The Village That Rose from the Dead

Where is the cross keys pub in this episode I expect this is not the real name

This episode kinda reminds me of the old Midsomer days, with all the village people and often times someone gets killed because there is bad blood between family, or friends. The Village That Rose from the Dead takes me back and has the same blood as some of the original episodes, which is really nice and makes it quite enjoyable. It's a different sort of episode, quite an action packed one I found, not a moment's rest and not a moment not drama filled. It's not a fantastic episode, but it certainly is interesting in some way and you certainly won't get bored. The episode is defintely confusing at times, but I think as long as you pay attention and take in all the characters, plus you don't forget about any character or what the point of their role is in the story, you should be really intrigued. The storyline is amazing, well scripted, and well acted and played out. It's like they were saving the storyline for the perfect chance, because it's just so Midsomer. The episode is a great episode that reminds me of some of the earlier episodes of Midsomer Murders, and I just love the 40's combined with the modern day vibe the episode gives off. Great cast, who all play extremely sharp and involved characters, and in particular Sally Phillips and Hugh Dennis stand out. Caroline Blakiston is fabulous, and everyone does a really stand out job. I really enjoyed the episode, the characters and the storyline, maybe not the plot as much, but it was still very entertaining and definitely worth a watch.

This was a great first episode of a new season. Full on mystery with multiple murders and no way of working out who out of the dozen suspects who the murderer might be. A bit hard to follow which characters are who at times and how they relate but that's often how the best Midsomer Murders are. Just watched this now first time since it's debut and could not work out the culprit. Top episode!

Was a chore to get to a strong final third of the episode. Something(s) was definitely missing in the chemistry department. The quality drop-off with the absence of charismatic DS Charlie Nelson (Gwilym Lee) was painfully obvious. He worked well with John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon) and the rivalry subplot he had with Dr. Kam Karimore (Manjinder Virk) continued Midsomer Murders' legacy of strong humor sprinkled in. DS Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix) certainly isn't an instant hit like his predecessor tending to be quite dry. Time will tell if he could pick up the pace. Although with fine supporting actors the story was painfully uninteresting until an unexpected postive turnaround right about the time the snakes were revealed. Kam and Sarah were underutilized. Clever placement of Paddy the terrier. He's following huge footsteps though. Best supporting actors performances were Sylvia Leonard (Caroline Blakiston) who brilliantly handled a demanding dramatic role without overacting, and Fred Messenger (David Burke) strong as the crusty old geezer.

Without any shadow of doubt, this was the best Midsomer Murders offering for many a year. To start with, the story was intelligent and engrossing, it held my attention throughout, it was loaded with suspense, which has been amiss in recent times, and the characters were particularly well drawn.

I particularly loved the scenes at the start, the War time themed party looked fantastic, as did the scenes featuring the snakes, always wondered why they'd never been used as a menace in the show.

How wonderful to have Caroline Blakiston and David Burke have such wonderful parts, two fabulous actors, both in their eighties, giving a masterclass in acting. Nice also to see Sally Phillips and Huw Dennis appear in more serious stuff.

I couldn't get on with Nelson, and I hate to say I was glad to see his character replaced, time will tell if Winter will be a worthy replacement, at least he's in a suit.

If this first episode is anything to go by, bring on Series 19.

9/10