"Midsomer Murders" Left for Dead (2008)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Renny Rye

Writers:

Michael Crompton (screenplay)
Caroline Graham (characters)

TV Series:

"Midsomer Murders" (1997)

Original Air Date:

8 July 2008 (Season 11, Episode 3)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Near the construction site of a bypass an elderly couple are found dead in their home. Later, the manager...

Plot Keywords:

Sergeant | England | Murder | Police | Rural

Cast

John Nettles	...	DCI Tom Barnaby
Jason Hughes	...	DS Ben Jones
Jane Wymark	...	Joyce Barnaby
Barry Jackson	...	Dr Bullard
Maggie Steed	...	Lynne Fox
Harry Peacock	...	Patrick
Albert Welling	...	Ron Wilson
Indra Ové	...	Charlotte Knight (as Indra Ove)
Marion Bailey	...	Alyssa Bradley
Ben Crompton	...	Spud
Matthew Flynn	...	Jack Purdy
Shaun Dooley	...	Mark Purdy
Kate Miles	...	Louise
Nia Roberts	...	Stacey Purdy
Kirsty Dillon	...	WPC Gail Stephens

Filming Locations:

Six Bells pub, Warborough, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Bentley Productions

Quotes:

DCI Tom Barnaby: I want you to do it - be best man.
DS Ben Jones: [ironically] "Before I toast the bridemaids, I'd like to arrest the bride and groom."
DCI Tom Barnaby: If that's what it takes.

Two thrids great, one third pants.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Midsomer Murders: Left for Dead starts in the small Midsomer village of Dunstan where local campaigner Lynne Fox (Maggie Steed) is going door to door asking local residents to sign her petition opposing the demolishing of a nearby cottage & the building of a motorway bypass in it's place. Lynne knocks on the door of Ron (Albert Welling) & Libby Wilson, after no-one answers the door she peers in through the window & sees Ron lying dead at the foot of his stairs. The police are called & Libby is also found dead int he house, with a possible double murder DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & DS Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) begin to investigate. Living like recluses for the past twenty years ever since their young son Michael was killed Barnaby & Jones are finding it difficult to come up with any suspects let alone a motive. Then a day or so later hated local businessman Jack Purdy (Matthew Flynn) is found stabbed to death, baffled Barnaby feels everything seems to point back to Michael's death twenty years ago...

Episode 4 from season 11 (not episode 3 as the IMDb would have you believe) this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Renny Rye & the first two thirds of Left for Dead are excellent while unfortunately the last third is really poor & pretty much ruins the episode. The script by Michael Crompton actually reminded of the earlier Midsomer Murders episodes where some dark secret or terrible tragedy from the past becomes a motive for vengeful murder during the present, I loved those older episode which were full of eccentric character's, bizarre motives & great murders & for a while Left for Dead felt very much like one of those as it becomes clear the whole murder mystery is linked to the seemingly unconnected death of a young boy twenty years prior & then the mysterious disappearance of a young boy a year after that as dark secrets rear their ugly head. There's a great pace about this one, there's two dead bodies found before the opening credits, then another murder before the twenty minute mark after that there's more murder, attempted murder & a subplot about environmentalists protesting against the building of a motorway bypass which is actually quite a hot topic here in the UK at the moment as a lot of our natural woods & fields come under threat from the bulldozers. Unfortunately as I have said the final third ruins everything with a completely ridiculous twist ending which feels like it came from some cheap 70's British horror film like The Beast in the Cellar (1970), in fact a Midsomer Murders remake of The Beast in the Cellar is quite a good description of Left for Dead! Why the did the killer remember certain things like who held his head under water & the death of Michael twenty odd years ago yet he couldn't even remember his own name? It just didn't feel right, it felt off & silly & if I am honest a little bit ridiculous. Such a shame since the episode was going so well to that point.

Rather oddly a fair amount of Left for Dead revolves around a wedding which I say is odd because Left for Dead is now the second episode of the eleventh season to feature a wedding & since Blood Wedding (2008) actually had two weddings in it Left for Dead features the third prominent wedding storyline of the season after only a handful during the previous ten seasons. Maybe that's why they switched Midsomer Life (2008) & Left for Dead around as the company didn't want to air Left for Dead which features a wedding so soon after Blood Wedding which features two weddings! This episode looks nice enough as usual but it's not the best looking one ever, the locations do seem a little bit forgettable & bland. There are two murders, both stabbing & both off screen although there are another two death's as well. The acting is alright but the guy who plays the deformed killer at the end is terrible, I am sorry but I just thought he came across as rather embarrassing & thus helped ruin the episode as a whole although the poor script didn't help any either.

Left for Dead was excellent for a hour or so & reminded me of the earlier episodes but then it all falls apart with a twist ending that doesn't make a whole lot of logical sense, feels like the rejected twist ending to a cheap horror film & ruins the excellent build up & mystery elements of the episode to that point. This could have been brilliant, as it is it's no more than average.