Midsomer Murders - My Favourite Episodes - Series Three




Spoiler warning - there will be some spoilers here, so read on with caution if you have not seen all the episodes.

There are also two contenders: Judgement Day and Beyond the Grave. I like Beyond the Grave a lot as it has a slightly different quirky feel, and Troy gets a sidekick (albeit temporarily in the form of Nico, Cully's boyfriend). However, when it comes to an episode I return to repeatedly, it must be Judgement Day. 

For those of you who are also Agatha Christie fans, there is a slight nod to one of her most famous stories in this episode. 

The underbelly of this perfect village is a little more on show thanks to womaniser and total bad 'un Peter Drinkwater. This was an early role for Orlando Bloom but one he fulfilled very well for the short time he was on the screen. 

John Nettles also steals a scene with one of the episode's best lines upon discovering Peter's body. He is not happy that his chance to nick the little scrote for a series of burglaries because someone has had the nerve to murder him. How annoying! 

Ever since I first saw Josephine Tewson as Elizabeth Warden in Keeping Up Appearances, I knew she was very talented. She doesn't let the audience down here as the alcohol-soaked, last-minute judge of the Perfect Village Competition. 

Hannah Gordon underplays Bella wonderfully. It would have been easy to slip into a caricature, but she does nothing of the sort. Timothy West, who I first came across in an episode of Tales of the Unexpected (he scared the crap out of me), does well with his role as Marcus, given that the character doesn't have much to do in the story. 

The minor characters in this episode don't come across as well, especially the vet and his awful wife. It feels like they were cast in a rush. 


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