Country Matters

What a town Elverton is! There may be only one murder but The townsfolk will keep you laughing.. This is one of the funniest episodes I've seen. FACT! The expressions on Barnaby and Jones faces as they weed through this case are priceless! Don't want to give away any of the FACTS! Don't miss this one!

Midsomer Murders as a series has its up and downs, but when it hits, it can be a true joy to watch. This is one of the two best episodes of the first nine seasons. It has a great sense of humor, a coherent story line, ties up all the loose ends, has a satisfying and plausible ending and follows a process in which we can follow all the footsteps to catching the killer.

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.

While, to me, "The House in the Woods" is the best episode of Season 9, "Country Matters" gets my vote as a close runner-up. The episodes in between the two also range from decent to very good. There could have been more focus on the murder itself, which was slightly disappointing for an episode that is very light on the body count, but that was the only thing really that wasn't quite so good here.

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.

Meanwhile, the script is smart and thought-provoking with some nice quirky and often hilarious humour, a grimness and with characters that are colourful and eccentric. The story is absorbing, never simplistic, sometimes creepy in atmosphere, never dull (for an exposition-heavy episode) never confusing (remarkable for an episode with many colourful characters and a wide range of deliciously kinky sub-plots) and the maturity that 'Midsomer Murders' has when on form is more than evident here. The ending agreed is one of the show's best, and one that is appreciated by me even more now than on first viewing.

John Nettles is a joy and Jason Hughes brings appeal and nice wry humour to Jones. The two work extremely well together, and the rest of the cast are uniformly strong.

Overall, great episode and one of the season's best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Country Matters was slightly out of the ordinary for MM. Obiously the team were a bit bored and made this episode with tongue in cheek! Drily funny, it deals with those grave matter of sex and murder with a bit of frivolity which might be unbecoming the Middle cLasses of Midsomer but makes everything a great send up and a real hoot. One of the best episodes. There is also the use of actors and actresses already known to friends of PBS English series such as Inspector Morse. Because IMDb has never liked a pithy comment where several hundred words will do I have to continue with this just to meet the minimum amount of lines. IMDb would never have allowed Pauline Kael in her more pithily scathing moments to submit her comments!

"Country Matters" from season 9 is a bit different from other Midsomer Murder Fare. It's quite funny.

In the village of Elverton, developers want to put a supermarket in the town, on polluted land. Though people are against it, the positive side of it is that the supermarket people will clean up the site. The town meetings become very heated.

The death of an old man known to several people in the town by different names may figure into this town battle somehow. The man was an environmental consultant who was working with the townspeople and the supermarket people.

Class issues, lots of adultery, rival factions, two budding juvenile delinquents, a single mother, deception, a married couple who make a living in an interesting way, and a horse training stable are just a few of the elements in this mystery. But the mystery isn't the main feature here, it's the story around it, and some of the reactions of Barnaby and Jones.

Let's just say that when people need to make a living in this town, they can be pretty resourceful.

And the ending with Joyce and Barnaby was great.