User Reviews

Midsomer Murders: Dead Man's 11, the on screen title is actually Dead Man's 'Eleven' as opposed to '11' not that it makes any difference though, is set in the Midsomer village of Fletcher's Cross where rich businessman Robert Cavendish (Robert Hardy) is celebrating his 60th birthday with his family when he announces he is selling his huge estate & moving to Orlando with his younger wife Tara (Felicity Dean), a decision which doesn't go down well with his gold-digging son Stephen (Anthony Calf) & his wife Jane (Annabelle Apsion). The next morning & Tara decides to take the dog for a walk, it's a decision she won't live to regret as she is brutally murdered by someone who beats her to death with a cricket bat. The body is quickly discovered & DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & Sgt. Troy (Daniel Casey) are on the case, unusually there doesn't seem to be any suspects or motive behind the murder but as Barnaby investigates he finds the key lies in past events from many years ago...

Episode 3 from season 2 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Jeremy Silberston & is another great whodunit set in rural England. The well written script by Anthony Horowitz has all the usual ingredient's that makes this show normally so good, it has the usual array of rich character's with plenty of motives, it's very well thought out with a plot that while somewhat far fetched comes together brilliantly at the end in a terrific climax which I'm positive will surprise most viewers & it also has it's usual complex multi layered plot with various things going on, past & present, to keep you both interested & guessing. The superb writing means there are plenty of subtle red herrings which divert our attention from the real killer & are woven into the fabric of the story without standing out too much, I also loved the way this story opens with a fairy tale being read to a young girl brilliantly mirroring a real life tragic event happening at the same time in a cool piece of storytelling. Again I think the final revelation & how all the pieces of the puzzle come together is excellent & joy to watch unfold, these are top quality murder mysteries that obviously had a lot of time spent on them. If your looking for an intriguing, engaging, complex brilliantly made crime drama then you could do a lot worse than Dead Man's Eleven (a title which refers to a cricket team if you didn't know). There's not much else to say other than if your a fan of the series then this is a must.

Troy gets to play cricket in this one & the story revolves around the game. The locations are again very pleasing on the eye, the real life Littlewick Green in Berkshire was used for the cricket & Fletcher's Cross village scenes & Bledlow in Buckinghamshire was the location for The Queen's Arms pub. The murders here aren't too graphic, there's a bit of blood, a couple of dead bodies & someone is stabbed, this episode also features a few swear words. There are some references to earlier stories including cricket teams from Badger's drift & Midsomer Worthy along with Charles Jennings a character who appeared in Death's Shadow. This has high production values & looks like a proper film as opposed to a TV show, the acting is spot on as usual.

Dead Man's Eleven is a great Midsomer Murders, if you like the series then this story is a must & if you don't then why are you reading this? A quality episode from a quality series, all you armchair detectives out there should enjoy this one.

Barnaby and Troy are called in to the village of Fletcher's Cross to investigate the killing of Tara Cavendish (Felicity Dean), the young and glamorous wife of the despised tycoon Robert Cavendish (played by Robert Hardy). Tara was found battered to death with a cricket bat in her husband's derelict rock quarry. One would have thought that Robert would be the more likely target of a murderer because many people in the village had reason for wanting him dead. Not least Ian Frasier (Terence Rigby), the captain of the Midsomer Worthy cricket team whom are about to take on the Fletcher's Cross team, in which incidentally, Cavendish is the captain. But it is not due to rivalry over the game that Frasier hates Cavendish, he used to be the manager of his quarry and he lost his job over a blasting accident in which a fellow employee on the site was killed. In truth, it was his boss's fault, but Frasier took the blame. Frasier's dotty wife Zelda (Delia Lindsay) also had reason for hating Cavendish, she is the chairman of the Fletcher's Cross Ramblers Association and ancient public footpaths cross over Cavendish's land, but he is forbidding them access much to her and her fellow ramblers' chagrin. Cavendish also has a son called Stephen (Anthony Calf) whose business is on the verge of going bust and his father is refusing to extend the loan. In addition, Cavendish and Tara were planning to sale their entire estate and begin a new life in Florida, which would have been disastrous for Stephen and his wife Jane (Annabelle Apsion) because their cottage is on the family estate. Other suspects include the born again Christians, Colin and Christine Cooper (Duncan Preston & Imelda Staunton) who despite their modest professions, seem to live way beyond their means. Colin is the security guard at a local museum and Christine is Stephen Cavendish's secretary - another connection with the family. The big question for Barnaby and his young sergeant is that Cavendish would seem the most likely person that somebody would want to kill, but why murder his wife? Troy joins the Midsomer Worthy cricket team in order to shadow the people concerned, but there are other mysterious events that must be related to the case, but things just don't fit into place. A few years previously, Cavendish's elderly housekeeper Mrs Beavis fell to her death in the quarry and later that afternoon, her house was broken into, but there was no sign of any theft. The most likely suspect seems to be Stephen whose cricket bat was used to kill Tara and when a second murder takes place, in which a blackmail note typed by the victim is found in Stephen's wastepaper basket, a line of circumstantial evidence builds up against young Cavendish. Barnaby and Troy narrowly avoid having a third victim on their hands before they finally piece together the solution behind this complex case.

