Midsomer Murders: Set Two
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barry Jackson, Jane Wymark, Jason Hughes, John Nettles, Laura HowardBrand: Acorn
Writer: Caroline Graham
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-10-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
Movie Reviews of Midsomer Murders: Set Two
Movie Review: In Set Two, more interesting murders, more cosy villages and more of the unflappable DCI Tom Barnaby
Summary: 5 Stars
In this part cosy, part procedural mystery series, Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby's territory takes in the English county of Midsomer. All the little picture-perfect villages and small towns have a wide and varied assortment of English citizens, ranging from wealthy magistrates and high Church of England prelates to milkmen and shopkeepers, wives and lovers, thieves and...a lot of murderers. Barnaby (John Nettles), with his police sergeant, Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey), must apply all his experience, skepticism, persistence and unflappability to solve them.
For the record, Set Two's mysteries are: Dead Man's Eleven (beating to death, among other methods), set in the village of Fletcher's Cross; Death of a Strangler (man trap), set in Upper Marshwood; Blue Herrings (asphyxiation), set in Lawnside Retirement Home near Badger's Drift; and Judgement Day (stabbing and poison), set in Midsomer Mallow.
The charm of this series lies partly in its setting. Midsomer County is a very pretty place, green and cared for. The towns are tidy, filled with competent and knowledgeable tradesmen; the villages tend to have a few eccentrics and a lot of thatched roofs. This could be much too cosy except for three things. First, the performance by John Nettles. He's a fine actor who is completely at home in the role. Watching his Barnaby think his way through clever mysteries, unfailingly polite and unfailingly unintimidated, is a pleasure. Second, the mysteries themselves. This series has been going on through eight seasons. DVD sets are out for six of them so far. The mysteries are almost always real puzzlers; not flashy, but well disguised. They are consistently interesting and well written. They play fair with the viewer. The clues Barnaby discovers all have been there for us to find as well as for him. Third, the quality of the production and the actors. I suspect a substantial budget has been allocated for each episode. The series looks first-rate. The actors are first-rate, too, which is typical of British productions which find their way over here. Daniel Casey does a fine job as Barnaby's assistant. He respects his boss and is smart enough to learn from him. But he also can be exasperated at Barnaby's penchant for not sharing everything. And he occasionally gets put out when an apparently important car trip (Troy always drives them) turns out to be a trip for a bacon sandwich Barnaby's been thinking about. Barnaby's wife is played by Jane Wymark, and it's a pleasure to observe how much at ease the two actors are with each other. They play a long-married couple, still in love and with a comfortable kind of middle-aged affection for each other. All the actors do outstanding jobs, and there usually is a sprinkling of well-known names. In Set Two, which consists of four programs of about an hour and forty minutes each, there are Imelda Staunton, Hannah Gordon, Diane Fletcher, Phyllis Calvert (who was 85 when she starred here, and in the Forties was one of Britain's most popular actresses, Robert Hardy, Nigel Davenport and, at the start of his career, Orlando Bloom.
If you're in the mood for civilized British television mysteries, where the mean streets have more cobblestones than crushed beer cans, where the occasional drug user is not a grubby loser, where the chief copper has a happy home life and no angst to share with the viewers, Midsomer Murders might be just the thing. The mysteries are consistently well developed and puzzling, and the acting is solid.
The programs in each set do not reflect very accurately the order in which the programs appear in each season's series. It doesn't make any difference since each mystery is self-contained. The DVD picture is excellent. There are a few extras such as a map of Midsomer County showing the towns and villages, cast filmographies of the major players and a biography of Carolyn Graham, the author of the books the series is based on.
Summary of Midsomer Murders: Set Two
As seen on A&EMIDSOMER MURDERS
Set Two
What evil lurks beyond the well-trimmed hedges of Midsomer...
The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these contemporary British television mysteries. Based on characters created by Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, the series stars John Nettles (Bergerac) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby with Daniel Casey (The Wingless Bird) as his eager young assistant. Guest stars include Robert Hardy, Terence Rigby, James Bolam, Nigel Davenport, Orlando Bloom and Timothy West.
The Mysteries:
Dead Man?s Eleven?A cricket bat used as a murder weapon implicates the son of a Fletcher?s Cross tycoon. Death of a Stranger?When a tramp dies fleeing from fox hunters in Upper Marshwood, the investigation uncovers a trail of murderous deceit. Blue Herrings?Death is no stranger at a home for the elderly, but at Lawnside a series of deaths causes the residents to suspect foul play. Judgement Day?Midsomer Mallow has a shot at the Perfect Village title, provided it can keep a vicious murderer at bay. Four mysteries of approx. 100 mins. each
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