The Incident at Cooper Hill

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.

When in its prime (a vast majority of Seasons 1-9), 'Midsomer Murders' was a great show and one that is watched and re-watched frequently. Seasons 10-13 became more uneven, with three of the show's worst episodes coming from Seasons 11 and 13, but there were a few solid episodes and "Blood Wedding" and especially "Master Class" were gems.

After John Nettles retired and Neil Dudgeon and the new character of John Barnaby took over, 'Midsomer Murders' just hasn't been the same on the most part. Season 14 was a disappointment outside of "The Oblong Murders" and "A Sacred Trust", with "Echoes of the Dead" and "The Night of the Stag" being show low-points. Season 15 was inconsistent, being a case of starting promisingly and then took a three-episodes-in-a-row strange turn with "Written in the Stars" before finishing on a good note. Season 16 was mostly good, especially "Wild Harvest", with the only disappointment being "Let Us Prey". Season 17 was a mixed, with the first two episodes being watchable but uneven and the other two, particularly "A Vintage Murder", faring better.

"The Incident at Cooper Hill" continues the eighteenth season, which started off with the dull and bizarre "Habeas Corpus". On my first watch, it came across as a pretty dire episode and one of the episodes personally enjoyed least. On re-watch, "The Incident at Cooper Hill" fares better, and does fare better than the over-stuffed, underdeveloped, dull and strange "The Electric Vendetta" (the first bad 'Midsomer Murders', though still suffering from a couple of similar problems.

There is a good deal to like still certainly. The production values cannot be faulted as usual. It's beautifully and atmospherically shot with suitably picturesque scenery. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the haunting theme tune is one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre.

Most of the acting is good. Gwilym Lee's Nelson is likable and charismatic, Betty is adorable and Sykes steals every scene he's in though Season 18 got to a stage where he was deserving of fresher material (though faring better than in "Habeas Corpus"). Fiona Dolman has been growing on me since her and Barnaby's relationship was made more interesting. Alison Steadman and Pip Torrens are the standouts of the supporting cast.

On the other hand, Neil Dudgeon is both pretty wooden and sleepwalks through his role, and Kam not only has much less appeal than Kate she is also a very cold fish with a condescending air, very difficult to warm to.

Like "Habeas Corpus" (and "The Electric Vendetta"), the story is weak often. The alien sightings do threaten to take over the mystery, which feels padded with some parts not given the development needed and also outlandish, with the whole link with the murders and alien sightings improbable and not adequately explained. Parts are also a bit confused and the ending feels on the rushed side with cramming to cram in too much in a short space of time. Tonally, it feels on the heavy side and also gets a bit silly.

In summary, nowhere near as bad as remembered but it's a change of pace that doesn't come off. 5/10 Bethany Cox

A truly fabulous story. So interesting I had to keep watching to see where the story went in it's winding path. I find it hard though to give Neil Dudgeon episodes 10* ratings he's so stiff compared to John Nettles. Excellent in and out characters. Group Captain Jeremy Ford (Pip Torrens) reminded me of Graham Chapman's crusty military brass he played in "Monty Python's Flying Circus". Mum's boy Nathan (Steve Oraman) is so off the rails. We're to believe beautiful mechanic Orla Campbell (Tanya Fear) can put together part by part a flying machine she's scooting around the sky in. Brilliantly outrageous plot twist keeping up with MM's history of zaniness. I particularly enjoyed Carter Faulkner (Steve Evets) as the nutty UFO zealot who's given his life to the pursuit. Dr. Kam Karimore (Manjinder Virk) is blending in just fine and a strong addition to the cast. The reviewer who listed all the inconsistencies, and breaches of logic hit a home run. But, Brit mysteries are all full of them (yes, not to this extent).

"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.