The other thing reviewers are complaining about the new DCI Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon), is how he treats Jones. Were none of these people actually watching the earlier episodes with Tom Barnaby? He blatantly treated Jones and all of his previous assistant detectives like lowly servants. He even made one put their coat down over a puddle so he could step on it. Anything physical or potentially difficult or dangerous, Tom would send the poor detective in to do it first. He was quite smug about it. It was pretty obvious, so much so that I started to think it must be a running gag.

I don't understand why they would let the young lady go and live in said crime scene. But, whatever. After reading a letter from his beloved fiancé Louise, telling him that she had ended up marrying another man, David set off killing all the young women who in his eyes had sinned by having affairs or marrying the wrong way. Firstly, he went for Dianne Price. As she was a student of his, she trusted him and let him into her house. He waited behind the bathroom door for her to come in, and strangled her with a ribbon because she had been sinning with a man in the village before marriage. He then stripped her, dressed her in a bridal gown made of a net curtain, and dumped her in the bath.From the pilot episode in 1997 until 2 February 2011 the lead character, DCI Tom Barnaby, was portrayed by John Nettles OBE. And there you have it. The good parts: Sykes, the dog. I like Sarah. Jones always gets a plus for me. There are some eerie moments here and there (agreed, that the scene, where the killer whistles "Bridal Chorus", was effective) and there are some interesting ideas about trying to examine why people commit murders.

While I don't have much use for people who constantly complain about "political correctness", I have to agree that Midsomer Murders producers can't seem to find a noble or honorable Christian, "to save their soul". Here the practicing Christian actually turns out to be the serial killer. Adam Asoba is found murdered, having been boiled to death in one of the vats at the newly opened brewery of the famously cursed abbey in Midsomer. Dr. Fleur Perkins, a new pathologist, tells Barnaby and Winter that Adam Asoba was living under a false name, and that he actually died three years earlier, under the name Adam Dumont. Adam’s widower, Kwame Asante, turns up at Adam’s house admitting the truth. It seems that he and Adam had big debts, and the only solution for them was for Adam to fake his death so that Kwame could start a new life by collecting a life insurance. The first murder seems to be the end of it, but when Emani Taylor, the woman responsible for the new brewery, is also murdered, Barnaby and Winter must look deeper to find the killer. Simon Bright is found dead in a vintage car at a disused airfield in Cooper's Cross. The previous evening, he had been on a romantic date with his girlfriend Laura Sharp, who is nowhere to be found. Barnaby and Jones, newly promoted to DS, need to work out whether it was a suicide pact gone wrong, or murder, and to find Laura. Their investigation reveals that the couple had met at Elaine Trim's dancing classes in Morton Fendle. The two attend a 1940s-style dance night at the village hall, before another man is found stabbed and more secrets come to light. There is a fierce rivalry between traditional and digital photographers in the village of Luxton Deeping. When the photographic society's committee decides not to accept digital images at the annual photographic exhibition, matters take an ugly turn and there is a confrontation. The following day, photographer Lionel Bell is found murdered in woodland, strangled with the cord of his light meter. As the detectives begin to investigate, evidence seems to implicate Barnaby in the murder and he is taken off the case. He is replaced by DI Martin Spellman, a colleague disliked by Tom, who appears more interested in his upcoming wedding than the case. When another photographer is murdered, Barnaby continues his investigation unofficially to discover who is framing him and bring the guilty party to justice.The Wild West Society bring their show to Ford Florey, comprising a fairground, and several re-enactments of scenes from American frontier history. Amidst the sound of gunfire, the witch on the 'Dunk the Witch' stall is shot dead. Barnaby and Jones look at possible motives, which seem to revolve around the disputed ownership of an area of local land. The investigation encounters family rivalries and a recurring Wild West theme before the killer can be caught. Of the performances/characters, the scene stealer is Sykes, one of the cutest dogs on television and so endearing and funny. Ron Cook and Sarah Smart give the best performances of the human cast, and there is a very eerie moment in the build-up to the climax with the murderer whistling 'Lohengrin's "Bridal Chorus", that tune that has never been more chillingly ironic, unfortunately that is the one atmospheric moment in the whole episode there is. When the archaeologists working on the dig in Midsomer Cicely unearth Cicely herself, this causes celebration. But shortly afterwards, the leader of the dig is murdered and found in one of the excavated trenches. DCI Barnaby and DS Nelson soon uncover many misdeeds in the village, and almost everyone has a skeleton in the closet that they would rather keep hidden. The truth will resurface but not before more murders take place. The launch of the latest sparkling wine, which is produced by the Carnarvon Estate Winery in Midsomer Vinae, loses all its fizz when wine critic Nadia Simons gives it a very harsh review. Moments later, guests who had been sampling the vintage start collapsing. Owner William Carnarvon suspects the Farmers' Wives' Association of trying to destroy his business. Kate Wilding tells Barnaby and Nelson that the glasses had been laced with slug poison. There are many suspects and motives and the detectives set out to piece the puzzle together. John Ransom gets thrown out of the village pub in Midsomer Mere for fighting with his brother-in-law, and a short while later he is found dead on the green. It is discovered that John had been used as a guinea pig for scientific experiments by his brother Max, who suspected he had the ability of 'Second Sight'. Barnaby and Scott soon discover that another family possesses the same talent. They have to delve deeper to unravel many secrets in the village to find the truth.