The Blacktrees Prophecy

Ever fearful for the end of the world, Warren heads to his shelter after a message warns of the end of the world, but he's been tricked, and a killer has put an elaborate plan in place.

UK viewers have certainly had to wait for this, the question as always, was it worth the wait?

Yes and no, the best thing about The Blacktrees Prophecy, was that wonderful opening sequence, it gave me Saw vibes, shades of horror, and the promise of lots of suspense, the worst thing however, the rest of the episode.

A disappointing story, definitely inspired by the pandemic, at times it was just silly, that scene with the boat however, was like something out of a spoof. The writer seems to want to have a pop at conspiracy theorists, but didn't quite have the skills to write it, it was just stupid.

The acting was a real mixed bag, I thought Nina Wadia and Holly Aird were pretty good, unfortunately some of the other performances were really poor.

When I think of episodes from years gone by, I always knew is revisit them, Strangler's Wood, Written in Blood and Happy Families I've watched multiple times, I certainly wouldn't watch this again in a hurry.

Nope.

5/10.

I really tune into Midsomer Murders for the regulars and their lighthearted stories more than the mysteries. This has some good Barnaby humour throughout, with professional and personal stories tying together nicely. I'm glad I watched this in 2024 and not when it was filmed in 22 for reasons that are obvious when watching. It is weird-ish but not creepy which is good for me as I prefer these tamer episodes. Unusually, I followed this one fairly easily and I'd pretty much solved it, but got distracted by the other storylines because there is quite a lot packed in that I could relate to better.

I was glad that people kept getting killed off, because the character list was so long and confusing, it cut down on who I had to keep track of. Reveal at the end was unsatisfying I'm disappointed how Sarah Barnaby was written. When we met her, she was a fully realized, confident person-a full partner in her marriage, a successful professional in her job; then to see her brought to her knees because her mother might criticize her house?! Come on.

Also, Winter is not a rookie anymore, and it's just backward and mean the way Barnaby hazes him constantly in this episode. It's like they tried too hard to make it amusing or cute, but it's a miss. It just appears that Tom is a jerk.

One of the worst yet.

Many of the newer episodes have absolutely none of the charm of the original Midsomers but this is as bad as it gets.

No kitsch characters like the Rainbirds, no memorable or interesting characters at all, no picturesque village scenes, no subtle camp comedy, just distinctly average writing, and truly awful acting. Special mention in this category to Kate Robbins (??) and the lad who played the character of Zane - he alone made this episode almost unbearable to finish, he was truly truly terrible to the point I physically cringed every time he was on screen.

Forced myself to finish watching it but won't bother again.

Have enjoyed these from the start - even when the death toll went past 300 and some form of official enquiry would surely have been launched!

However, watching this first murder reminded me of the Death in Paradise episode with exactly the same demise. Other aspects of the story were also similar...

Generating antagonism between the main characters doesn't help either - Fleur is becoming a pain - and Barnaby's virtually abusive treatment of his sidekick simply would not be allowed.

And man-traps are illegal, but no action was taken on that.

As such this was a disappointing entry in the series.