1. TAINTED FRUIT
Death threats against Melissa Townsend, the beautiful but spoilt daughter of the
manor, bring DCI Tom Barnaby and Sergeant Gavin Troy to the affluent village of
Midsomer Malham. Melissa is blamed by some residents for causing the death of a
local poacher by refusing to mend the leaking roof at his peppercorn rent
cottage.
Fearing that the death threats could be carried out, the detectives race to Malham Manor. But they are too late Melissa is dead by the swimming pool, a used syringe hanging from her stomach. As Barnaby and Troy investigate, they uncover a seedy world of adultery and deceit.
Guest Stars Benjamin Whitrow & Melissa Townsend.
2. RING OUT YOUR DEAD
“Ding Dong Bell, Vicar's In The Well, Who Put Him In? Little Tommy Thin, Who
Pulled Him Out, Little Tommy Stout.”
The bell ringers at Midsomer Wellow are preparing for a National Striking competition but to retired Wing Commander Reggie Barton and other members of the community the noise made by the ringers are the bane of their lives. The animosity in the village is accentuated further when one by one the bell ringers are killed off leaving DCI Barnaby & Sergeant Troy to uncover who is responsible: a jealous husband, a disgruntled villager or a rival team from the competition.
Guest Stars Graham Crowden & Gwen Taylor.
3. MURDER ON ST. MALLEY'S DAY
Jonathan Ekersley-Hyde, the headmaster of Midsomer Parva's Devington School, is
a living fossil of Victorian educational values, feeding an old feud by
forbidding any interaction between the pupils and the local villagers. When
schoolboy Daniel Talbot fails to cross the finish line of the annual St
Malley's Day race due to a fatal knife wound, Daniel's father, scion of the
school's founding fathers, automatically points the finger at the village.
Barnaby and Troy however, are more interested in the bizarre events of the
schools Pudding club, a secret society open only to those elite students
aspiring to the Diplomatic Service.
Guest Stars Desmond Barrit & Jeremy Child.
4. MARKET FOR MURDER
Barnaby and Troy are called to the wealthy village of Midsomer Market when local
stock broker Selwyn Proctor's 63 Alvis goes up in flames. On the surface this
seems like a typical rural community, with the highest source of entertainment
being the women's reading club headed by upholding member of society Marjorie
Empson. When she is found dead in her cottage this simple lifestyle becomes more
complicated. They discover that the reading club is really a front for secret
investment club meetings to discuss their latest strategies on the stock
market.
Guest Stars Anton Rodgers & Angela Thorne.
5. A WORM IN THE BUD
The ancient Setwale Wood has provided herbal remedies since before Henry
VIII's dissolution of the monasteries when Midsomer Abbey was in its heyday.
Now it is the subject of court action by villagers to prevent the impecunious
owner of Abbey Farm, James Harrington, from cutting it down to raise cash.
Leading light of the Save the Wood campaign is neighbouring farmer Simon
Bartlett. The case goes before Causton Crown Court and, after the ruling, a
fight breaks out between the two farmers. Barnaby and Troy find themelves
involved on the very next day when the body of Simon Bartlett's wife is found
in a pond in Setwale Wood.
Guest Stars Wendy Craig & Paul Venables.