Death in Disguise

Two murders have been committed at a new age commune. It is led by a charismatic "Master" who believes that (or says he believes) that souls transmigrated and we can get in touch with our past selves. He is also an ex-convict, as we find out almost immediately. The interesting thing is, we are left to decide if he really believes what he is selling. When a man shows up, expecting to get some money back on his investment in this place, he is pushed down the stairs, breaking his neck and dying. The people at this place are interesting because they all seem to have checkered pasts which are exposed as we go along. One young man is the mystery guy. He doesn't speak, even though he can, and he seems to cower from any threat. He is tightly attached to the Master and his life is upended when the man is murdered. Because of his bizarre nature, most assume he is the killer. Coming on the scene is a multi-millionaire business man whose daughter is in the commune. Later, his estranged wife, a hard core alcoholic and drug user also shows up. At age 18, the young woman gets three million pounds. She immediately turns it over to the Master and this infuriates his father. This leads to more tension and more motives. There are numerous others who are suspicious, making this quite complex and engaging. Once again, Barnaby and Troy must wade through both the evidence and their own judgments of the bizarre people at the commune and settle on the realities of the murders.

Great episode. Some of the acting is so bad I came here to see if it was some kind of spoof. One of them literally looked at the camera for affirmation haha. Still good acting isn't everything. I love the episodes that featured supernatural nonsense acted out by the silly people in the village. I guess because I live in an English village but have not detected the crazies with their secret rituals YET!

The pedestrian episodes bore me.

Without the unique selling point Midsomer became just another cop show. Yawn.

To be honest I was unfair earlier. There are some great performances in this episode. Bravo Judy Cornwell, Susan Tracy.

Seriously one of the funniest episodes i have ever watched of a murder mystery! Sargent Troy is by far my favorite Sargent! <3 So funny especially SGT Troy's impression of May! Hilarious i don't even know anymore seriously!I loved how Funny this episode was, without losing it's serious side. I thought the part Gavin was having tea with an elderly woman was funny because of how greedy he was! Oh my god and the faces he pulled..like, i don't know how, but this made me laugh so much, i think i need some intense therapy! Oh, and the reason i'm writing so much crap is because your review has to be 10 lines long which is annoying!

"Death in Disguise" is one of the first episodes of the long-running "Midsomer Murders" series starring John Nettles. Since it's an early one, my favorite of his partners, Daniel Casey, is on board as Troy.

No dearth of suspects here. Ian Craigie is the head of a commune, populated by a diverse group of people. The commune concentrates on spiritual matters, though it wasn't started that way. Ian Craigie and Bill Carter founded the place as a scam to divest the wealthy of their money. However, Craigie came to believe in what the commune stood for. The two fight, and Carter falls (or was he pushed) over a staircase and falls to his death.

Barnaby and Troy come on the scene to investigate and meet the residents, former brothel owners, a wealthy young woman about to inherit a fortune and her boyfriend, a young man who can't speak, a woman who communes with the dead, as well as a few others.

When there is another murder, the question is, whodunit? It's not going to be easy to find out.

Very good mystery that takes place in a gorgeous mansion, and Barnaby's family is in this episode, which is always fun.

Not one of my fav episodes that I watch over and over, but definitely has some amusing and redeeming qualities.

Some of people in the commune are pretty funny. It's hard to tell which one of them is the killer. Worth seeing just to hear some of the backstories of some of the residents of the commune.