Murder of Innocence

This episode with the new DCI John Barnaby has a lot of trash in it. Neil Dudgeon plays John Barnaby is much different than the former one. He is arrogant, confident, smart, focused on himself and his self centered wife who goes to the gym, practices yoga and runs. She takes up to much of the episodes from here on. Plus there is too much kissing.

It kind of reminds me of Inspector Morse always with a glass of ale, enough is enough.

In this episode DC Jones goes to bed with a female firewoman. This never happened in the other episodes with the other characters Troy or Barnaby. They were decent family people. The writers are really trashing this series with Neil Dudgeon, maybe that is why John Nettles.

This episode is about a man named Grady that goes to jail for killing a young friend. All the kids and adults are connected in this small village. Then Grady the killer is released from jail many years later and treated terrible by the inhabitants of the town he goes back to where the killing took place.

There are a lot of characters, a lot of murders and very violent -- sometimes confusing who is who. It has a surprise ending and some of it is so unbelievable like what happened to Grady in jail.

Neil Dudgeon is a good actor, Jason Hughes is a good actor too but, he acts too tough like a wise guy. I am happy the series continued but I do not like the new style or some of the tacky language.

The series before these with John Nettles as Barnaby was much better.

I found this a particularly good episode, with lots of surprises along the way.

A teen named Grady Felton went to prison for killing Daniel Denning in 1994. Felton was from the wrong side of the tracks; the Dennings were landowners. Daniel apparently caught Grady poaching and Grady killed him.

Well, Grady is out of prison now and back in Binwell -- with a hit list, which includes Jones as well as the barristers who prosecuted him. And the people on the list start dying.

Then the pathologist discovers something interesting, and finally, Barnaby is able to solve the murders.

The script attempted, I think successfully, to humanize the new Barnaby more, as he prepares for a fitness test. Jones has a girlfriend who's a fireperson.

A lot was packed into this episode but it was a good story. I haven't watched Midsomer Murders in a while, but I'm back to it now. I'm looking forward to more like this.

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.

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.

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.