I guess there's no denying that John Nettles made this show. I'll give Neil Dudgeon props, he's trying, and he's better than he was. But he's not getting any help from the scripts.
The Midsomer Langley Film Society is having a horror film festival and brings a local scream queen, Stella Harris, onto the stage. Unfortunately for Stella, her glam movie star sister Diana Davenport, has returned to the area after 40+ years and brought her film producer husband, Cy.
The same night, Eve Lomax, who is writing a book about Stella, is murdered, her neck punctured as if by a vampire, recreating what was shown in the film.
Stella hadn't wanted the book written and Eve was not popular with the head of the society, Colin Yule, either. He believes Eve stole a photo of Stella.
Eve's life seems to have been a little complicated. Stella's daughter, Emma, Stella's daughter informs Barnaby that Eve's landlord, a married man named Patrick was bothering Eve. Patrick denies this, claiming the two were lovers.
The murders start piling up, and Barnaby is convinced they have something to do with the films as they are replicating the murders in them. He then realizes a family secret is at the root of it all.
This show and the episode before it had something in common - too many murders. It really gets old fast. Also, horror films, movie stars, a family secret, and this is the best they could do?
The episode had two horror stars from Hammer Films, John Carson and Caroline Munro. Caroline Munro - I don't even know why she was there, a chimpanzee could have said her one line. Carson fares a little better, but surely there was a way to weave them into this episode.
In short, disappointing. You can't make up for John Nettles leaving by having a bunch of people murdered in every episode. It becomes mind- numbing.
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