Talking to the Dead

This episode again pulls in supernatural elements. We have the nutty minister and the mainstream minister, each of whom is actually nutty. You have flashbacks to attacks on monks by medieval soldiers, wielding axes and swords. Somehow there seems to be a curse on the place where this took place. All sorts of evidence points to the reality of a kind of curse, but Barnaby discovers the foundation behind these events. Murder is committed to cover things up. There is also a man who seems to be speaking in tongues, filled with guilt and fear. But there's more to the story as we are brought into it. Unfortunately, the fragmented nature of this makes one wonder, what just happened. And the ending is silly and below the standards of this series.

It's always a treat to see Jeroen Krabbé on film. I immediately suspected him, based on his roles in The Fugitive and The Living Daylights. (I won't tell if he was the culprit or not.) The plot is outrageous though and I found myself skipping through the DVD's chapters. I can handle some mumbo jumbo, like the cult The Temple of Thoth in the Magician's Nephew episode, but this episode was too much, with childish spooky sounds in a forest. One of the least interesting episodes, though the acting and the locations are fine.

When four people disappear without a trace, it falls to Barnaby and Jones to find out what happened in "Talking to the Dead," from season 11.

This episode combines drama and humor as Barnaby and Jones go to the village of Monks Barton to investigate. They meet a womanizing postman, a man who sees dead people, a fire and brimstone preacher, a traumatized individual who babbles, and learn about the strange lights and sounds coming from the haunted woods. A massacre of monks once took place there, and the monks have been haunting the place ever since.

The missing soon start turning up...as corpses.

Really good episode with some good humor as well as mystery. The best scene is probably when Barnaby accidentally closes Jones into an iron maiden. When he gets him out, all Jones says over and over is, "You shut the DOOR!" And though Barnaby doesn't believe in any of this ghost stuff, his wife Joyce has an "open mind" as she says, and one can tell that Jones is somewhat nervous in the woods.

Excellent mystery. Wish this particular writer (David Harsent) did all of the scripts.

As has been said by me a number of times, 'Midsomer Murders' is one of my most watched and most re-watched shows. It is nowhere near as good now and the Tom Barnaby-era wasn't alien to average or less episodes, but when it was on form or at its best boy was it good.

"Talking to the Dead" to me is a very good last episode to Season 11, and as of now the second best episode of that season. The best being the excellent "Blood Wedding". "Days of Misrule" (tedious) and especially "Shot at Dawn" (fell downhill drastically after an effective opening and memorable solely for its ridiculousness) were underwhelming, and the others ranged from decent to good (despite "Left for Dead" having such a terrible ending).

My only real complaints for "Talking to the Dead" are the unnecessary and distracting subplot with Jones and the WPC and the rather over-the-top, in an out-of-kilter way, character of Cyrus LeVanu.

However, the production values as always are just great, the idyllic look of it contrasting very well with the story's grimness, and quaint and atmospheric photography. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the theme tune one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre.

There are some thoughtful and humorous moments in the script, which is generally well structured and crafted (with a great balance of humour and drama and more to-the-point than the lesser episodes of the season), and the supporting characters are entertaining enough. The story is very compelling, there is a lot going on but doesn't get that confusing or overcrowded.

With the supernatural elements, "Talking to the Dead" could easily have descended into silliness but was actually pretty spooky. The iron maiden bit is very funny, one of the funniest Barnaby and Jones moments to me, and the ending compared to "Left for Dead" and "Midsomer Life" is satisfying.

John Nettles and Jason Hughes are both superb, individually and together (their chemistry, and the chemistry with Daniel Casey and John Hopkins before Hughes, being a huge part of their episodes' charm). Can't fault the supporting cast either.

In conclusion, very entertaining final episode to Season 11. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Four people disappear into thin air one morning in the tiny village of Monks Barton. The postman, Sam Nelms, discovers their cottages with warm tea and breakfast still on the table - but no sign of the occupants, just traces of blood... Barnaby and Jones soon learn of the history surrounding the village and its supposedly haunted woods, where a massacre once took place. Colin and Molly Thomas, one of the missing couples, moved there after their ten year old son got lost in the woods and died. Molly Thomas, suffering a break down, believed she would be closer to his spirit there. Shortly before he died of hypothermia he was supposedly heard speaking in tongues. Barnaby remains sceptical of all the talk of ghosts and ghouls,even when an unidentified corpse is found by a colourful psychic, buried in the wood and the missing start turning up brutally murdered...

This is a fantastic episode, especially by the standards set by recent stories. The script has the right balance between humour and drama. Too often these days the line is crossed and you just end up with a pantomime (though i must confess the psychic did come close to being over the top) The solution to the mystery is very satisfying and there's one particularly grisly method of murder which i wont spoil!

All in all one of the best episodes of recent years... Maybe even ever.