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be able to help us. Anything.

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Anything I could do. I

0:36

believe you checked the razor just minutes

0:38

before the curtain went up. That's right.

0:41

And the tape wasn't snagged or

0:43

torn, as Harold has been suggesting.

0:46

It was in place. No

0:49

one is blaming you. But

0:51

it remains a fact that sometime during

0:53

the play someone removed the razor and

0:56

took the tape off. Before

1:26

we get started, there will be a

1:28

few spoilers. So if you haven't seen

1:30

the episode in question today, I suggest

1:33

you do it right now. We're

1:35

talking about episode 3 back in

1:37

series 1, Death of a Hollow

1:40

Man. Set against the backdrop

1:42

of Causton Amateur Dramatic Society's production

1:44

of Amadeus, a body is found

1:46

in the nearby lake and then

1:48

a murder takes place on the

1:51

stage. Are the two

1:53

connected? And who is to

1:55

blame? With the help of

1:57

cast, crew and devoted superfans,

2:00

I'll be covering some of

2:02

the most important scenes, discussing

2:04

the most intriguing characters, and

2:07

seeing who can spot those

2:09

cameos. Helping me on this

2:11

episode will be Bill Young. Well,

2:13

you have so many subplots. You have

2:16

the bookshop owners and their relationships, and

2:18

Kitty is a subplot on her own.

2:20

But that's what I think brings Midsummer Murders to

2:23

the forefront as being just a great

2:26

show is that there are

2:28

so many subplots which lead you to

2:30

think potentially everybody could do this. Later,

2:32

we'll hear from Caroline Graham and the

2:34

author of the Chief Inspector binary series

2:37

of which the show is based on...

2:39

People are always asking respectable elderly ladies

2:41

who write crime, how on earth they

2:43

ever come to sort of imagine these

2:45

things. I don't know what they think

2:48

unconscious is like. It's a

2:50

great mess like everybody else

2:52

is. Plus, we'll finish

2:54

things off with a round of

2:56

our superfan face-off quiz hosted

2:59

by award-winning Scottish comedian,

3:01

actor, presenter and

3:03

most importantly die-hard Midsummer Murders

3:05

enthusiast. Yes, it's Ashley's story.

3:08

Death of a Hollow Man

3:10

is based on the book

3:12

of the same name by

3:15

Caroline Graham. Of

3:17

the seven Chief Inspector Barnaby series books,

3:19

which number in the seven books is

3:21

Death of a Hollow Man? I'm

3:24

a Liberarian. Oh, Jill! Jill!

3:29

I hang my head in shame. Jill,

3:31

you're as much a Liberarian as Cully

3:33

in our book van. Also,

3:36

be sure to stick around for

3:39

the end where we tie up

3:41

any of those loose ends, wrap

3:43

everything up, announce exactly who committed

3:46

the murderous crimes and

3:48

how Barnaby solved them. Bill,

3:52

good to speak to you. It's great to

3:54

connect on each side of the Atlantic. Death

3:58

of a Hollow Man. It kicks off. off

4:00

with the murder of Agnes

4:02

Gray, who we hear very, very

4:05

early on. She's a wealthy contributor

4:07

to animal charities. Well, it really

4:09

does amplify how do you survive

4:11

life in a small English village,

4:14

because you're just slapped in the face

4:16

immediately within 30 seconds of a dead

4:18

body. Well, we cut to a scene

4:20

on the stage, amateur dramatics. Now, I

4:23

love this episode for many reasons.

4:25

Probably number one is I was

4:27

brought up with amateur dramatics. So

4:29

they've got a production of Amadeus going

4:31

on. Well, the leading man is Esland

4:34

Carmichael. To say he's got grand

4:37

illusions as far as his

4:39

ability as an actor is

4:41

an understatement. Opening night, leading

4:44

man's on the stage, and

4:46

then how can we say this? It all goes

4:48

slightly wrong. V saluto. Well,

5:06

the leading man slits his own throat, and it's

5:08

supposed to be a dummy razor, and then

5:11

it's not. And then you try

5:13

to figure out, okay, who switched

5:15

the razor? And you realize every

5:17

individual had a

5:19

reason to do it. Yeah. It's

5:21

a great mid-summer. So you've got everybody there,

5:23

the pressure's on, the leading man

5:25

slits his own throat with the razor. We've

5:27

got that visual of him hitting the stage.

