Pub landlady Hannah Altman is crushed to death by a giant Perspex box during a magic show by famous illusionist Gideon Latimer.Pub landlady Hannah Altman is crushed to death by a giant Perspex box during a magic show by famous illusionist Gideon Latimer.Pub landlady Hannah Altman is crushed to death by a giant Perspex box during a magic show by famous illusionist Gideon Latimer.
Photos
- Gideon Latimer
- (as Andrew-Lee Potts)
- Pub Customer
- (uncredited)
- CID Officer
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe portrait of Sir Hugo is actually a copy of Henri Lehmann's 1840 portrait of musician Franz Liszt, one of whose best known compositions is the Hungarian Rhapsody 2 for piano (a favorite of Bugs Bunny and other cartoon characters)
- GoofsSecond murder committed with a revolver fitted with a silencer. A silencer is particularly ineffective on a revolver.
- Quotes
[Andrew Maplin, the curate, is known to have very hard-line, intolerant views about Christianity and was vigorously opposed to Gideon's magic show in the church. Andrew, the vicar and the choir are standing outside the church singing a hymn]
DCI John Barnaby: That must be Andrew Maplin standing next to the vicar.
DS Charlie Nelson: He's been busy posting comments on Gideon's website - real fire and brimstone stuff.
DCI John Barnaby: [sarcastically] We'll talk to him when he's finished singing about love and mercy.
After John Nettles retired and Neil Dudgeon and the new character of John Barnaby took over, 'Midsomer Murders' just hasn't been the same on the most part. Season 14 was a disappointment outside of "The Oblong Murders" and "A Sacred Trust", with "Echoes of the Dead" and "The Night of the Stag" being show low-points. Season 15 was inconsistent, being a case of starting promisingly and then took a three-episodes-in-a-row strange turn with "Written in the Stars" before finishing on a good note. Season 16 was mostly good, especially "Wild Harvest", with the only disappointment being "Let Us Prey".
"Murder By Magic" follows on from the decent but unexceptional "The Dagger Club" and neither improves or worsens over that, if anything they are both about the same. It has been criticised for including diversity/political correctness and mocking Christians, the former is much more buyable and one can see why it's been made (being a general criticism of this particular season) but the latter is a strange criticism to make.
It does improve over "The Dagger Club" in that the story is not as silly, while it still is it mostly stays on the right side of it and in an enjoyable way, and certainly not as ludicrously far-fetched as parts of the previous episode were. This said, the second murder is pretty ridiculous for anybody with knowledge of revolvers and silencers, the final solution feels tame, somewhat outlandish and unsatisfying and there are some familiar themes for 'Midsomer Murders' here that have been used before with much more spark.
Another improvement is that Barnaby doesn't feel as much of a supporting character, with his warmer chemistry with Sarah and the playful one with Sykes (a cute and funny scene-stealer as ever) ensuring more of a lead role. Again, not perfect, with Gwilym Lee being much more charismatic as a more likable character, Season 17 saw a generally more wooden Barnaby and Neil Dudgeon doesn't always look very engaged. The chemistry has also been much better, here there seemed to be echoes of Barnaby's demeaning side when partnered with dumbed-down Jones, anybody who was trying to forget that will not appreciate that.
The diversity is still an issue, initially when hearing of it, this seemed like a non-issue blown out of proportion. However seeing the Season 17 episodes one can understand the problem in that the characters in question add little, are not very interesting in character or personality and feel out of place. Kate is also still bland and without much personality, even in episodes of Season 16 where they tried to develop her more with scenes between her and Nelson.
However, the production values cannot be faulted as usual. It's mostly beautifully and atmospherically shot with suitably picturesque scenery. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the haunting theme tune is one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre.
Some of the script is gentle and thought-provoking and while the story was problematic there are enough events, colourful characters, red herrings and twists and turns (as well as a great final solution) to keep one intrigued. Apart from a couple of inevitably forced moments, Barnaby's family life subplot is sweet and amusing and again the chemistry between Barnaby and Sarah is warmer and more playful than in Seasons 14 and 15. Sykes is funny and adorable, stealing every scene he appears.
Acting is mostly good, Jack Shepherd, Amanda Burton and Andrew Lee Potts giving strong supporting turns.
In conclusion, decent but unexceptional. 6/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Mar 30, 2017
Details
- Runtime1 hour 29 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD