The Magician's Nephew

An ancient text holds the key to a small fortune, and several interested parties want to get their hands on it.

I get why people aren't a fan of this episode, and it's fair to say it isn't one of the best, but it's entertaining all the same. It is loaded with references to literary texts and to my mind other shows. It has some very good moments, including the magic show and of course the dramatic ending.

I see references to Father Brown and Taggart, and of course Tristan and Isolde.

Ronald Pickup and his real life daughter Rachel are entertaining and Ernest and Isolde, but all are overshadowed by Stuart Wilson who plays Aloysius, I think he's wonderful in it, perhaps the best element.

Entertaining, 7/10.

"Midsomer Murders: The Magician's Nephew" is from season 11 (2008) and has lots going for it: a magic show for children, a Halloween party for which Barnaby needs a costume, children named, of all things, Tristan and Isolde, an antique book, a fragile mother, a secret group, and incest. Add a couple of murders, and you've got yourself a nifty mystery.

A older woman named Jean Wildacre is killed on stage during a magic show as she works as a magician's assistant. She's been killed, it's learned, with a rare poison from a frog. Wildacre was a member of an occult group led by Ernest Balliol, who spends a lot of time fighting with an ex-group member, Aloysius Wilmington. Both men want an antique book that is somewhere in Aloysius' vast library. Balliol's children are Tristan and Isolde, and his first wife, Rosemary, drifts in and out of reality. Isolde is desperate to find the book, believing that in it is some sort of incantation or something that will help heal her mother.

There are two more deaths, one of which is from the poison. It takes Barnaby a while to figure out what the connection is among the victims.

Very good, with enough happening to keep one's interest, and good performances all around. For some reason, I've always liked it when Barnaby's home life is part of the story.

Someone here said the motives for the murders weren't clear, but I felt they were. However, these stories are never simple, and if you blink, you'll miss something.

Recommended, as is the whole series.

Always a wonderful series, but am I the only one freaking out when that guy flips through the ancient book without wearing gloves?!

As has been said by me a number of times, 'Midsomer Murders' is one of my most watched and most re-watched shows. It is nowhere near as good now and the Tom Barnaby-era wasn't alien to average or less episodes, but when it was on form or at its best boy was it good.

"The Magician's Nephew" (in case you're wondering there is no relation to CS Lewis and 'The Chronicles of Narnia') is a long way from 'Midsomer Murders' at its worst, but also nowhere near 'Midsomer Murders' at its best. Compared to the previous episodes of Season 11 it is a superior episode to "Shot at Dawn", which was a 'Midsomer Murders' low-point, but the excellent "Blood Wedding" in particular is much better, the other two "Midsomer Life" and "Left for Dead" were decent despite the latter having a terrible ending.

Starting with its strengths, the production values in "The Magician's Nephew" as always are just great, 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.

It gets off to an effectively creepy start and the concept of a cult was interesting as were some of the characters' names (any fans of opera and Wagner will be nicely surprised). The very end scene with Barnaby and his family dressing up for Halloween was a great touch.

John Nettles and Jason Hughes are both superb, individually and together (their chemistry, and the chemistry with Daniel Casey and John Hopkins before Hughes, being a huge part of their episodes' charm). Can't fault the supporting cast either (although the murderer was forgettable), with the always dependable Ronald Pickup and Stuart Wilson faring particularly strongly.

However, despite an effective start "The Magician's Nephew" was an example of an episode that could have done much more with its concept. It does suffer from far too much padding (something that all three episodes after "Shot at Dawn" and before this avoided), a sluggish pace and having a story that was too thin and under-populated to make up for it.

Suspects are too few and there are red herrings that come out of nowhere and are unresolved. Then there is the ending which is absurd, not quite as much as "Left for Dead" but the murderer was very sketchily developed and forgettably played throughout the episode and the motives didn't ring true. Was expecting more intrigue than the by-the-numbers one here.

Overall, passable but not very satisfying. 5/10 Bethany Cox

A group of Satanists practice the dark arts in the wood. For a small town, there seem to be a lot of them at the site. Anyway, one day a woman is killed when she is in one of those iron maidens. The spikes, however, aren't what killed her; she is rather the victim of frog poison (you know those colorful little blow dart guys from South and Central America. As it turns out there are numerous charlatans around who have their own agendas. There is one young woman who fancies herself a witch, feeling that somewhere there is a secret book that will grant power to anyone who finds it. Or it could kill them. Unfortunately, death comes to some, but it's not a curse. It's something much more humdrum than that. Barnaby and Jones intervene. They get some honest answers from some people who have had enough mumbo-jumbo. Others aren't quite so forthcoming. It's a passable episode but never seems to get to the point.