5:30

And of course, Barnaby

5:32

is actually sitting in the audience watching

5:35

his wife. This is the moment where

5:37

Barnaby gets up from his seat, stands

5:39

on the stage and addresses the audience.

5:42

Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention,

5:44

please? There's

5:46

been an accident.

5:50

Would you all please stay in your seats

5:52

for the next few minutes? Thank

5:54

you. Let's

5:56

just go through some of the

5:59

main characters, or should I say...

6:01

suspects. We have Harold Winstanley, played

6:03

by Bernard Hepton, who pulls funds

6:06

into an Amdram production to further

6:08

his West End ambitions. We have

6:10

Esalyn Carmichael, played by Nicolas Le

6:13

Proveau, a wealthy accountant who abandons

6:15

his first wife Rosa in favour

6:17

of the rather flirty Kitty played

6:20

by Deborah Stevenson, who, guess what,

6:22

is now expecting. Although, with him

6:24

dead, both his first wife and

6:27

his new lover could be the

6:29

culprits. Rosa uncovers Kitty is having

6:31

an affair with Tim, who's actually

6:34

in a gay relationship with Avery

6:36

Phillips, his business partner in the

6:38

local bookshop. And then we have

6:41

drama student Nicholas Bentley, Ed Waters,

6:43

cast as Mozart, who takes an

6:45

interest in Barnaby's daughter Cully. The

6:48

entire ensemble, whether on stage or

6:50

behind the scenes, becoming brawled in

6:52

personal passions and

6:55

hostilities. We like to look at

6:57

some of the amazing cameos, as

6:59

there's normally one or two. Yes,

7:23

and we also have Deborah Stevenson, who plays

7:25

Kitty. She's well known in the UK for

7:27

her role as

7:50

Shel Duckley in the female prison

7:52

drama Bad Girls and the long-running

7:54

soap Coronation Street, where she played

7:57

Frankie Baldwin between 2004 and 2015.

8:00

and 2006. And we have Janine Dovitsky, Deirdre

8:02

Tibbs. She

8:11

was in the comedy series One

8:13

Foot in the Grave, the hilarious

8:15

film Abigail's Party, which was an

8:17

adaptation of the play by Mike

8:19

Lee and more recently,

8:21

Benidore, which, well, if you haven't

8:23

seen it, I would highly, highly

8:26

recommend. I went to the loo

8:28

once, but at the end of

8:30

the interval, it took all of two

8:32

minutes. When I got back, Howard

8:35

was yelling at me about the buzzer being

8:37

late. And also Nicholas Woodson, Avery

8:39

Phillips, who was in the James

8:41

Bond film Skyfall, Paddington

8:43

2, The Death of Stalin, and many,

8:45

many more. Well, I designed the set for that.

8:48

My partner did the lighting. He has

8:50

a wave of the lamp you wouldn't believe. We've

8:52

also got to mention, because I do

8:54

love a little bit of romance, because

8:56

it isn't all about death. So we've

8:58

got Barnaby's daughter, Cully. She starts a

9:00

romance with the other leading man, Nicholas.

9:02

Here's the pair of them chatting about

9:05

drama school. So when did you get

9:07

this audition at Central? On the other week. But

9:09

don't tell anyone. It's secret. I

9:12

should get the results any day now. I've

9:14

had a few theatre jobs since I came down from Cambridge. You're

9:16

kidding. Third witching Macbeth

9:18

and a Polish tour of Much Ado. Brilliant.

9:21

How did it go? I

9:24

got mumps. Our tents were washed away in a

9:26

thunderstorm. And Claudia was head up for the list. There's

9:29

a big question mark as to whether they're going to keep

9:31

seeing each other or not. But I quite like that. And

9:33

that sort of runs concurrently. So it sort of lifts

9:36

the scene, so to speak. Well,

9:38

you have so many subplots. You have the,

9:40

you know, the bookshop owners and their relationships.

