Midsomer Murders: A Worm in the Bud is set in the small village of Midsomer Worthy where several local farmers & residents are at war over the proposed selling of Setwale Woods near Abbey farm owned by James Harrington (Adam Kotz) who wants to sell the land to a property developer to fell & build houses on. Things take a very serious turn when the body of local farmers wife Susan Bartlett is found in the woods & a police investigation headed up by DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & Sgt. Troy (Daniel Casey) is started, was it murder or suicide? They learn of various affairs, money problems, jealously, dark family secrets, lies, sinister obsession's, ancient poisons & Jack Russell dogs all of which may or may not have a bearing on the case. Then James Harrington himself turns up murdered & the case gets even more complicated...
Episode 2 from season 5 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by David Tucker & is another very strong murder mystery during a golden period for this often great series. The opening twenty or thirty minutes of A Worm in the Bud are excellent with a very well crafted & written mystery that is developed up to a point that the episode then begins to drag a little & I have to say the middle third of A Worm in the Bud feels rather empty by comparison to it's excellent start & subsequent excellent finish. There's a body found quickly, there's all the ground work for the mystery & potential motives & suspects as well as sowing in plenty of red herrings & clues & I just felt this episode shot it's load a bit too soon & leaves itself with nowhere to go although that's a small quibble & maybe I'm just being a bit picky. The motives of the killer are a little flimsy but I did really like the ending to this one which is something a bit different to the usual explanations given by Barnaby although there's never any reason given as to why they only made Susan unconscious & went back later (several hours later in fact) & killed her which I did wonder about. So while there's a lull during the middle as two little kids play detective for a while this is a good solid episode that I enjoyed, the actual murders are a bit dull & neither are shown on screen (the bodies are merely found) but this is a still as well put together & intriguing as a lot of the early episodes from the early seasons.
I must admit I was very disappointed by the murders in this one, neither are shown on screen & are two of the dullest in the entire series although death by drowning in farm animal sh*t is quite an amusing concept. The photography is still very nice though as are the usual locations in & around Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire. The acting is good from a decent cast with British actress Wendy Craig probably the most recognisable face amongst them.
A Worm in the Bud is another highly recommended Midsomer Murders episode with an intriguing, absorbing, well thought out & satisfying plot that I am sure detective show fans everywhere will enjoy.
Episode 2 from season 5 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by David Tucker & is another very strong murder mystery during a golden period for this often great series. The opening twenty or thirty minutes of A Worm in the Bud are excellent with a very well crafted & written mystery that is developed up to a point that the episode then begins to drag a little & I have to say the middle third of A Worm in the Bud feels rather empty by comparison to it's excellent start & subsequent excellent finish. There's a body found quickly, there's all the ground work for the mystery & potential motives & suspects as well as sowing in plenty of red herrings & clues & I just felt this episode shot it's load a bit too soon & leaves itself with nowhere to go although that's a small quibble & maybe I'm just being a bit picky. The motives of the killer are a little flimsy but I did really like the ending to this one which is something a bit different to the usual explanations given by Barnaby although there's never any reason given as to why they only made Susan unconscious & went back later (several hours later in fact) & killed her which I did wonder about. So while there's a lull during the middle as two little kids play detective for a while this is a good solid episode that I enjoyed, the actual murders are a bit dull & neither are shown on screen (the bodies are merely found) but this is a still as well put together & intriguing as a lot of the early episodes from the early seasons.
I must admit I was very disappointed by the murders in this one, neither are shown on screen & are two of the dullest in the entire series although death by drowning in farm animal sh*t is quite an amusing concept. The photography is still very nice though as are the usual locations in & around Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire. The acting is good from a decent cast with British actress Wendy Craig probably the most recognisable face amongst them.
A Worm in the Bud is another highly recommended Midsomer Murders episode with an intriguing, absorbing, well thought out & satisfying plot that I am sure detective show fans everywhere will enjoy.