Days of Misrule

I quite enjoyed this festive outing from Barnaby and the gang. There were some great performances from stalwart actors Tim Pigott-Smith and Judy Parfitt, and the returned-to-form Nettles/Hughes duo.

This Christmas story is set against the backdrop of a haulage firm owned by ex-Army type Matt Parkes (played by Pigott-Smith) and his wayward son James. As a sideline, Parkes is involved in running 'team-building' Army games for various organisations, which is where Barnaby and Jones come in. Son James is involved in a sideline of his own...

There are some comedic moments as we see dyed-in-the-wool Barnaby go through the exercises with less enthusiasm and ability than his younger police colleagues, providing light relief from a festive tale of subterfuge and classic Midsomer murder.

There are plenty of carols to keep you in the Yuletide spirit, and as it was filmed at the beginning of the year, it looks festively cold too.

I won't go into much detail as I understand this is the Christmas 2008 episode for the UK, but I think Series Eleven is a great return to form after some disappointing story lines and ham-laden performances - Shot At Dawn, Picture Of Innocence - had me convinced that this franchise was past its sell-by date.

Bigger than life good Colonel, and rotten son. Christmas cheer and murders. The truck smuggling from Europe has been done before. A crippling accident, blackmail, mourning mother, etc. All done so many times. A lot of overacting with over the top characters. But, it all worked well together in a pretty solid script. Whenever there's an English Colonel I always think of the Fawlty Towers Colonel. Very good Episode. Vito S 1-28-20

Poor Barnaby. It's close to Christmas, and he's saddled with a baby-faced superintendent, filled with enthusiasm, who wants to concentrate on teamwork, team-building exercises, and the filling out of forms. And where should the team-building workshops take place but at the local Army Centre, which is the site for murder and all sorts of mayhem.

The Centre is run by Colonel Parkes, who, despite being a good man himself, has a womanizing loser, Jamie, for a son. Everyone loathes him, and this includes his own grandmother, whose daughter died giving birth to him.

The list goes on. There's Penny Galsworthy, whose daughter killed herself after Jamie got her pregnant, and Penny's husband Tim. Penny stalks Jamie constantly. And George Barkham, who was supposed to be made a partner at the center until Jamie returned home from France and took the job from him.

One night the Parkes' yard is bombed; after that, two deaths occur. Barnaby discovers a crime ring and must ferret out motives and whodunit.

Very good story, complete with Christmas carols as Barnaby drags around, throwing out forms and trying to be polite to the superintendent, even after Jones tells the inspector that Barnaby considers all the team-building activities "rubbish." Recommended.

While all this is somewhat intriguing, it involves a contrived ghost story. It concerns a charlatan and his followers, messing with the supernatural. It also is about jealousy between two people at opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum. People are dying and it appears that somehow ghosts are involved. Barnaby's dull, unimaginative wife begins to fall for it, accusing her husband of not having an open mind. The interesting thing is that she's jumps to conclusions. He's the relational on. Unfortunately, things could not be left well enough alone and we end up with a supernatural plot, with some kind of open ended, unexplainable result. The beauty of this series has always been that Barnaby can use pure logic and knowledge of human nature. The conclusion pretty much ruins the whole episode.

CS Cotton has taken temporary charge, overseeing Tom and Ben who are on the case of several murders, with links to a freight company.

It's a very solid episode, in what is a bit of an up and down series. The mystery is intriguing, it has some good characters, and some nice touches of humour, the training exercise was hilarious, the best moment arriving where Jones tells Cotton exactly what Barnaby thought of the session.

Joseph Millson is great as the unpleasant James Parkes, but the two shining lights are the senior players, Tim Piggot-Smith and Judy Parfitt, the pair are outstanding.

Some amazing classic cars, they spoil us with some glorious motors.

December? I didn't buy that this was set in December, no amount of fake snow or Christmas carols could convince me otherwise.

It's a good watch, 7/10.