If you know me, you know that I’m a huge Midsomer Murders fan. Since 2015, I’ve been blogging every new episode in the show for this very paper, and I’m always keen to sing its praise. I do admit, however, that the show’s quality is incredibly variable, and that each episode of Midsomer may be a dud just as easily as a classic. This was less so in the series’ classic days, with many favourite episodes coming from the earlier series. And that’s where you’ll find an instalment that, to my mind, is the pinnacle of the show – series four’s ‘Destroying Angel’. Outside, Suzanna tells Barnaby and Troy that Tristan also received a death threat. She denies that she or Julia received one. Gregory and Tristan threw the threats away. A drugged Julia comes out and says she can't do the Tombola at the fete. Barnaby doesn't believe that Suzanna and Julia did not receive death threats. Tyson drives up and tells Barnaby that he needs to release Annie from jail. "She'll go loopy in there." He calls Suzanna a "double crossing swine." Barnaby is going to release Annie. She couldn't have delivered the mushrooms since she was in jail. On the road, someone puts down a piece of wood with nails in it across it. Clarice and Evelyn drive over it and their tires are punctured. They manage to wind up in a field. It was a deliberate attempt to kills Clarice and Evelyn. Barnaby asks to see the polaroid of the mushroom. Clarice tells him that Gregory used to try to teach her about the mushrooms. Guilt-Ridden Accomplice: Julia Gooders, who confesses to everything after all the other conspirators are dead.

It also boasts the customary comic subplot involving mushroom expert Colin Slater (Roger Frost) and his unusual relationship with his housekeeper, but it’s well integrated into the plot – Colin is a comic character who contributes a lot. And that’s really the key to what makes ‘Destroying Angel’ work – not a scene is wasted, or fails to add something to the mystery. On a rewatch, I’m impressed with quite how clever it is. Not just in the way the mystery resolves – this is perhaps one of the more involved cases in the show’s history, but still possible to work out and understand – but in the way it subtly introduces key players and clues without making a big deal of them. The show got less good at this over time (the only exception is ‘Murder of Innocence’, featuring one of the best rug-pulls in Midsomer history), but ‘Destroying Angel’ gets it perfect. Kudos to David Hoskins in his first script for the series.

If we talk about the characters, the killer here, in my opinion, is one of the most pleasant and evoking sympathy and understanding in the show. I don't agree that you can't sympathize with a man who has killed so many people, in my opinion, all these people are there and the road. Clarisse is a rather strange character, while Susannah, Tristan, and the gooders Are some of the show's most repulsive characters. Destroying Angel" is the second episode of the fourth series of Midsomer Murders and the fifteenth episode overall. It stars John Nettles as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and Daniel Casey as Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy. The story, over the top and elaborate but appropriately and wonderfully so and with a high body count, is hugely compelling, and never simplistic and never losing any of the maturity of the previous episodes. There is a lot going on mostly without being cluttered or rushed, and that nothing is what it seems, or very few people are who they seem adds to the complexity, while there are no out of kilter scenes. The twists, red herrings and turns keep coming, and rarely in an obvious or press-the-rewind button. The characters are colourful.

Destroying Angel" continues the high standard set by "Garden of Death". This is a True Midsomer classic, along with episodes of " Death's Shadow "or" Written in Blood", but in this case, this classic is also" seasoned " with mushrooms, so to speak. Kenneth shows Barnaby and Troy a room at the hotel to work in. Kenneth tells Barnaby the results of the will. "Mr. Wainwright was childless and wanted to pass the hotel onto the people who made it a success." Suzanna is the manager, Julia does the books, Tristan is the chef and Gregory helped out generally. Suzanna will inherit Gregory's share of the estate. She said that she grew up with four red setters and a Labrador. She and DS Jamie Winter develop romantic feelings towards one another. At the end of series 19 she has taken a job in Montreal. [5] Dr. Fleur Perkins [ edit ] Clare Holman played Sue Tutt in "Ring Out Your Dead" (2002), Rose Southerly in "Country Matters" (2006) and Fiona Beauvoisin in "The Miniature Murders" (2019). In "Murder Of Innocence", it is revealed that Jones is in a relationship with firefighter Susie Bellingham. In the series 16 opener, "The Christmas Haunting", it is revealed that Jones has been promoted to Inspector and transferred to Brighton. A photo of Jones (alongside Kate Wilding, who also moved to Brighton) is shown in the series 18 opener "Habeas Corpus". DI Jones made a further appearance in episode 3 of series 19 "Last Man Out", in an undercover role - erroneously still listed in the credits as DS Ben Jones. In the end, he left Causton CID after a mini farewell party at John and Sarah Barnaby’s home at the end of episode 6 of series 15, "Schooled in Murder".Neil Dudgeon, Chief Inspector John Barnaby, appeared for the first time as Daniel Bolt [7] a character in the episode "Garden of Death" (2000). Kevin McNally appeared as Orville Tudway in "Blood Will Out" (1999) and as Gerald Farquaharson in "The Noble Art" (2010). Destroying Angel" is not quite one of the very finest 'Midsomer Murders' episodes, but very frequently it comes very close to being. It is one of Season 4's best episodes easily, and much better than "Garden of Death" and especially one of the show's strangest episodes "The Electric Vendetta". At the reading of the will, Kenneth Gooders decides to start even though Gregory Chambers has not arrived. The story of "Destroying Angel" is one of "Midsomer Murders" most compelling. Clever twists and turns keep coming and coming, the characters are well-written. I agree: David Hoskins's research and effort leaps from the script. The body count is also very high here and the murders are committed in brutal manners. The puppet show aspect of "Destroying Angel" is fun, but suitable chilling at times.