Midsomer Murders – Set
Five (First Telefilms)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Telefilms: B-
I have to admit, though some of the British Mystery
Telefilms series that have surfaced since the 1990s have been constant
disappointments, all seeming one too many generations down from their British
Film, Television and Literary heritage.
Though it eventually collapses into its own formula, Midsomer Murders
is one of the better of the cycle. Two
detectives (John Nettles and Daniel Casey) have to figure out the murders and
even if it is not up to the past best such shows, at least the series has the
guts to represent the actual murders as they happen, something too many
counterparts gave up on years ago. Seeing
the crime gives the mystery an edge, especially here.
Though this is Set Five, it turns out that this is
actually a set of the earliest productions, not originally seen in the United
States for whatever reason when first issued in 1997, despite A&E being a
co-producer of the show. Perhaps they
were testing the show to see what would work.
With that said, the five telefilms are as follows:
1)
The Killings At Badger’s Drift (with
guest star Julian Glover)
2)
Written In Blood (with
guest star Anna Massey)
3)
Death Of A Hollow Man
4)
Faithful Unto Death
5)
Death In Disguise
Nettles and Casey are convincing as investigators Barnaby
& Troy, while the acting has some sense of naturalism and humor in it
throughout the whole cast that shows a better sense of how such British fare
works to begin with. Unfortunately, at
least in these initial shows, the results are mixed. Whenever the shows get really good, convention kicks in. When it is going to be a good mystery, the
“police procedural” tendency kicks in and undermines things. I will add that it has nothing to do with
the detective’s police authority.
Nevertheless, it makes for fun viewing, though the “holy grail” of
British TV mystery has yet to be uncovered for this generation. The cases have solutions and construction
better than what TV has offered in the last few decades, so maybe we are on the
verge of something interesting here.
We’ll look at other sets soon, but I am happy to have started here.
Anthony Horowitz’s adaptations are not bad, fairing even
better than the series he created, Foyle’s War (reviewed elsewhere on
this site) since he does not have to juggle, then somewhat trivialize and/or
reduce a major piece of history like World War II. Douglas Watkinson is the other additional writer, also faring well. Graham even adapts one of her own works. Jeremy Silberston and Baz Taylor bring the
films to life with more life than the usual “quality” British TV. The result is that Midsomer Murders
finds itself somewhere between that and daring British classics like The
Avengers or any of the Sir Lew Grade action series. Its hit status makes sense on that basis
alone.
The image on all five telefilms are letterboxed at 1.66 X
1, as if to indicate that the producers were unsure of where digital High
Definition was going at the time.
Unfortunately, though you can have a DVD with anamorphic enhancement at
that aspect ratio, this set is not, despite the fine quality of the materials
used. Cinematographers Graham Frake,
Chris O’Dell and Nigel Walters make this look much more cinematic than like TV,
if not with the kind of more cinematic form the genre is known for. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo fares better
with healthy Pro Logic-type surrounds.
Jim Parker’s score is better than what we usually get in this cycle of
series, somehow managing to be modern and a classic example of the genre at the
same time. His use of the theremin is
especially interesting in this context.
This is some of the best British TV music in years. Extras include cast filmographies on all
five DVDs and a map of Midsomer itself, while DVD 1 has production notes and
bio of creator Caroline Graham. That is
good enough, though you can never have enough extras. Maybe a CD soundtrack of Parker’s score later would be a good
idea.
- Nicholas Sheffo
