"Midsomer Murders" The Dogleg Murders (2009)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Richard Holthouse

Writer:

Andrew Payne (screenplay)

TV Series:

"Midsomer Murders" (1997)

Original Air Date:

19 March 2009 (Season 12, Episode 1)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

On the Midsomer Golfclub Whiteoaks a member is killed with a golfclub. In the course of the investigation they discover Whiteoaks to be full of hatred, gambling, violence, jealousy and extortion.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Suspect | Police | Sergeant | Detective

Cast

John Nettles	...	D.C.I. Barnaby
Jason Hughes	...	DS Ben Jones
Jane Wymark	...	Joyce Barnaby
Barry Jackson	...	Dr Bullard
Kirsty Dillon	...	WPC Gail Stephens
Holly Gilbert	...	Becky Tunstall
Jamie Belman	...	Darren Fountain
Luke Neal	...	Colin Fountain
Maggie Ollerenshaw	...	Eileen Fountain
Nicholas Day	...	Martin Crisp
John Standing	...	Will Tunstall
Rupert Vansittart	...	Alastair Kingslake
Nicholas Le Prevost	...	Jerry Drinkwater
Graham Seed	...	Miles Tully
Hugh Ross	...	Ed Monkberry

Filming Locations:

Chalgrove Manor, Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Quotes:

[Dr Bullard is examining the body of Alistair Kingslake]
Dr Bullard: Beaten to death with a one iron. What a way to go. This hole's famous, you know. I played it once - got a quadruple bogey. It's known as Crisp's Folly.
D.C.I. Barnaby: Crisp's what?
Dr Bullard: Folly. Chap called Crisp lost his house on a bet, playing this hole. Got a ninety-degree dogleg, you see. You take a driver from the tee and you're liable to end in the jungle, but with an iron you might not get a shot at the green.
D.C.I. Barnaby: [sarcastically] Well that's absolutely fascinating, George, but I don't speak golf.

Decent enough Midsomer Murders episode to kick off the twelfth season.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Midsomer Murders: The Dogleg Murders is set in the village of Midsomer Worthy in & around the Whiteoak golf course & starts as four club members tee off for a round. The rude & obnoxious Alastair Kingslake (Rupert Vansittart), the meek Jerry Drinkwater (Nicholas Le Prevost), Miles Tully (Graham Seed) & Ed Monkberry (Hugh Ross) reach the notoriously difficult 13th hole called Crisp's Folly that is basically a 90 degree dogleg, having wandered off into the wooded area beside the green Kingslake is attacked & his own one iron golf club is used to bludgeon him to death. DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) is on the case along with DS Ben Jones (Jason Hughes), they both feel the answer lies within the seemingly respectful Whiteoak golf club despite sightings of a bright blue hoody wearing local fleeing the scene. Soon a story of lies, money lending, extortion, lust & gambling is revealed & it seems people will do just about anything to become a member...

Episode 1 from season 12 this Midsomer Murders mystery directed by Richard Holthouse is a fairly decent way to kick off the twelfth season although it could certainly have been stronger. First off the main thing that sticks out about The Dogleg Murders is that golf is involved a lot, in the sense that it's set at a picturesque golf club & we see lots of people play the thing & even the innocent golf club itself becomes a deadly weapon used to murder. Now some people out there may like golf & find the setting great but personally I hate golf, I hate playing it & watching it although I will admit it does make for a very nice backdrop to the story here. Other Midsomer Murder episodes have also used some form of sporting activity as a basis for their story such as fishing, rowing, school sports day's, horse racing & cricket so sports themed episodes are not new. Besides sport other familiar ideas & themes arise such as jealously, blackmail & of course murder. This one takes a while to get going with the first murder twenty odd minutes into it but I have to say the character's & events kept me watching, the episode then goes along fairly nicely with one more murder before a rather silly conclusion where some really minor & frankly silly motivations are revealed to be behind the sinister goings on at Whiteoak. I mean someone murders two people so a local lower class resident can become a member of a posh golf club? Then there's this bizarre sub-plot concerning a really hot looking young bird who wears this rather fetching pink skirt with her golfing gear that two weird brother's fight over even though she doesn't like either of them. There are also one or two major plot points I didn't buy like the huge coincidence two of Barnaby's close friends were prior members of Whiteoak & knew all about the seedier side of the club & why would a supposedly clever & cunning killer murder someone with a left handed golf club when they were the only member at the club who was left handed & therefore the member to have access to left handed clubs & then to make matters worse they actually leave the bent, blood splattered golf club in their own bag? Also why would the killer wear a bright blue attention attracting hoody & keep it with themselves also in their own golf bag? Also why did they make so much noise that attracted witnesses attention including DS Jones? Couldn't they have tried to be a bit more inconspicuous? I mean they had just murdered someone after all...

The one thing I will say about The Dogleg Murders is that it looks terrific, this is one of the best looking episodes with some fantastic scenery from golfing greens to dense wooded areas to English farming homes to large Coutry Manor homes & the photography is very rich in natural colours like lush grass green & sky blues. I think this is maybe the only Midsomer Murders episode set entirely during the day & I don't think there was a single nighttime scene in the entire episode. The acting is very good as usual with the regulars on good form, minor character WPC Gail Stephens introduced at the end of season eleven is again present here in a small role & I wonder if it's the makers intention to give the character a recurring role as she features in at least the first four episodes of the twelfth season. The delectable Holly Gilbert is the hottie in this although it seems she hasn't acted in anything else of note, I am still trying to decide which looks nicer her or the beautiful scenery on show.

The Dogleg Murders is a good solid if unspectacular start to a new season, the body count is low & there are one or two poor plot points but I liked the setting, the scenery & it's nice to have the character's back. Not a classic episode but not too bad at all.