Midsomer Murders – A Vintage Murder

Now that’s more like it. It may have taken until the final episode for this seventeenth series of Midsomer Murders to hit its stride, but it goes out on a definite high. ‘A Vintage Murder’ is the standout in this run, offering a solid mystery backed up with strong performances and a genuinely poignant conclusion.

In Midsomer Vinae, it’s the launch of William Carnarvon’s (Mark Bonnar) new wine, but things do go according to plan. Notorious critic Nadia Simons (Naoko Mori) gives the wine a scathing review, and then several guests collapse, poisoned. Kate tells Barnaby that some of the wine was laced with slug pellets, and his investigation leads him to a local vineyard opposition group and an old hit-and-run case that killed a young child. Simons was a prime suspect in the death but, when she is found murdered the next day, Barnaby must find out the truth behind the secrets that haunt the village and the vineyard at its heart.

I complained that ‘The Ballad of Midsomer County’ last week was far too obvious a puzzle, and ‘A Vintage Murder’ rectifies that completely – I really didn’t work out who’d done it (in part because there’s a lot going on, although never to a distracting degree), but it still felt fair and justified. I like elaborate murders when  I watch the show, but they are often poorly done and don’t make much sense as a result – not so here, however. The conclusion of this episode was really rather sad too and, for all of Midsomer’s frequent hamminess, ‘A Vintage Murder’ proves that there are serious dramatic chops here as well.

Series 17 of Midsomer goes out on a high

In ‘A Vintage Murder’, we conclude with the best guest cast of the run, in which everybody gets something to do. The always-brilliant Mark Bonnar shines as Carnarvon, the vintner who is being driven to the point of madness by his obsession, and he shares a good rapport with his wife Diana, played by Ruth Gemmell. The third wheel in this equation is Louis Paynton (Lloyd Owen), a hotelier who is interested in Diana and will go to great lengths to get what he wants. Owen plays him with just the right mix of sliminess and civility – he’s the kind of enjoyable buy unpleasant character you can only find in an episode of Midsomer. It’s also worth singing the praises of Rosie Cavaliero as Judy Tyler, the mother of the young hit-and-run victim, who is great in what could be a very cliched role.

The episode takes care to develop the Nelson and Kate partnership, with Kate’s concern that they are friends stuck in a huge rut feeling really genuine. This is a dynamic that’s only been hinted at in past episodes, and it would have been nice to see more of it – maybe next series, I suppose. Kate hints that Charlie should ask out PC Carolyn Florrie (Jaye Jacobs), a policewoman who helps him investigate the hit-and-run – theirs is a nice little thing but, having seen this show before, I know that she’ll be gone next episode anyway. With all the Nelson work, it’s Barnaby who loses out most in ‘A Vintage Murder’ – his wife brings in an uber-competent babysitter who essentially replaces him, but this story doesn’t land anywhere near as well as the writers seem to hope.

Series 17 of Midsomer goes out on a high, proving that the show still has what it takes to deliver gripping and must-watch TV. Whenever the show starts again, if it can deliver more episodes like ‘A Vintage Murder’, there’s no reason it shouldn’t run for years and remain essential viewing.