9:43

And a kitty is, you know,

9:45

a subplot on her own. But

9:47

that's what I think brings Midsomer Murders to

9:50

the forefront, as being just a great

9:52

show, is that there are so many

9:55

subplots which lead you to think potentially

9:58

everybody could do this. Indeed. Now

10:00

let's hear a few of the characters

10:02

from the show and their vengeance towards

10:04

the now dead leading man. 20

10:07

years we were married and

10:10

he'd never give me a child. It

10:15

was never the right time you see. We

10:18

were too young, we didn't have

10:20

enough money. The

10:22

business wasn't established. But

10:26

then when the business was thriving he'd give

10:28

me all that moralistic claptrap about it being

10:31

no sort of world to bring a child

10:33

into. Then

10:36

to get Kitty pregnant. Sometimes

10:44

I don't know which of them

10:47

I hate the most. I think Esslyn should be

10:49

playing Leopold Mozart. He's described as

10:51

a jealous dried up old turd. Of course you think

10:53

about theater and you think well it was obviously either

10:55

the leading man or the director that did it. But

10:57

I want to go back to the

10:59

Amdram. It's something that's unfamiliar to me. Is

11:03

that right? Well Amdram amateur dramatics and

11:05

I think if you go to most slightly

11:09

larger, the larger villages, the towns around

11:11

the whole of the UK you'll find

11:13

this infrastructure. Whereas local people

11:16

are really, really passionate about putting

11:18

on a show. It might be

11:20

Il Travatory or it might be

11:22

The Sound of Music, it could

11:24

be Pantomime, oh no it's not,

11:27

oh yes it is. And often

11:29

when people talk about Amdram they've got sort

11:31

of their tongue in their cheek. But it's

11:33

amazing the level of expertise

11:35

and quality that comes out of these

11:37

local shows. Because it'll be the local

11:39

milkman, the lady that runs the post

11:41

office. It could be young people that

11:43

want to get into theater and that's

11:45

how they're starting out. So

11:48

there's people of all different ages and abilities.

11:50

And we certainly see this with Death of

11:52

a Hollow Man on the stage. Not everybody's

11:54

a great actor but everybody comes together. So

11:57

you've got Barnaby painting the scenery at the

11:59

back. that's what my dad used to do.

12:01

You know, you've got the call boy or

12:03

the call girl or the call person as

12:05

we now call them, who are there with

12:08

the script. So if you forget your lines,

12:10

they shout them out to you on stage.

12:13

And it's people's lives.

12:16

And you might think, Bill, well, why is

12:18

Nikki going on about it so much? Because

12:20

that was my life when I was growing

12:22

up. My parents, my sister

12:24

and I, we were all involved in

12:26

it and we loved it. But

12:29

I'm just going to say, there was never a murder on

12:31

our stage. Well, thankfully. But

12:34

I think the great thing is that, you know,

12:36

to take this full circle, that's what makes British

12:38

television so good for me, is that you have

12:41

this base that, whether

12:43

it's the amateur dramatic

12:45

societies, it's the regional theaters

12:48

that flourish, that people

12:50

can really work on their craft and

12:52

you never know. And

12:54

I think from an actor and actor

12:56

standpoint, you're constantly

12:58

working on your craft and

13:01

you have that ability to do this.

13:03

And that just doesn't exist over here,

13:05

I don't think. Oh, well, we like

13:07

to enlighten you and glad you appreciate

13:10

our thespians, Bill. So let's

13:12

talk a little bit about the exchanges

13:14

between Barnaby and Troy, like

13:16

this one. Unbelievable. 60,

13:19

what was it? 860,000 pounds over seven years.

13:24

Maybe she won the lottery. Not in 1991, she didn't. And

13:28

then to give it all to

13:30

animals. Everyone needs something to love, Troy, and at

13:32

least animals love your back. Not

13:35

the same though, is it? I wouldn't fancy

13:37

cuddling up at night to a cock a spaniel. Oh,

13:39

don't you knock it before you try it. I think

13:41

it's very, very clever, that dialogue, because when

13:44

I'm listening to those two actors together, I'm

13:46

forgetting they're acting. I'm with

13:48

them walking down the street. It's brilliant.

