Midsomer Murders – Last Man Out

This series of Midsomer Murders is proving one of the strongest of recent years, and a good run continues with ‘Last Man Out’, a cricket-themed episode that benefits from the return of a fan favourite character and a solid mystery.

A one-day cricket tournament called the C10 is coming to Midsomer, despite the disapproval of former cricketing star Germaine Troughton (Susan Jameson) and her friend St John Beachwood (John Bird). After a successful innings, star player Leo Henderson is found murdered, and Barnaby and Winter are called to the scene. Winter has his suspicions set on the man who found the body, a fellow player called Jack Morris, and can’t understand why Barnaby is shutting him down – the answer is that Morris is in fact his former partner DI Ben Jones (Jason Hughes). What has brought Jones back to Midsomer, and does it have any connection to the murder?

Cricket episodes always feel essentially Midsomer, and ‘Last Man Out’ is no different – cricket feels so ‘county England’ that it just suits the show to a tee (even if, to keen Midsomer fans, the cricket ground is not entirely new). The murders are themed but work well, and the story never feels too outlandish, with the identity of the killer not too obvious or guessable.

‘Last Man Out’ makes the best use of every minute

‘Last Man Out’s biggest attraction is, of course, the return of Jason Hughes – and the good news is that his role is substantial, his investigation and storyline almost challenging Barnaby’s murder inquiry for screen time. Hughes still has great chemistry with Dudgeon as Barnaby (even if they don’t spend that much time together), and he even gets a hint of a romantic story in the midst of his sporting triumphs. It genuinely feels as if he never left, and ‘Last Man Out’ makes the best use of every minute with him – it was an unexpected treat.

However, we also have the typical strong Midsomer supporting cast, with Jameson a highlight – as Jones’ host in Midsomer, she gets to interact with him, but there’s also a subplot linked to a disappearance from her past, allowing her to tread some emotional grounds too. I also wanted to draw attention to the acting of Frances Grey, who is very convincing, even if the script for her character is a little one-note. Even Winter feels a bit more settled in, even if the episode minimises his role in favour of the return of Jones.

It feels grounded and well-constructed, yet still has that identifiably Midsomer flair

There were some issues here. Kam is unconvincing as ever (fortunately, her screen time is diminished), although her superiority seems a bit unearned when she essentially makes up something about carbon dating – I’m not a scientist, and I know how it works. In a scene where Jones demands to confront an important figure face-to-face, the revelation doesn’t work if, like me, the character concerned was too minimal to remember. There were also some issues with motives (the motivation for an attempted murder is so spurious that I almost didn’t buy it), and we’re told something about the murderer that doesn’t square with their eventual identity at all. The mystery is well-constructed, so it feels a shame that one of the clues we were given was a deliberate lie.

Minor faults withstanding, ‘Last Man Out’ is another strong and enjoyable episode of Midsomer, which wisely makes the most of its biggest draw – the return of Ben Jones (and, consequently, Jason Hughes). It feels grounded and well-constructed, yet still has that identifiably Midsomer flair. We’re midway through the series now, and I’m hoping that the rest of the run can live up to the high standard of these first three episodes.