Midsomer Murders: Blood Will Out

Tonight's film was just a television episode, one of many in a still-continuing series, Midsomer Murders, based on characters created by Caroline Graham. She initially wrote 5 books about Inspector Barnaby, at which time the television series began; since then only two more books have been published, but of course there have been many more television episodes. Blood Will Out was the final episode in the second season.

Interestingly for me, since I'd just watched Into the West a few days ago, was that the plot seemed to center around the arrival of a band of Travellers into one of the villages for which Inspector Barnaby is responsible. The villagers have varying reactions to the Travellers, but many of them believe (not necessarily wrongly) that thefts will increase. Of course there is a murder and a large number of red herrings before it is solved. In discussing murder mysteries I try not to include spoilers, so I won't say much more about that.

The continuing characters are engaging, with Inspector Barnaby's wife and daughter figuring fairly largely in each episode. In this one they have enlisted the help of his Sergeant, Gavin Troy, to keep him on a diet (it sounds like that Detox Diet that some people I know have been on recently). They, as well as Troy, provide some comic relief. In the books, Sgt. Troy is not quite as nice a character as he is in the television show, although in both cases he respects and admires Barnaby.

The scenery in Midsomer Murders is always so beautiful that it's hardly credible -- lovely villages, stately homes, ancient churches, sweeping meadows and lush woodlands. That's just one of the aspects that makes an episode from this series a nice break from more serious films.