13:50

You see the relationship between Barnaby and

13:52

Troy. What I love about it is

13:55

that there's a true respect between the

13:57

two, and Troy obviously understands got to

13:59

learn from Barnaby, but Barnaby is very

14:01

interested in bringing him along. Well, an

14:04

utterly useless waste of a day. I

14:07

don't know, sir. We've cleared quite a few people

14:09

out of the way. We've cleared so many people out of the way,

14:11

Troy. We've got no suspects left. But

14:14

I think there's a true respect between Troy

14:16

and Barnaby. It's also, I think, the father-son

14:18

relationship. You know, don't knock it, do you

14:20

try it? You know, because we know Troy

14:22

is looking for love. He gets really embarrassed

14:24

when he's talking about anything too personal. And

14:26

I love the fact that Barnaby, he takes

14:28

the Mickey out of him. And that's a

14:31

very British saying, isn't it? It takes the

14:33

Mickey as in, takes the Michael. But he

14:35

takes the Mickey out of him without being

14:37

rude or offensive, and Troy likes it. Sometimes

14:39

he doesn't get the gag. His face is

14:41

a picture that's split second later. You

14:43

know, but I just think the

14:46

dynamic between that father-son healthy relationship,

14:48

it's so, so good. I think

14:50

some of the funniest lines with

14:53

this episode come from the

14:55

dialogue in the bookshop. Just have

14:58

a listen to this. I'm looking for a book.

15:01

Books are what we do best. Don't film another. Something

15:04

light. I've got a lovely new trollop. Pardon?

15:07

I love that. Trollop,

15:10

pardon? I

15:13

had to rewind that because I think

15:15

that's so clever. Now, Joanna

15:17

Trollop is a very famous writer over

15:19

here. She's written numerous best-selling books and

15:22

probably his mum would read it. Joanna

15:24

Trollop is the truth. But do you

15:26

know what a trollop is, Bill? Well,

15:29

I know what a trollop is, again,

15:31

on this side of the Atlantic. Go on. Are

15:34

you allowed to say it? Go on. What is

15:36

it? A trollop here would be an individual of

15:38

questionable values, I guess,

15:40

to be kind. Not

15:42

knowing who's listening to this and the age

15:44

that who's listening to this. Just somewhat of

15:47

questionable values, I guess we'll leave it to

15:49

that. Do you know what? I'm going to

15:51

say exactly the same. It's a lady of

15:55

a certain standing, shall we say. Not a

15:57

nice word, not the worst word, but a

15:59

trollop. years ago people say she's

16:01

a right old trollop and we've

16:03

got to be careful how we say

16:06

things nowadays but just that that moment

16:08

where Troy says sorry trollop you know

16:10

I just thought it was wonderful and

16:12

as ever with these actors it's the

16:15

timing with that script. Okay now

16:17

Bill being an American who

16:20

knows probably more than I do about

16:22

British television I have picked

16:25

this clip especially for you.

16:27

Oh for God's sake Troy. He was

16:29

backstage. Yeah that's all it takes so

16:31

was I. Yeah but you're

16:33

not one sandwich short of a picnic.

16:36

One sandwich short of a picnic. Now please tell

16:38

me you know what that means. Well

16:40

you know I was you you can pick it

16:42

up immediately when you see the the exchange between

16:45

the two but when you

16:47

think of the correlating phrase

16:49

over here you would say

16:51

somebody's not playing with a full deck or

16:54

you know definitely not the brightest bulb in

16:56

the pack. What makes me want to completely

17:00

move over there is so that I can say one

17:02

sandwich short of a picnic. And I'll

17:04

take off the crusts how about that. I've

17:08

worked on a show called Escape to

17:11

the Country and it goes out in

17:13

with so many different countries around the

17:15

world I think it's about 120 but

17:17

Midsummer Murders beats all of that. The

17:19

series now listen to this it's been exported around

17:22

the world including are you ready you sitting up

17:25

Italy Denmark Australia the

17:27

States the Czech Republic

17:29

even Mongolia albeit they

17:31

often have different names

17:33

with the most popular around the world

17:35

being Inspector Barnaby which I can understand

17:37

in a way although in Norway and

17:40

I'm taking a deep breath here and I'm

17:43

just gonna put it out I'm sorry if

17:45

I offend anyone are you ready Bill it's

17:47

called Maud og mr. air murder and

17:49

mysteries now if you are from Norway you're

17:51

gonna go Nicky it doesn't sound anything like

17:53

that but I gave it my best I

17:55

didn't even get old level French by the

17:57

way and in Croatia But

18:01

just you Midsummeroo,

18:04

which is appalling and

18:06

it literally translates as

18:08

Midsummer Murders. Yeah. As

18:10

you can tell, I will never be employed as

18:12

a translator. So apologies to anyone out

18:15

there that I might have offended, but

18:17

we love you, love the show. They

18:19

always said that if you just say

18:21

it with conviction, then everybody listening will

18:24

think convincing is wrong all these years.

