Despite being nowhere near as good nowadays, and even the Tom Barnaby-era had its not-so-good episodes ("Second Sight", "The Electric Vendetta" and "The Straw Woman" being notable previous episodes in this regard), 'Midsomer Murders' is still one of my most watched and re-watched shows.
Season 9 got off to a brilliant start with "The House in the Woods", a great introduction to Jones with one of the show's most unexpected and ingenious endings and George Baker's performance being one of the show's best supporting turns. "Dead Letters" was a couple of steps down, with a miscast Simon Callow and a couple of things either not needed or needed to be elaborated upon more, but was still intriguing and had a few nice references to past episodes. "Vixen's Run" also had faults, but was also a lot of fun.
"Down Among the Dead Men" is a decent 'Midsomer Murders' episode, but not a great one. The case is solved via too many coincidences in a case with too few suspects (yes even for a victim as loathsome as the one here, one of the show's most loathsome perhaps) and too few twists. The ending is also rather far-fetched.
However, the production values as always are top notch, with to die for scenery, the idyllic look of it contrasting very well with the story's grimness, and quaint and atmospheric photography. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the theme tune one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre. The use of "Au Fond Du Temple Saint" (aka 'The Pearl Fisher Duet') from Bizet's 'Les Pecheurs De Perles' was inspired, and somewhat ironic considering the duet is about friendship and the scene was as long away from friendly as one can get.
Meanwhile, the script is smart and thought-provoking with some nice quirky humour (especially in the dialogue between Barnaby and Jones, which made me laugh out loud more than once), a grimness and with characters that are colourful and eccentric. The story, starting off with a bang with a very well-staged murder with suspenseful build-up, is absorbing, never simplistic (even with only one murder rather than the often 2+), never confusing and the maturity that 'Midsomer Murders' has when on form is more than evident here.
The acting is fine, with John Nettles a joy and Jason Hughes bringing appeal and nice wry humour to Jones. The two work extremely well together. The rest of the supporting cast fare very well, Paul Freeman very good especially.
All in all, decent if not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Season 9 got off to a brilliant start with "The House in the Woods", a great introduction to Jones with one of the show's most unexpected and ingenious endings and George Baker's performance being one of the show's best supporting turns. "Dead Letters" was a couple of steps down, with a miscast Simon Callow and a couple of things either not needed or needed to be elaborated upon more, but was still intriguing and had a few nice references to past episodes. "Vixen's Run" also had faults, but was also a lot of fun.
"Down Among the Dead Men" is a decent 'Midsomer Murders' episode, but not a great one. The case is solved via too many coincidences in a case with too few suspects (yes even for a victim as loathsome as the one here, one of the show's most loathsome perhaps) and too few twists. The ending is also rather far-fetched.
However, the production values as always are top notch, with to die for scenery, the idyllic look of it contrasting very well with the story's grimness, and quaint and atmospheric photography. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the theme tune one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre. The use of "Au Fond Du Temple Saint" (aka 'The Pearl Fisher Duet') from Bizet's 'Les Pecheurs De Perles' was inspired, and somewhat ironic considering the duet is about friendship and the scene was as long away from friendly as one can get.
Meanwhile, the script is smart and thought-provoking with some nice quirky humour (especially in the dialogue between Barnaby and Jones, which made me laugh out loud more than once), a grimness and with characters that are colourful and eccentric. The story, starting off with a bang with a very well-staged murder with suspenseful build-up, is absorbing, never simplistic (even with only one murder rather than the often 2+), never confusing and the maturity that 'Midsomer Murders' has when on form is more than evident here.
The acting is fine, with John Nettles a joy and Jason Hughes bringing appeal and nice wry humour to Jones. The two work extremely well together. The rest of the supporting cast fare very well, Paul Freeman very good especially.
All in all, decent if not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox