In the week that the clocks change and the evenings get even darker it was great to see South Oxfordshire appear in all its summer splendour on TV during the latest showing of Midsomer Murders. Yes, our favourite detective series was back with “A Sacred Trust”, an episode revolving around the murder of a nun in a hen-coop at ivy-clad Midsomer Priory.
According to the Broadcasting Audience Research Board, last night’s investigation attracted a 24 per cent share of the total audience viewing figures between 8pm and 10pm – not bad on an evening when David Attenborough’s new “Frozen Planet” series began.
It was good to see actor Cliff Parisi appear alongside Neil Dudgeon & Co on last night’s cast list. Cliff played Minty in EastEnders and reminded the world of his comic acting skills in the role of Barry the landlord.
Cliff told midsomermurders.org website how impressed he was by the number of kites (the birds not the other kind) flying above the set during filming. “I don’t know whether they were hanging around for the food from the caterers or waiting for the dead bodies,” he joked.
The anecdote suggests that the episode was filmed in the beautiful Chilterns Hills. Spotting red kites is just one of the many things to see and do in South Oxfordshire – we’ll let you know where this episode was filmed as soon as we find out the location details- if you follow on Twitter @midsomer you’ll get the latest updates.
Watching “A Sacred Trust” reminded me of all the dependable factors which make Midsomer Murders so easy to watch. For instance, there are always picturesque locations and a character whose willingness to share their knowledge of Midsomer’s rich history conveniently provides the back-story to most episodes.
But other things – such as the identity of the murderer - are less predictable.
During the early part of last night’s episode my money was on the two characters who looked most out of place – the young nun whose worldliness suggested a life beyond the cloister and the schoolboy who looked ten years older than school age.
But – in case you haven’t seen the episode – I won’t tell you whether my suspicions proved correct!
I’ve seen no-one mention the in joke of the character named De Winter. That was the husband’s last name in the story Rebecca, where the second wife of Max De Winter was played by Joanna David back in 1978 (in the US) and then her daughter Emilia Fox in 1997 (again in the US). Joanna David was the mother at the priory. I wonder how often Midsomer has in jokes like this.
Thats a great question Martha - has anyone else noticed Midsomer Murders ‘in-jokes’ like this? We’d love to hear them.