The Incident at Cooper Hill

If you thought last week's offering was slightly on the bizarre side then this one definitely took it up another notch, last week's story was almost a unique episode in the show's history. The Incident at Cooper Hill reminded me a tiny bit about earlier episode 'The Electric Vendetta,' the one with crop circles and UFO sightings etc, but it was different enough. It feels like there's a new writing team at the helm somehow the show feels so different.

I am still a little unsure about Nelson, I feel like they're not doing enough to promote his character enough. Is he the only man in CID that doesn't wear a shirt and tie?

Some great imagery, felt like sci fi comes to the sleepy villages of Midsomer, very different.

It's the toss of a coin if Alison Steadman or Sykes the dog stole the show in this one.

Very different, but strangely engaging. 8/10

What was the strange art hanging on Barnaby's wall in the entry near the stairs? At the end of this show he walks in to a dimly lit house and this drawing of a naked woman is hanging on the wall behind him as he stands there looking around. I find that out of character for the Barnaby's.

"The Incident at Cooper Hill" is an enjoyable episode of the series. However, it's really bizarre and strains the audience's ability to suspend disbelief. After all, the episode is all about what seems to be a dangerous UFO...and it begins with it killing a woman and depositing her into a bag of goo...which is later found in the woods. While many of the locals believe the area has already been visited by aliens, DCI Barnaby is naturally looking for some other possibilities...and eventually he manages to get to the bottom of everything...as he always does in each episode.

The UFO angle is the problem with the episode...some will love it and some will be immediately turned off by it. If you love "The X-Files", you're more likely to enjoy this as it very often feels like one of that series' episodes. Worth seeing but also mega-weird!

I finally gave this one a very concentrated watch, because believe me it needs concentration, especially the last third of it. And I started to realize it's a pretty good mystery except I knew who the ultimate murderer was but never knew really why. Now that I do I still think the worst part about it is the motive of the murderer. So this episode would have gotten a couple more stars if it had a great ending, rather than just a great build up.

This absorbing story starts with a woman driving her car in a wooded area and something in the sky engulfing her with a bright light which comes closer and closer. Terrified, she runs. She lives.

The rest aren't as lucky,

Cooper Hill is known for UFO sightings, and many ufologists hang out there. In fact, Abigal Toney runs tours there.

A forest ranger, Felicity Field, is found dead and wrapped in a black gummy substance. Barnaby investigates and learns that one of the most ardent ufologists, Carter Faulkner, who had a famous UFO sighting that is well documented, had a run-in with Felicity. Also, before she died, she called her father, a captain at a radar station, from whom she is estranged. He says that he did not get a call.

Two more murders wrapped in the gummy substance are found. Could aliens really be responsible? Or is there a more earthbound answer? Barnaby ponders this as well as what Sara is planning to do for his birthday.

This was an excellent episode. The tone of these scripts has changed somewhat, though the past is still a factor. In this case, it's not just human relationships that took place in the past, but the Cold War as well.

The script was written by Paul Logue, who began to write for the show in 2014, as did several other writers. Some of the scripts have been quite good and different. And I love Sykes and the baby.