Last Year's Model

A slightly different episode that has Barnaby second guessing himself in court, all the while making goo goo eyes with a friend psychiatrist named Pru. I'm assuming her full name is Prudence as I've never heard of anyone being named Pru. I enjoyed this episode. I must not be a true romantic, because I think Mr. Trevelyan at the end should have avoided the unstable Annie. First of all she lied various times to the police, even though she had committed no crime. The biggest reason to wonder about her judgement is that she had married that creep Lance.

This is an unusual episode. We are presented with a murder that happened 10 months ago, with the supposed culprit arrested then. She (supposedly) murdered her best friend because both were in love with the friend's husband. She has been in jail and the trial is about to start. Barnaby had arrested her.

There are flashbacks to tell us a lot of the story. We meet the families of the accused and the victim. There is an elderly "Miss Marple"-like character who is a key witness. Slowly a second plot develops with a real estate agent and the local news reporters.

Compared to many episodes, it is not exceptionally complicated -- and that is good! We see Barnaby begin to have doubts about the arrest he made. We meet a potential love interest for Barnaby!

The ending is very satisfying. Definitely worth a watch!

I consider this to be the best of Midsomer Murders, due to the psychological depth of the characters and to the excellent acting. The story was great, and there's only one murder!(unusual for Midsomer Murders). Consequently, there was no need for those preposterous explanations as to why a lovely old lady had to kill 3 or 4 times in order to protect her son or some such nonsense. Lately, I've been watching MM for the love of beautiful images only. But this episode is believable and dramatic - the way Midsomer Murders used to be.

Also, I enjoyed the great chemistry (and relationship of trust) between John Nettles and Siobhan Redmond(Dr. Plunkett), and the intimation of something that "might have been". Great insight into Barnaby's soul.A devoted husband, a doting father...but not only.

I was very impressed with the two back to back episodes of this fascinating mystery with its strong acting and characterization. The location of the trial and and action is the busy town of Causton, which seems an agreeable change to the often strange hamlet of Midsomer, whose inhabitants can be a rather depressing lot despite the landscape beauty. Detective Barnaby is for once cast in the role of a doubting detective, first brought on by the intuitive daughter of a murdered woman and then his psychologist friend Pru Plunkett. The doubts come after he amasses the critical evidence to charge Annie Woodrow with the murder of her friend Frances Trevelyan. Then he has to revisit the case once more. The character of Barnaby has never been stronger than he is here, realizing that his own work might not have been thorough enough to get the real murderer. His constable Ben Jones is also on the case every step of the way. There is great chemistry between the two actors during the two episodes. Mrs. Beverley, the elderly lady who is swindled by Annie Woodrow's husband and a shady real estate agent, becomes a key player in the strategy to capture the real killer. Annie Woodrow and John Trevelyan, husband of the murdered woman, are secretly attracted to one another but too proper to break up John's marriage and family. John was excellent as a classy family man and Annie was the antithesis of a murderer, being reluctant to even put John in an embarrassing light. The plot was complicated and required all of Barnaby's talents with the aid of Jones and others intent on finding the truth.

Last Year's Model stands out even now as a unique, intelligent and original episode. The standard formula of a body every half hour, a twenty minute summing up, and bizarre killing methods does not apply here. The murder has already happened, and for a change we get more of an insight into the court proceedings, the murders aren't sensationalised as normal, but the need for evidence is key.

It really is a first rate episode, with some fine performances, Thelma Barlow is excellent, as are Siobhan Redmond, Miles Anderson and Jamie Glover, but it really is Nettles himself who steals the show, he is outstanding.

Measured, intelligent, dare I say a deeper episode then the norm, I loved it. 10/10