User Reviews

Love this series and in particular this episode since this is where Ben Jones , played by Jason Hughes, is introduced. The only part I cannot quite understand is why kill the prospective buyers right out of the gate? The couple are overheard by the character Charlie Magwood, who seemingly is trying to sell the house. This isn't mentioned to the estate agent, Harriet Davis, even though the couple is exiting as Charlie is entering Davis' office. This just has always puzzled me.

On another unrelated note, I have reached a new level of nerd. I can't believe I'm taking the time to even write this. Admitting is the first step to recovery. Right?

Midsomer Murders: The House in the Woods starts in Causton where yuppie city couple Caroline (Caroline Faber) & Peter Cave (Richard Trinder) have been staying in The Four Feather's hotel while looking for some property to buy, the receptionist Anne Merrick (Ruth Gemmell) mentions a house for sale in a village nearby called Midsomer Newton. The house which is deep in the woods is called Winyard & is in a state of disrepair but worth a lot, despite stories of it being haunted the Cave's drive out to have a look where they are both garroted to death. DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettels) is on the case, since Sergeant Scott has called in sick Barnaby enlists the help of bright young Constable Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) & together they must piece together the clues to find a killer. From suspect estate agents to local hippies to die hard conservationists to the mystery surrounding Winyard's owner, Charlie Magwood (George Baker) who has a past he most definitely wants to hide...

Episode 1 from season 9 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Peter Smith & kicked off the ninth season in fine style with a good intricate plot, some relevant red-herrings that actually tries to keep the eventual outcome a surprise for as long as possible along with a really good twist at the end that I am sure most people won't see coming. In fact The House in the Woods feels like classic Midsomer Murders when it was churning out quality episodes week in week out rather than the somewhat predictable drab affairs we have been served up all to often of late. I personally feel that Midsomer Murders was always at it's best when it was weaving complicated & over-the-top if totally unlikely murder mysteries with memorable twist endings that live long in your memory long after the actual episode has finished. Here for the first time in the series the Midsomer Murders team use the twin plot where it looks like someone did/did'nt do it only for the surprise to come that they have an identical twin did'nt/did & I think the makers use it to very good effect as all the clues & little bits of information come together nicely at the end. The pace of this episode is also good with far more incident than usual & there's quite a few little sub-plots going on too just to try & confuse the viewer & keep us guessing, just the way it should be to. My only real problem are some of the coincidences, Barnaby finding that gun at the end by pure chance, Joyce yet again becoming involved in a case due to her leisure activities & Barnaby finding that toy car. For those interested in the series continuity The House in the Woods sees the departure of Sergeanr Dan Scott, Barnaby's second sidekick after Troy, & the introduction of Ben Jones although the only explanation given is that he phoned in sick at the start & after that he has neither been seen or mentioned in Midsomer Murders since.

The title The House in the Woods reminds me of the Lucio Fulci gore flick The House by the Cemetery (1981), I suppose really only because both feature the word house in the title & which relates to it's location. The House in the Woods does have a few fairly effective horror inspired moments, especially the killing of Caroline & Peter Cave at night as a killer hiding in the back seat of their car garrotes them with piano wire from behind. There's some nicely shot & somewhat atmospheric photography here, particularly the old rundown house which definitely looks the part. The acting is good & I thought George Baker was excellent in this & puts in one of the best supporting guest star performances from the whole series.

The House in the Woods is a great Midsomer Murders episode with plenty going on, some really good twist's & a memorable yet enjoyably daft plot which is just the way I like them. Probably the best episode from season 9.

As the others mentioned on here, this is a great episode to start the season and a great welcome to PC Ben Jones! Loved how quick on his feet he was with George and Tom at the scene of the double murder. I agree with the other comments: why did the murderer kill the couple in the beginning? They weren't going to buy it...just look at it. Maybe the murderer thought they would have succeeded in getting the home...who knows. But, that is one slight drawback.

Sad that Scott was not only a no show, but, no one ever mentioned him...again. He calls put "sick" but, nothing was resolved. Troy became a DI up north, Ben ended up being DI in Brighton, Nelson ended up doing undercover training or so for a year more (hence Winter) but nothing on Scott. But, then, we would have neve been introduced to Ben. His humour, his wit and his rapport with Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) is natural. Loved the side story of the wacky couple that wants to "preserve the past". I LOVE Joyce (Jane Wymark) because she brings a nice touch to any episode. I also loved the scene where Tom saw that Joyce was going to the House in the Woods and how he rushed over there...only to see her having tea and biscuits with Jack and the nice lad!

A great episode to start the season. This episode is, to me, is up there with the classics, A Killing in Badger's Drift, Written in Blood, Death's Shadow, Dead Man's Eleven, Destroying Angel, The Green Man.... The only reason why not a 10: no real explanation about Scott, no real explanation why the first couple were murdered. And a great ending scene, around the piano, in the house, in the woods.

