Last Year's Model

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.

It seems that the nature of many of us humans is to continue forever in the same path. Change is to be resisted. I've seen all the Midsomer Murders episodes from the get go. For the first time, we get to be involved in a trial. Just this once, there isn't a murder committed which leads to an investigation of several characters. This time an arrest is made in the first two minutes and Barnaby takes it upon himself to look at what appears an open and shut case, to try to find a reason for the murder. In the process, we find things are not as simple as they appear. In many mysteries, once we have in our heads what we believe to be the right answer, we then fill in the blanks with the evidence (often hearsay) to bolster our theories. The woman here has already been convicted by the press. She has been caught in a couple lies (or careless answers to investigators' questions) and so she must have done the deed. But the motive is sketchy. The relationship with the victim's husband tenuous. And the forensics are rather shady. The eyewitness testimony of an elderly woman with bad eyesight is almost enough to set things right in the first place. I welcomed the plot here and would imagine that for one episode a bit of difference is a good thing.

Have to say I found this a quite absorbing "Midsomer Murder" in spite of some of the criticisms I read on this board.

After Barnaby arrests Annie Woodrow for the murder of her friend, Frances Trevelyan, it's time for her trial. Barnaby and Jones attend. To Barnaby's surprise, Annie pleads not guilty, although he thought she would change her plea to avoid a trial. After all, the evidence against her was solid.

But was it?

Annie's motive for murdering her old friend seems to have been her complete obsession with Frances' husband, whom Annie had been in love with in the past. She's now married to a music executive who is a real jerk, and she's not happy. But she has always insisted she had nothing to do with Frances' murder.

Something is bothering Barnaby, but he's not sure what. He was confident of his evidence, and now he wonders. An old friend, Pru Plunkett, a psychiatrist and also a friend of Annie, tells him that before the murder, Annie was planning to move out of the area. It's time to look at the evidence again.

This was, as has been pointed out, a different structure from the usual MM. I thought it was good, particularly the intimation that Pru Plunkett may have been more than an old friend of Barnaby's. I also liked the elderly female witness who wants to help with the case.

The plot was absorbing, and though Joyce Barnaby was away, we saw her during a phone call with Cully, who visited home. I loved Cully looking at Pru with suspicion.

Very good.

'Midsomer Murders' is one of my most watched and most re-watched shows. Granted, it is nowhere near as good now as it was and the Tom Barnaby-era did have some not so good episodes, but when it was at its best and on form it was riveting and hugely entertaining television.

Season 9 may not have had many classic/elite episodes ("The House in the Woods" being the only episode to be on that level, but this and "Country Matters" were close"), but to me it is one of the few seasons of 'Midsomer Murders' to not have a bad episode. Even my least favourite "Four Funerals and a Wedding" was still decent. Despite being a change of pace for 'Midsomer Murders', being more court-case-oriented and more psychological with a low body count, "Last Year's Model" is one of the show's best examples of how to do "different"/"change of pace" well.

Pretty much the only thing about "Last Year's Model" that could have been done better to me was that more could have been done with the character of Cully, underused and wasted, and the chemistry between her and Barnaby, which showed potential but it was potential not fully lived up to and underwritten.

However, 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 humour (that luckily wasn't overused or out of place in an episode with such a serious story), 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 and the maturity that 'Midsomer Murders' has when on form is more than evident here. The courtroom stuff is fascinating and the flashbacks beautifully interwoven. Loved the chemistry between Barnaby/Jones (always a delight) and Barnaby/Pru.

John Nettles and Jason Hughes are both superb, individually and together, and the supporting cast are without complaint.

On the whole, a great episode that does wonders with a change of pace. Am happy to admit as well that there is much more appreciation for the episode and what it set out to do now than there was on first viewing. 9/10 Bethany Cox