Reviews

Written in Blood is the second instalment in the golden era of Midsomer Murders. I haven't yet read the book that this is derived from, so I am only basing my opinion on the TV episode.

The episode begins with a flashback to 1955 in Ireland. A young boy shoots and kills his father in his bed.

In present day Midsomer, we are introduced to the members of a writer's circle. They agree to invite a famous writer called Max Jennings to attend a meeting. However, one of the members, Gerald Hadleigh, appears apprehensive about this and asks one of the other members, Amy Lyddiard, to make sure that he is not left alone with Jennings. The next morning, Gerald is found naked and bludgeoned to death in his bedroom, and the clothes in his wardrobe appear to have been stolen... an investigation by Barnaby and Troy begins.

As usual, the music, scenery and the humour add a lot of charm and atmosphere to the show. The cast of characters were interesting and the script was decent.

All of the actors involved in this episode played their parts very well. It took me a while to realise that Amy was played by Joanna David, because she looked different to other TV shows that I have seen her in. I liked the character called Laura Hutton, played by Jane Booker. The actor who played Brian Clapper was creepy but charismatic. I also wanted to mention the cameo by Una Stubbs, who played Jennings's wife Selina. She did a great performance in such short screen time.

However, I thought that this episode had a lot of missed potential. The backstory involving Gerald and Amy's deceased husband, Ralph, could've been developed more. Gerald himself seemed an interesting personality and I wish we could've seen more of him. Maybe the writers had to omit a few things for timing reasons.

I was confused by the subplot involving the drama teacher, Brian Clapper. I don't understand why the (underage) student would sleep with Brian, knowing her brother was watching outside taking photos, then mock Brian the next day along with the rest of the drama class. It was unclear and quite weird actually. There wasn't much of a conclusion.

The other subplot of Barnaby being allergic to Cully's cat was sort of irritating, although there was a funny scene where he was having a sneezing fit and shouts "WHAT!" to a policeman who was trying to tell him something.

The killer was a bit obvious, even her unusual name and the old gothic house was a giveaway, but I didn't mind that too much.

I thought the dramatic ending was very rushed and a bit silly, more funny than frightening. The transition from the penultimate scene to the last scene (Barnaby in his garden) was sudden. I watched this episode on ITVX, so I wondered if something had been edited out.

Overall, I found story had an interesting premise but the ending was rushed and unsatisfying. However, the other elements - the music, characters, humour, chemistry between Barnaby and Troy, and the of course scenery - made the episode more enjoyable to watch.