18:28

I mean, that is such an impressive list

18:30

and I've just read out a few of

18:32

them. I mean, why do you think it

18:34

has such universal global appeal?

18:36

You get to see just

18:39

gorgeous English countryside. You have,

18:41

you know, let's go down

18:43

to the pub. That

18:45

doesn't exist here. And

18:47

you get to experience small English villages

18:49

and a life that we would all like

18:51

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19:56

this is the part of the episode

19:58

where we hear from a member of

20:00

cast or someone from behind the scenes.

20:02

The mastermind behind Midsomer Murders was writer

20:04

Caroline Graham who was born in Warwickshire

20:06

to a working class family. At the

20:08

age of 14 she left school and

20:11

went to work at Cawtle's Mill and later

20:13

served in the Women's Royal Naval Service. Her

20:16

first novel, Fire Dance, was published in 1982

20:18

and in 1991 at the age of 60

20:20

she received a

20:25

Master's degree in theatre studies from

20:27

the University of Birmingham in the

20:29

UK. But most fascinating of all

20:31

is that Caroline Graham is best

20:33

known as the writer of the

20:35

Chief Inspector Barnaby series, dramatised

20:37

for television as, are you

20:40

ready, Midsomer Murders? Now

20:44

I can only see John Netlox

20:46

when I think of Barnaby because

20:48

he's so perfect in the part.

20:50

As with all my books they

20:52

start with character rather

20:54

than having a plot like

20:56

Colonel Mustard and someone

20:59

else in the librarian. I have

21:01

the people first and

21:03

they tell me the story. People

21:05

are always asking respectable elderly ladies about

21:07

who write crime, how on earth they

21:10

ever, I mean how they come to

21:12

sort of know these things or imagine

21:14

these things. I don't know what they

21:16

think unconscious is like, it's a

21:19

great mess like everybody else

21:21

is. I decided you should be taught

21:23

a lesson. Bit of a

21:25

savage one wasn't it? I didn't think you'd die. Colin

21:28

what do you expect a man to do if you

21:30

drag an open razor across his throat? I started off

21:33

thinking I'll do the classic village

21:36

murder. Quite honestly I imagine

21:39

nearly everything but I feel

21:41

if I've simply researched something

21:44

and then I go and write it down in

21:46

a book I feel

21:48

that's kind of cheating and

21:50

I know that's a slightly

21:53

bizarre attitude but I feel

21:56

it's the importance of the imagination

21:59

for a writer. that matters rather than

22:01

how capable they are at looking up

22:03

things. Even

22:07

though there are more than 130 episodes of Midsummer Murders, it

22:11

started off with a series of seven books.

22:14

I suppose seven

22:16

is like three, you know, it's a

22:18

sort of mystical number attached to all

22:20

sorts of things.

