As a fairly keen bird watcher I expected to see all the usual clichés about the hobby
and wasn't disappointed! The story opens with somebody watching a couple arguing; the man is not happy when his wife says she is pregnant as he had a vasectomy before they met! He is a member of the local bird watching club and tempers are running high there too as one of their number claims to have seen a 'blue-crowned hoopoe' which would put him in the lead in their annual listing competition; the trouble is other club members don't believe him so he storms out of the meeting. Later that night he is killed; was it because of his denial of the other man's bird sighting or was it the father of his wife's child
or perhaps something else altogether? As the episode progresses we are introduced to a large variety of suspects with an equally large number of motives. In fact just about every non-regular character is somewhat suspect.
This story was typical Midsumer; rather silly but also rather fun. Any body who knows anything about British bird-watching would either have turned off in disgust or laughed heartily as the club members searched for the fictitious 'blue-crested hoopoe' and casually mention birds they see which are North American and would cause a stir if seen here perhaps a minor quibble considering this is Midsomer! The cast did a good job as always, particularly Neil Dudgeon who is great as John Barnaby. There were enough suspects and motives to keep me guessing until the end.
This story was typical Midsumer; rather silly but also rather fun. Any body who knows anything about British bird-watching would either have turned off in disgust or laughed heartily as the club members searched for the fictitious 'blue-crested hoopoe' and casually mention birds they see which are North American and would cause a stir if seen here perhaps a minor quibble considering this is Midsomer! The cast did a good job as always, particularly Neil Dudgeon who is great as John Barnaby. There were enough suspects and motives to keep me guessing until the end.