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Midsomer Murders: Written in Blood starts in 'Darrow, Southern Ireland 1955' where a young boy named Liam (Jay Barrymore) blows his father (Murray Ewan) away with a double barrelled shotgun, it's an event which will have unforeseen consequences over 40 years later... Cut to 1998 & successful author Max Jennings (John Shrapnel) has been asked to speak at the Midsomer Worthy Writer's Circle monthly gathering, at first he isn't interested but he changes his mind when he notices the name Gerald Hadleigh (Robert Swann) as a member. Gerald is uneasy about Max's visit & confides in his friend Amy (Joanna David) that he is afraid & that Max should not be left alone with himself for any reason, the meeting appears to go well but the next morning Gerald is found dead, naked in his bedroom with his face & head smashed in with a candlestick. DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & Sgt. Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey) are on the case, their prime suspect is Max Jennings but when he turns up poisoned they have to look elsewhere...Episode 2 from season 1, although it was broadcast almost a year later to the day after the original pilot The Killings at Badger's Drift, this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Jeremy Silberston & is another top mystery set in rural England. The script by Anthony Horowitz was based on the novel of the same name by Caroline Graham & like the best stories from this show it has that dark edge to it, it has a slightly disturbed outcome which involves child abuse, murder, transvestites, deceit, blackmail & taking family love just too far. I liked how the two murders in this episode seem linked but at the end turn out to be nothing of the sort & just a coincidence that two people who knew each other were killed in a short space of time while the script manages to convince you they are connected, there's not many suspects in this one as it's mostly story driven with the sinister events & motives surrounding the murders taking center stage rather than the script trying to implicate as many people for the killings as possible. As usual the clues are there so you'll have to pay attention to get the most out of it & totally understand it. There's a bit of humour in this episode too as Barnaby suffers from an allergic reaction to a cat his wife makes him sleep with. I suppose if you think about it long enough you could come up with a few holes here & there but for the most part it works very well & is a very satisfying mystery with a definite dark tone to it. I have to say though what happened to poor Brian Clapper because we never find out how things turn out for him & his 'problem' as he was dropped from the story just when he was becoming interesting.This looks very good with plenty of English countryside on show as well as a few stately homes, this has a nice rural feel to it just as it should. I'm very glad to see they have dropped the opening credits & those awful watercolour style paintings used as backgrounds for them. Both murders happen off screen in this one. At almost two hours it takes it's time but it's engaging, absorbing & pretty intriguing. The acting is good from a good cast.Written in Blood, you know there's an episode from season 6 called Painted in Blood & I was wondering if they make a new series perhaps they'll call one Crayoned in Blood or maybe even Sketched in Blood, is a great episode for all you armchair sleuth's out there. Definitely well worth a watch if murder mysteries are your thing.
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