22:23

And I just thought seven sounded

22:25

right. But when she

22:27

was creating the character of DCI Barnaby,

22:30

she made him a lovable family man,

22:32

which, as she says, was a break

22:34

from the norm. Crime fiction

22:36

is so full of policemen,

22:39

overloaded with angst, who are either drunk

22:42

or sort of mad about

22:44

strange things or desperately

22:47

disappointed in love or

22:49

don't get on with their children. So I

22:52

thought I will have a

22:54

middle-of-the-road, decent, honest copper, happily

22:58

married with a daughter that

23:00

he loves, is proud of. He's a burly

23:02

man. He's middle-aged,

23:06

you know, in his maybe late 40s or 50s. He's

23:10

known for his eyebrows, which are very,

23:13

very bushy and

23:15

black and coarse like horse hair and

23:18

overhand, you know, very, very

23:21

strong indeed. He's rather

23:23

ruddy in countenance. He

23:26

suffers from indigestion, poor man, because of

23:28

his wife's cooking. That's right, Troy. Dinner's

23:32

ready, Tom. Yes, Troy, thank

23:34

you. That's exactly what I want to

23:36

know. Thank you. What's

23:41

this thing? It's Delia Smith. Stewed

23:45

neck of lamb with mushroom dumplings. You

23:47

can't go wrong with Delia Smith. That's what

23:49

I always thought. Now,

23:53

although her novels were hugely popular

23:55

with readers, it was through a

23:57

chance encounter at a classical music

23:59

concert. between a friend and

24:01

a former BBC script editor that brought

24:03

the books to the screen. In

24:06

the interval, they met Betty

24:08

Willingale, a script editor

24:11

and producer from Eitelordius,

24:13

from way back, brilliant,

24:16

she's brilliant. And my friend

24:18

said, have you read Caroline Graham's books? Would they

24:21

make good television? And Betty had a look at

24:23

them, thought they would. Once the

24:25

contract was signed, I was never just

24:27

pushed aside as if I wasn't of

24:29

any worth, you know, everyone took me

24:31

into all the details of what was

24:33

going on. Betty always ring

24:35

me up and tell me what

24:38

was happening. Seeing her books made

24:40

into a television series brought Caroline

24:42

great pride, particularly being on set

24:44

for the very first episode. That

24:46

went on location, the Badgers Drift,

24:49

and it was really strange because

24:51

I was standing there and

24:53

it was in a big stately home with

24:56

lawns and gardens, great marquees for

24:58

the wedding, and there were lights

25:00

everywhere and actors and extras. I

25:03

thought just because I sat down one day

25:06

with a pen and a pad of paper, I

25:09

thought maybe I'll write a

25:12

crime novel. ["The Good News",

25:15

by The Good News plays in the background.]

25:18

And she certainly did, didn't she?

25:21

That was the author behind the

25:23

Detective Barnaby series, which Midsummer Murders

25:25

is based on, Caroline Graham. Now

25:27

it's time for our international superfan

25:29

face-off, where two fans from around

25:31

the world go head to head

25:33

on all things Midsummer Murders. To

25:35

host, we have Ashley Story. ["The

25:37

Good News", by Ashley Story plays

25:39

in the background.] It's time for

25:41

the Midsummer Murders superfan head to

25:43

head quiz. ["The Good News", by

25:45

Ashley Story plays in the

25:47

background.] We are joined by

25:50

Jill and Esme. Now

25:52

we don't have buzzers on the show. We don't have

25:54

the budget for it. Jill, watch your buzzer noise. Pfft!

25:57

Bzzz! Excellent, Jill. Esme! What's your

26:00

buzzer noise? I'm going to

26:02

go for the Loud Clap. Esme's

26:04

going to go for the Loud Clap. Now we

26:06

have 10 questions. All about the

26:08

episode, Death of a Hollow Man. It's

26:10

the episode where they're at the Amdram

26:12

again and you know something bad's going

26:14

to happen whenever a Barnaby walks into

26:16

a theatre. That's a recipe for disaster.

26:19

I've said it once and I'll say

26:21

it again. I do not know how

26:23

Cully got an acting job after this,

26:25

given that every place she's been in,

26:27

somebody died. But there we go. OK,

26:31

are you ready ladies? Esme, are you ready?

26:33

I think so. She's ready. She's

26:36

playing at Cully. She's pretending. She's an

26:38

absolute demon when it comes to quizzes.

26:40

Jill, are you ready? Born ready. OK,

26:42

here we go. Question

26:44

number one. Death

26:47

of a Hollow Man is based on

26:49

the book of the same name by

26:51

Caroline Graham. Of the

26:53

seven Chief Inspector Barnaby's serious books,

26:56

which order was Death of a Hollow Man

26:59

released? Which number in the seven

27:01

books is Death of a Hollow Man? Number

27:04

library. Oh, Jill. Jill!

27:09

I hang my head in shame. Oh,

27:17

OK, Esme. Um,

27:20

four. Incorrect. Jill, you've

27:23

got a number. Three. No,

27:25

incorrect. You

27:27

had a one in six chance again.

27:29

You were wrong. It's number two. No

27:33

points. I knew it was near or the

27:36

beginning, but that was about it. Jill,

27:38

you're as much a librarian as Cully in

27:40

our book van. This

27:43

is it. Question

27:46

number two. What is

27:48

the name of the amateur dramatic

27:50

society in the episode? Oh,

27:53

Brain Freeze. It's

27:55

so obvious. Yes. Oh,

27:58

no. even go to

28:00

take a dive, take a guess. What

28:03

would the amateur dramatic society be called? It

28:05

would be the most dramatic society. So close

28:07

but no. Jill?

