- Death's Shadow (Midsomer Murders)
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For the novel by Darren Shan, see Death's Shadow (novel).
"Death's Shadow" Midsomer Murders episode Episode no. Season 2
Episode 1Directed by Jeremy Silberston Written by Anthony Horowitz Original air date 20 January 1999 Episode chronology ← Previous
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"Strangler's Wood"List of Midsomer Murders episodes Death's Shadow is the first episode of the second season of Midsomer Murders and the sixth episode overall. It stars John Nettles as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and Daniel Casey as Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy.
Contents
Summary
After the unpopular property developer Richard Bayly is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour, somebody sneaks into his home and swiftly decapitates him with an Indian sword. Initially, the dead man's recent business transactions seem to be the answer to the mystery, but when more gruesome deaths follow, Barnaby and Troy wonder if the real solution could be connected to the accidental hanging of a child three decades ago...
Cast of Characters
Richard Bayly (Dominic Jephcott) - Property developer with major enemies in the village, as a result of his plans for renovating local landmark Tye House.
Ian Eastman (Nick Dunning) - Estate agent with a grudge against Bayly for turning down his offer on Tye House.
Brenda Eastman (Jessica Turner) - Ian's mousy wife.
Agnes Sampson (Vivian Pickles) - Retired headmistress, who once taught Richard. An eccentric, she ardently protested against the development of Tye House.
Claire Williams (Anna Cropper) - Retired postmistress and Agnes's sister.
Reginald Williams (Gordon Gostelow) - Retired postmaster and Claire's husband.
David Whitely (Christopher Villiers) - Builder hoping to buy Tye House from Bayly.
Simon Fletcher (Julian Wadham) - Theatre director and head of a drama class attended by Tom's daughter Cully Barnaby, providing her character with a potential love interest. He is haunted by dark, mysterious memories from his childhood.
Reverend Stephen Wentworth (Richard Briers) - The local vicar, whose jovial veneer hides a tortured soul. He has been left deeply unhappy by his demanding wife Angela's constant meddling in his career.
Angela Wentworth (Judy Parfitt) - Stephen's wife, who greatly resents her husband's lack of ambition and often shows her displeasure through cruel, sarcastic remarks.
Olive Beauvoisin (Eileen Davies) - The local estate agent.
Felix Bryce (Nick Robinson) - The hanged boy.
Filming locations
Death's Shadow was filmed from 29 July to 29 August 1998 in the following villages[1]:
- Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
- Bledlow, Buckinghamshire
- Hyde Lane, Buckinghamshire
- The Lee, Buckinghamshire
- Rotherfield Peppard, Oxfordshire
- Thame, Oxfordshire
- Wallingford, Oxfordshire
Plot Conclusion
- The following section contains plot details.
After the village fete, Barnaby discovers that the three men who were murdered were friends at school 30 years previously. Barnaby finds out that Ian Eastman was the fourth friend, who confesses to Barnaby about an incident that occurred 30 years before: Bayly, David Whitely, Simon Fletcher and Ian Eastman were schoolchildren who had their own secret club, The Sign of Four. A new student, Felix asked if he could join, so they put him through a series of trials to see if he was 'worthy', one of which involved standing on a chair in the woods, alone, with a noose around his neck, but the test backfired disastrously when the chair fell over and Felix hanged. The four children subsequently covered up their involvement, and had to live with their guilt for decades.
At the churchyard, the middle name on Felix's tombstone is Stephen — the vicar's first name. 40 years before the present, Reverend Stephen Wentworth had an affair with teenage postal worker Jennifer Bryce, who bore a son by him, who she named Felix, which means happiness. However, when he was 10, Felix was found hanging in the woods, and everybody believed it was suicide. Jennifer died of grief shortly afterwards, and nobody ever found out Stephen was the father; he and his wife Angela covered up the scandal to save his career. However, upon (mistakenly) hearing he might soon pass away from a brain tumour, Richard Bayly confessed to Stephen what really happened, not knowing or realising Stephen was Felix's father. Furious, Stephen sought revenge against the men who 'murdered' his son, indirectly killing Jennifer Bryce, the only woman he ever loved.
The first indication of his guilt comes during Stephen's memorial service for Bayly, when he claimed that 'he has paid the price, as we must all pay'. Barnaby reveals in the end that he thought it was a curious statement to make, but of course in the Reverend's mind Bayly really had paid the price. After he killed the property developer with his own Indian sword, Stephen climbed back into bed, turned the alarm clock back thirty-five minutes and woke up his wife, asking her the time so she would remember it, providing him with an alibi for the time of the murder. Finally, the vicar's modus operandi also had a distinctly Biblical feel, particularly Old Testament; the sword, the fire he killed Whitely with and the arrow he used on Fletcher during the village fete. Upon being denounced by Barnaby, the vengeful vicar jumps off the church tower while his wife Angela watches from below, horrified.
The Deaths
- Felix Bryce - hangs himself accidentally
- Richard Bayly - beheaded with a sword
- David Whitely - burns to death in his caravan
- Simon Fletcher - shot with an arrow
- Rev. Steven Wentworth - jumps from the church steeple
References
External links
Categories:- Novels by Anthony Horowitz
- 1999 television episodes
- Midsomer Murders
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