Midsomer Murders: Season 1

1997 · 5 episodes · ★ 7.4

Series 1

What Season 1 of Midsomer Murders

The first season opens in Badger's Drift, a village in Midsomer, a fictional county in England whose capital is Causton. Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, played by John Nettles, arrives in each locality to find out who is behind a series of deaths and what their motive is. The conflicts shift from one episode to the next: doubt over the cause of a death, an author and a group of writers, a theater rehearsal, a factory that is closing, and a New Age commune. The villages seem calm and picturesque, but they hide grudges and secrets. The intrigue coexists with a strong dose of dark humor.

5episodes

Mar 23, 1997released

May 6, 1998latest episode

8.5 hrtotal runtime

Season 1 Episodes

1x01 The Killings at Badger's Drift
Mar 23, 1997 · 102 min · ★ 7.7
An elderly woman is found dead in her cottage and DCI Tom Barnaby is convinced the death is not down to natural causes
Directing: Jeremy Silberston · Writing: Anthony Horowitz, Caroline Graham · Starring: Renée Asherson, Elizabeth Spriggs, Jonathan Firth, Emily Mortimer
1x02 Written in Blood
Mar 22, 1998 · 102 min · ★ 7.7
Gerald Hadleigh, secretary of a writers' circle, is found battered to death the morning after the group's meeting with best-selling novelist (and former psycho-therapist) Max Jennings. Gerald did not want to invite Max to Midsomer Worthy, and he seemed apprehensive about the visit.Barnaby's investigations show that Gerald was a man of mystery - he had no National Insurance number, no family, and no marriage certficate to go with his wedding photographs. And it seems he had a mysterious woman visitor on the night of his death... then Max Jennings goes missing and is found dead.
Directing: Jeremy Silberston · Writing: Anthony Horowitz, Caroline Graham · Starring: Joanna David, David Troughton, Jane Booker, Robert Swann
1x03 Death of a Hollow Man
Mar 29, 1998 · 102 min · ★ 6.7
The body of Agnes Gray, a woman who loved only animals, is found in the river - but she did not drown. And then her cousin Esslyn Carmichael is tricked into killing himself on stage during an amateur production of the murder mystery Amadeus. Barnaby has to get to grips with clues which include adultery, dramatic ambition, stolen religious art, and large donations to animal charities, before unmasking a killer who proves to be mad.Meanwhile, love begins to blossom between Cully Barnaby and Nico Bentley, one of the cast of Amadeus...
Directing: Jeremy Silberston · Writing: Caroline Graham · Starring: Angela Pleasence, Janine Duvitski, Debra Stephenson, Bernard Hepton
1x04 Faithful Unto Death
Apr 22, 1998 · 102 min · ★ 7.5
A craft centre in the old mill at Morton Fendle is losing money. Several locals have invested in the business and believe they have been swindled by Alan Hollingsworth, the man behind it. When Hollingsworth's glamorous wife Simone goes missing, Barnaby believes she has been kidnapped and puts Hollingsworth under observation. However, Hollingsworth evades the police, carrying a bundle of cash, and a woman neighbour who follows him to his rendez-vous is killed in a bizarre road accident. Then Hollingsworth is found dead, and Simone turns up alive. Barnaby guesses she and a friend faked the kidnapping, but he can't prove it.
Directing: Baz Taylor · Writing: Douglas Watkinson, Caroline Graham · Starring: Eleanor Summerfield, David Daker, Peter Jones, Roger Allam
1x05 Death in Disguise Season Finale
May 6, 1998 · 101 min · ★ 7.7
At a local New Age commune (fancifully called the Lodge of the Golden Windhorse) William Carter is found dead with a broken neck, lying at the bottom of a staircase. Barnaby and Troy have to decide whether the death was an accident or murder.
Directing: Baz Taylor · Writing: Douglas Watkinson, Caroline Graham · Starring: Judy Cornwell, Jon Glover, Stephen Moyer, Michael Feast