not making any difference.

[Kemper]

One of the reasons I got Netflix years ago was for Midsomer Murders; it was eventually dropped. A couple of years ago I got Acorn and watched the it there.  Then the newer episodes went to Britbox.

I was thrilled to get the new season (so far) on Acorn.  When I brought Midsomer up, it looked like there may be the later seasons on the site; but am not sure so will check later.  Is Brit Box still carrying the newer seasons?  Sadly, they have the newer seasons of Vera and Shetland.  I can’t manage another streaming service.

For the first time ever, I had a hard time sitting back and enjoying the crazy with the new episode.  Father Brown got on my nerves...but we got a glimpse of his bare backside.  So there is that.😒