Murder of Innocence

My frustration with various reviews is the idea that we have to compare John Barnaby to Tom Barnaby, Joyce Barnaby to Sarah Barnaby and investigation styles from one detective to another. Poor Ben, single and available dares to have a girlfriend, and John is suddenly complacent and slow. Ben has lived there for a longer time and knows the people. John is getting his bearings.

Joyce was a stay-at-home mom, Sarah a working professional. Nothing wrong with either. Before the arrival of John, Joyce was criticized as a bit of a 'ditzy' blonde. But she often contributed to the investigations.

This episode is full of red herrings, but woven into an interesting and thoughtful story.

It has to be said that the show has lost something since John Nettles left (there seems to be fewer of John's RSC associates that made for such surreal characters and great storylines) but this is one of the better ones since Neil Dudgeon took over the lead role (having said that, if you know the basic plots for the show then the murderer generally isn't hard to predict. It's a tradition that a Mrs. Barnaby either is involved with the plot or says something profound that leads to the unmasking of the culprit). A good watch, and a good use of the now shorter episodes.

Grady Felton is out of Prison having commited a murder in his youth, the locals are not happy. John has to deal with the case, and has a fitness test on the Horizon.

I'm watching this for the very first time, it has a vintage feel about it, it is a very high quality episode, loaded with twists and turns, it delivers some wonderful suspense and dramatic moments. It's a serious episode, there are a few minor moments of humour, but for the most part it's a straight down the line whodunnit.

I would go so far as to say this has a place in the top twenty episodes of all time, it is particularly good.

Sharon Duce was great I thought, Jamie Michie is terrific as The Barnaby's enthusiastic fitness instructor.

Terrific, 9/10.

This episode has plenty of characters, but basically it boils down to a newly released ex-convict named Grady Felton, who served 18 years for murdering a local, Daniel Denning. The story also revolves around the Gideon family (mother Mandy, sons Will and Kyle) and the wealthier Denning family (father Ted, daughter Deirdre, and long-dead son Daniel). There is also a drug dealer named Fred Burns. In addition, several scenes include Sarah Barnaby's gym coach and Ben Jones' new lover, firefighter Susie Bellingham. The dog Sykes appears in a few scenes, but nothing special (he stole the show in episode 14:6, when poor Barnaby got sick).

I was really surprised by the plot. Lots of twists and turns. Engrossing.

Shallow characterization: From one season to another, Sergeant Ben Jones never seems to become wiser or more reflective. He doesn't grow a cynical skin. He doesn't learn to dig deeper, even after 18 years with the police. As truths became apparent, I would have expected to see Jones engaged in some soul searching, or at least in contemplation, but that didn't happen. Instead we got a silly ending — coppers taking a physical fitness test.

Character growth is a major weakness in the writing throughout this entire series (even the first 13 seasons). For example, one would have expected to see Tom Barnaby's sidekick, young Sergeant Troy, grow and change. He needed to learn how to drive more carefully, and to more thoroughly question suspects (even the straight, the rich, and the beautiful). Alas, no.

Whenever I watch Midsomer, I can rule out the "obvious" suspects with a fair degree of certitude from the start, leaving the not-so- obvious ones to be revealed as the culprit(s) by one of the Barnaby cousins.

"Murder of Innocence" was an amazing exception as from the start any one of the aggrieved suspects could be the guilty ones, depending upon one's perspective and timeline. All credit to Elizabeth-Anne Wheal for her intriguing script which really kept the audience guessing up the final moment...and what a revelation as to the murderer's identity in more ways than one.

I appreciate John Nettle is missed as the original Barnaby, but I like how Neil Dudgeon is coming into his own as Barnaby Mark II, and good to see some back story on Sergeant Jones. It's wonderful to comprehend the full sentences of Barnaby Mark II, as I felt John Nettle's sentences came across as a bit incomplete at times.