Midsomer Murders – Crime and Punishment

When I saw the title of this episode of Midsomer Murders, I doubt that I was alone in imagining references to Dostoevsky and his classic novel. But, despite a potential thematic link, ‘Crime and Punishment’ actually offers a portrait of a small town run by control freaks, serving up a solid piece of TV, although it does fall short of great.

After years of lawlessness, the small village of Bleakridge set up its own watch, under the eye of the controlling Ingrid Lockston (Frances Barber), which began exposing anyone who stepped outside the law. On a routine patrol, one of the watch members is found murdered, bludgeoned to death. Barnaby and Winter head to the village and investigate the watch, asking whether the murder is linked to power dynamics and control within the group. Its popularity is declining in the village, notably with pub landlord Mitch McAllister (Neil Morrissey), but would the villagers resort to murder to deal with the watch. The murder victim was investigating a recent spate of burglaries – was he killed by the burglar, or is there a connection to a historical crime in Bleakridge’s past?

I greatly enjoyed this episode, and I particularly enjoyed the premise of an overzealous neighbourhood watch (described as ‘the rural Stasi’ by Barnaby in a nice line). Their power did somewhat stretch credibility, and I found their lack of knowledge given their supposed reach to be a story issue, but this is Midsomer – if you’re looking for lots of realism, you’re probably watching the wrong show. Although it has the sense of fun that older instalments managed to convey, it’s quite a down-to-earth episode too – nothing feels as daft as some of the show’s notorious murders can.

It’s fairly easy to figure out who the killer is near the end

There are a lot of characters in ‘Crime and Punishment’, but only a couple take centre-stage. Barber excels as the domineering Ingrid Lockston, who wants to exert control over Bleakridge and who is perhaps driven more by anger and vengeance than justice. I also enjoyed the repartee between McAllister and his partner Lena Ferrera (Katy Cavanagh), who arguably contributes the ‘punishment’ aspect of the title (if you’re feeling particularly naughty). There’s also a nice relationship between doctor Duncan Walton (Philip Bird) and his wife Barbara (Vicki Pepperdine), even if I didn’t quite buy the former’s dark secret.

The only issue with too few characters is that, when we learn about their various secrets, it essentially knocks them out of the running as murder suspects – it’s fairly easy to figure out who the killer is near the end because they’re the only person left who doesn’t have a guilty secret yet. I enjoyed Clive Swift and Marty Cruikshank in very minor roles as eccentric neighbourhood watch members, but it would’ve been nice to see a lot more of them, particularly given Swift’s record as a comic actor.

I’m not going to be unhappy if we can keep seeing episodes of this quality

What I could have done without is more of the Winter-Kam stuff – Nick Hendrix seems to be finding his feet a bit more in this episode, but if his personality is going to be centred solely around a previous relationship with Kam, it’s not going to pay off particularly well. Her sole character trait at the moment is being wonderful at everything and, coupled with Virk’s not-that good acting, it makes her a bit of a drain. I know that this new Barnaby has gone through more than a few pathologists in his time, but hopefully we’ll see an improvement in the current one or a rapid shift to a new one.

‘Cirme and Punishment’ is a solid if not-overly exciting episode of Midsomer Murders, benefitting as always from a great guest cast and an intriguing premise. If anything, it suffers from trying to do a bit too much, and underserving some of its characters and plot threads in the process. But still, in its nineteenth season, I’m not going to be unhappy if we can keep seeing episodes of this quality, despite their faults.