A gothic, dilapidated and empty old woodland house called Wynyard is at the centre of DCI Barnaby's latest investigation. Two young, well to do house hunters, Peter and Caroline Cave (played by Richard Trinder and Caroline Faber) are found brutally murdered in their car nearby. With DS Scott on sick leave, Barnaby (played by John Nettles) assigns PC Ben Jones (played by Jason Hughes) to help him bring the double murderer to book. They discover that the owner of the house, pensioner Charlie Magwood (played by George Baker), has been trying to sell the property through local estate agent Harriet Davies (played by Rebecca Egan), seemingly, with little success and she is trying to persuade him to drastically reduce the asking price. Is this down to the fact that people are reluctant to buy a property that needs so much work done to it? Or, is she trying to trick him into selling it at a knockdown price so that someone can buy it, restore it and then sell it on at a huge profit? In addition, the detectives find that there are others who are determined to get hold of the property, including local conservationist Giles Cato (played by Michael Elwyn) and the eccentric Lesley and Barbara Flux (played by Gawn Grainger and Anita Carey). Meanwhile, is Charlie Magwood really the kindly old man he appears to be? And, is the house itself the sole reason for the murders? Or, does a link to a past crime hold the key to the mystery?

The first episode of the ninth season, which introduces us to DCI Barnaby's new sidekick, PC Ben Jones, who gets permanently promoted to CID as a result of his work on this case. It is also a stand out episode from this season since it has an appealing plot, lots of amusing characters such as the eccentric conservationists who are put in for light comedy relief. In this instance, Barnaby's wife (played by Jane Wymark) decides to join the local conservation society for a new hobby and finds herself unwittingly caught up in her husband's investigation. As usual there is a first rate cast (everyone appearing in this is excellent), but the stand out performance here has to be from veteran British character actor George Baker (Inspector Wexford) who scores in a double role playing twin brothers whose personalities contrast completely with each other. The script delivers plenty of twists and turns to keep all whodunit fans hooked and it all comes off well under the direction of series regular Peter Smith.

Contractor had motive for kill couple to stop them from buying the house , so he could proceed with scam with realtor. He had already completed a building plan, so he was already in house and had access to piano wire. He then killed realtor who knew he killed the couple as she mentioned the police were coming for the both of them, she being an accomplice by means of the real estate sale scheme. Contractor then killed realtor to silence her.

Killing the couple would result in devaluation of the house. The contractor and realtor scam would benefit. The ditzy couple who had an interest in buying would benefit. The museum/historical guy would benefit and it should be noted that he likely would have known of scam by knowing of contractor plan before Mrs. Barnaby showed it to him. It is reasonable to assume he had knowledge of contractor's plan from the beginning due to his position. The twin from prison (Jack) had motive to stop a s sale. The only one without a motive it seems was the twin with power-of-attorney (Charlie) who wanted to sell asap and get the money.

The killing of the realtor benefits no one other than the contractor to silence her. I guess all would have a grudge against her for a revenge motive for her duplicity, but is likely that it was contractor who called her for a meeting at the house late at night to silence her. Unless it was seller twin Charlie, but why kill her. Just get another realtor.

Also, a finger print on the trigger. I don't think so. Which leaves us with another possibility that the twins were in cahoots again. The attempt by Charlie to kill Jack was a misdirect of blame from Jack to Charlie. Charlie was never going to kill Jack as it was now Charlie's turn to take the rap. He was going down anyway. But, those scenarios becomes convoluted, given that prison visits are documented and you would think that Barnaby would have checked out who visited him at time he discovered Jack had escaped from prison. It would have taken detailed planning by the twins.

To get back to the pistol. A trigger is not normally pulled by the finger tip and even it it was what kind of identifying print would it leave? The print would only show who last touched the trigger not who last pulled the trigger. If Jack's print was on the slide one could conclude that it was he that used slide to put bullet in the breech for shooting. The gun under the show's scenario falls wholly flat in proving Jack did not shoot the policeman and what would it matter anyway for the Midsomer murders. I guess this is what is called a red herring.

Which leaves us with the piano wire as weapon. Not a real secret here in this town, so many could have known about this, including Charlie who used it in his attack of brother, real or not.

So, it appears that the only one with motive to kill all three is the contractor. Unless it was multiple killers or maybe even a ghost.

The ninth season begins so wonderfully. "The House in the Woods" is not flawless, but it is easily one of the best entries in the series.

Let's start with the good aspects, shall we?

. The production values of this episode are great. The music is at times suitably creepy and the direction's solid. The acting is strong all around. John Nettles is endlessly watchable with Jason Hughes being easy to warm to. Ruth Gemmell, David Westhead, Rebecca Egan are very good, but George Baker deserves every single praise he has got- he's wonderful.

. The story is complex, though not messy. The characters are colorful, the mystery's very engaging and there are some great twists and turns. The solution (Charlie killed the couple) was surprising indeed.

But...

. There are some rushed sequences in this story. The motive why Peter and Caroline Cave were killed could have gone into more detail.

Overall, an awesome episode.

9/10 HK.