Midsomer Murders has been an absolute favourite of mine for so many years. New episodes are never missed, and I have watched every single episode several times. I believe Midsomer Murders is that kind of crime drama that you never get tired of watching. Some episodes are clearly better than others, and the series was at its best during the John Nettles era. The series has clearly been altered after Neil Dudgeon replaced John Nettles in the lead role, but the Neil Dudgeon era has had its good seasons and episodes as well.
"The Killings at Badger's Drift" was the very first episode of Midsomer Murders shown back in 1997. John Nettles is the perfect Tom Barnaby, a character with both humour and thoughtfulness. Jane Waymark plays a character with a heart of gold, a personality that shows both sympathy and thoughtfulness.
A late afternoon in the most beautiful of English villages, a wooden post announcing "Badger's Drift - Midsomer's best kept village", elderly Emily Simpson cycles through the village. She greets various villagers as she passes them. She meets her friend and neighbour, Lucy Bellringer, and talk about their competition concerning a very rare orchid, "spurred coral root". Lucy Bellringer found it seven years ago and Emily Simpson had to buy Lucy Bellringer tea at the Regency Hotel. Now, Emily Simpson wants to even the score, and jokes about Lucy buying her tea this year. She is on her way into the woods to find the spurred coral root and she does so. She finds her camera and photographs it before she marks it with a wooden stake with a red ribbon. Shortly after, she hears a sound in the nearby area, and she realises that someone is having their way right in front of her. She is frightened and runs away, and it seems that she knows the persons concerned. As she comes home, she is calling the helpline and asks for a number in Brighton, but before she can reply which number she wants, it knocks on her door.
"The Killings at Badger's Drift" starts with the brutal murder of Emily Simpson. DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Gavin Troy are called to Beehive Cottage in Badger's Drift where she lived. When her body is discovered, it looks like her death might be an accident, but upon interviewing Lucy Bellringer, Barnaby starts to believe that Emily Simpson was indeed murdered. Lucy informs Barnaby and Troy about her and Emily's competition concerning the spurred coral root. Curiously, Barnaby asks if Miss Simpson would have picked the orchid, but Lucy says the rules were simple. They both had their own camera and wooden stakes, just with different colours on the ribbons, red ribbons for Emily and yellow ribbons for Lucy. Lucy Bellringer is confident in her case that her best friend was murdered, something she tells Barnaby during the interview. She is proved right when the autopsy report proves she was hit over the head.
In "The Killings at Badger's Drift" we meet the mother and son couple Iris and Dennis Rainbird who spy on their fellow residents in Badger's Drift, blackmailing them for different reasons. Henry Trace is about to marry Katherine Lacey, a woman he has cared under his wings alongside her brother Michael, ever since Michael and Katherine's parents died in a car accident when they were children. Trevor and Barbara Lessiter are unfaithful with each other, and Barnaby is told that Henry Trace lost his wife during a shooting accident 26 June 1995. A little while after Emily Simpson's funeral, both Iris and Dennis Rainbird are stabbed to death, and Barnaby starts to wonder if the murder of Emily Simpson, the death of Bella Trace, and the brutal murders of the Rainbirds, are all connected.
As the investigation progresses, the pieces start to fall into place. It is revealed that Katherine Lacey and her brother are having a relationship, something that has been going on for years. The truth is soon brought to light and it turns out that Katherine is the murderer. She killed Bella Trace to marry Henry Trace for the money, murdered Emily Simpson for discovering her and Michael having sex in the woods, and murdered Iris and Dennis Rainbird for blackmailing her and Michael about their relationship, including the rug they used to have sex in the woods, which Dennis found in the quarry.
Elizabeth Spriggs and Richard Cant are both terrific in their roles as the horrible mother and son couple Iris and Dennis Rainbird. Emily Mortimer is amazing, and she leaves a solid and a wonderful interpretation of Katherine Lacey. Jonathan Firth leaves a very good impression as Michael Lacey, even though his character was a way too bland for my taste, and not as open-minded and interesting as his sister Katherine. Rosalie Crutchley plays Lucy Bellringer so wonderfully well and her part is without doubt one of the most colourful and interesting characters. Sadly she passed away in july 1997, four months after "The Killings at Badger's Drift" was shown for the first time in the UK, but I am glad that she managed to take a part of Midsomer Murders when this pilot episode, "The Killings at Badger's Drift was filmed during the months of September-October 1996.
"The Killings at Badger's Drift" is an incredibly well-made episode, and is beautifully photographed with a gorgeously idyllic scenery. The Lee, Little Missenden, and the Holy Trinity Church in Bledlow stand out as my favourite filming locations of this episode as parts of the village of Badger's Drift, but I do have to say that the Black Park Cottage which features as Holly Cottage, and Watlington Park which features as Tye House, are stunning filming locations in this episode as well.
"The Killings at Badger's Drift" is such a wonderful story, with twist and turns and the red herrings are present as well. "The Killings at Badger's Drift" is one of the darkest, complex and compelling stories of all Midsomer Murders episodes, and the murders of the Rainbirds will always be remembered as fare brutal, while the ending and final solution will be remembered as one of the show's most shocking.
"The Killing at Badger's Drift" is a wonderful start to a much-loved series. 10/10 Hossy Christie.
3 out of 3 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink