Midsomer Mysteries

Inspector Barnaby has gone…long live Inspector Barnaby

DCI John [Neil Dudgeon] will be taking over from his cousin Tom [John Nettles] I hope the new DCI will become just as popular as the old. But the final episode of the ‘Old Regime’ left me with a number of unanswered questions.

If you haven’t watched it yet, you can read on safely, I am not giving away any ‘plot spoilers’

1. Was Wednesday’s programme the last one in Series 13, or the first one in Series 14 – reviews seem divided on that trivial question
2.                    Why was Police Procedure so appalling in this episode? There is a murder, and a missing person – yet nobody asks why a crucial door is locked for a number of days – and nobody notices the trail of blood drips outside either! [You’d never get such slapdash behaviour on CSI]
3. Cully’s Husband – where was he? Cully [Laura Howard] married Simon Dixon [Sam Hazeldine, son of actor James] back in 2008 and she left the programme [mostly] She was back in this final episode for her Dad’s birthday party – but I didn’t see her other half at the party. Was he mentioned?
4. WPC Gail Stephens[Kirsty Dillon]. When Tom was thanking everyone for their love and support down the years, he mentioned everybody in the room except Gail. Was he overwhelmed by her exceedingly short skirt? Bob and I have been intrigued over the past few months by the way she has gone from quiet uniformed worker in the background, tapping away on her PC [the other sort!] …and become a feisty, smartly dressed woman, showing signs of intelligence!

 

5. What will happen to Joyce [Jane Wymark]  now? It is OK for John Nettles to feel he wants to bow out, but what is she going to do? Has she lost her acting job – or will she continue to pop up in the Midsomer locality, joining various social groups and supporting worthy causes – mainly so that she can conveniently be on hand when a person accidentally slits their throat/drowns in the flotation tank/falls off the bell tower?
6. Why didn’t they introduce a little bit of nostalgia, for the Bergerac Days, and have Tom and Joyce announcing they were going to have a holiday on the beautiful island of Jersey? 

Presumably these questions will get answered eventually. And in case you have ever wondered about it, the reason Cully is called Cully – it is the name of the village on the northern shore of Lake Geneva, where Tom and Joyce spent their honeymoon, and where their daughter was conceived. I am so glad they were not spending their romantic holiday in Dully, Gland, or Morges!!

I did like Sergeant Troy  - the one on the right [Daniel Casey]

and I am glad we appear to be keeping DS Ben Jones [Jason Hughes]

Lewis has survived the death of Morse – and CSI has gone on without Grissom – so I imagine people will continue to get bumped off in Midsomer, and the perpetrators will continue to be brought to justice. After all, Taggart ran with Mark McManus as its eponymous hero from 1983 till MMs untimely death in 1994 – and for over sixteen years they have managed without him! There are probably people out there who think “Taggart” is probably a Scottish slang word for “Murrrder!”

Mind you Jackie Reid [Blythe Duff] goes on forever, doesn’t she – only the hairstyle changes!