Dead Man's Eleven (first broadcast on 12 September 1999) was another winning combination between the Midsomer Murders establishing writer-director team of Anthony Horowitz and director Jeremy Silberston. One can only continue to praise these splendid mysteries as each and every one boasts first class locations, sets and as usual there was no miscast part. The script was well-plotted delivering just the right amount of red herrings and intrigue. There is some splendid chemistry between John Nettles and Jane Wymark as husband and wife who are always well matched in their roles. Joyce is keen to move house as their daughter Cully (Laura Howard) is moving to London to live with her boyfriend Nico and Joyce wants to move into one of the Midsomer villages. Barnaby responds by saying "Every time I visit a Midsomer village its always the same, blackmail, sexual deviances, suicide and murder, how do you possibly expect me to want to live in one of them?" Whilst Barnaby has two unsolved murders to his name, Joyce is house hunting and on one occasion he sees her heading towards Fletcher's Cross (the scene of the crime). "Oh no, not Fletcher's Cross?" he sighs. Among the supporting cast, Robert Hardy stands out as the arrogant and ruthless Cavendish who has no sympathy or consideration for anybody and Duncan Preston and Imelda Staunton offer just the right amount of false honesty as the shifty Colin and Christine Cooper. Jeremy Silberston's direction is accomplished as ever and the unique combination between he and Horowitz has shown how important they both are to the lasting success of Midsomer Murders in every episode that they worked on together. In that respect, producers Betty Willingale and Brian True May are also part of the show's top talents with the considerable thought and planning that has gone into making the series more than just another run-of-the-mill detective show including the splendid sets and the top notch technicians and actors that bring the films to life.

"Dead Man's Eleven" is a wonderful third episode of the second series of Midsomer Murders. Both "Death's Shadow" and "Strangler's Wood were classic episodes, and Dead Alan's Eleven continues in the same way. The long and the short of it is that all these three episodes were written by Anthony Horowitz. For the fifth time, we see a director and writer collaboration between Jeremy Silberston and Anthony Horowitz. They both worked together as director and writer on "The Killings at Badger's Drift, "Written in Blood, "Death's Shadow", "Strangler's Wood", and now "Dead Man's Eleven". All these five episodes have been a joy to watch and their stories have been wonderfully written.

"Dead Man's Eleven" takes place in the village of Fletcher's Cross where Robert Cavendish is about to celebrate his 60th birthday with his family. Robert and his wife Tara have had enough of the villlage and Robert informs his family that he has decided to sell the estate, and he and Tara will move on to Orlando. Stephen Cavendish, Robert's son, claims Tara has turned his father against him, but Tara says she just wants what is best for Robert.

Tara goes for a walk with their dog, Kaiser, the following morning. As she walks by the old quarry her husband used to run, someone comes up behind her, and smash her head with a cricket bat. As Barnaby and Troy talk with Robert, Robert gets frustrated because he feels that Tara's disappearance was never seriously considered by the police.

A cricket match between Fletcher's Cross and Midsomer Murders is set to be played. Gavin Troy has agreed to play for Midsomer Worthy, something Tom Barnaby believes is a good idea. The cricket match turns out to be of the murderous sort, when the score taker Charles Jennings is stabbed.

And as the case closes, it is revealed that the Cavendish's house keeper Mrs Wilson is the murderer. She wanted Robert to feel the loss of his wife, because she had reason to believe that Robert was responsible for her husband, Matthew Draper's death. Mrs Wilson had a daughter, Patricia Smith, and she started a relationship with Stephen simply to Destroy him and blame him for both murders. Patricia killed Charles Jennings because he tried to blackmail Mrs Wilson, because he knew that she had murdered Tara. Robert kills Patricia in self defense at the climax of the episode, and Mrs Wilson has now lost both her husband and daughter.

Littlewick Green is my favourite location in this episode where the cricket match and some of the other scenes were filmed. From the supporting cast, Robert Hardy, Anthony Calf, Imelda Staunton, Duncan Preston and Hilda Braid leave the best impression.

Dead Man's eleven is a wonderful third episode of the second series of Midsomer Murders, being the third classic Midsomer Murders episode in a row. 10/10 Hossy Christie.