28:11

What caused the narrative?

28:13

I'm going to give it to Jill. It

28:16

was the cost of the amateur dramatic society.

28:18

Jill's taking the point. Question number three. The

28:20

body of Agnes Grey is found in

28:23

a lake. But in which

28:25

village does it take place? Yes,

28:28

Esme. She's

28:30

nailed it. Esme gets the point. It's Fern

28:32

Bassett. Well done. Which also weirdly sounds like

28:35

a Hollywood movie star from like the 70s.

28:37

Like a star in

28:39

Fern Bassett. She

28:41

sounds like a Bond girl who never quite took off.

28:46

Question four. Which

28:48

well-known play does a cast member

28:50

quote from in the dressing room

28:52

before they take to the stage?

28:55

Yes, Esme. It is Macbeth. She shouldn't have

28:58

even been mentioning Macbeth in a theatre. It's

29:00

very bad luck. But she needs to whistle.

29:03

Oh, and then run about. Question

29:05

number five. How many

29:07

deaths are there in this

29:09

episode? Yes, Esme. Who?

29:12

Yes, Esme. Oh, Esme's on fire.

29:14

She is. Esme is okay.

29:18

Watch yourself, Jill. She's

29:21

rampaging through this. Question

29:23

number six. What

29:25

is the name of the instrument

29:27

used in the theme tune? Yes,

29:30

Jill. There I'm in. Yes, it is,

29:33

Jill. Well done. Also

29:36

used in Doctor Who. It is.

29:40

Question number seven. Death

29:42

of a hollow man was first aired in the

29:44

UK in what year? Yes,

29:48

Esme. 1998. Oh,

29:51

Esme. You're right. Oh,

29:53

right. We're currently standing at

29:56

Esme 4, Jill to Ashley

29:58

one point for the question. question neither of

30:00

you answered. Question

30:02

number eight. What

30:05

animal is at the top of

30:07

the invoice Barnaby uncovers of Agnes

30:09

Gray? Yes,

30:11

Jill. I'll just go for badger.

30:13

You'd think but no. Oh

30:17

goodness. Cat. Incorrect.

30:21

It was a donkey. Okay,

30:26

I'm going to say this name wrong.

30:28

Question nine. The

30:31

weapon used to kill Esalen

30:35

is what? It

30:39

was a razor. And for a bonus point,

30:41

is that name Esalen? Very

30:45

Midsomer.

30:53

Apologies to all the Esalens in the world. All

30:56

six of them. It

30:58

does sound like something my Nana would put in a

31:01

bath to ease our joints. Final

31:04

question. Number 10. What

31:07

colour is Kitty's car which

31:09

gets keyed? Red. Esme.

31:13

Red is correct. Well done Esme.

31:15

I think she takes this one.

31:17

The final score in this head

31:19

to head Midsomer murder super fan

31:21

quiz is Esme 5 Jill 2.

31:24

You fought valiantly ladies. Thank you so much

31:26

for joining me and chatting about Midsomer murders.

31:28

These are both geniuses. A

31:31

lot of fun. Oh I'm

31:33

glad you're funny Esme. And thank you Jill. You know,

31:35

Falleon. Do you know what you try Jill? I do.

31:37

You're a Libranadian who doesn't know what a bit goes

31:40

but I love that about you. Yeah

31:42

but it's never going to forget now. I'm

31:45

never going to forget. Never. So

31:51

as we've come to the end of

31:53

this episode of Midsomer Murders Mayhem season

31:55

one episode three. Death of a Hollow

31:57

Man. I think it's time Bill that

31:59

it was all wrapped up. Well,

32:01

Nikki, I'm sad to wrap it up, but that

32:03

just means we're closer to the next one. So

32:06

Barnaby uncovers that Harold Winstanley and

32:08

Agnes Gray were engaged in the

32:11

illicit trade of valuable European art

32:13

pieces. In a disturbing

32:15

twist, Winstanley, fearing Agnes

32:17

was on the verge of revealing their

32:20

criminal activities, resorted to brutally assaulting her,

32:22

resulting in her death. Armed

32:25

with his late cousin's incriminating confession,

32:27

Esslin seizes an opportunity to leverage

32:29

the information as blackmail, forcing

32:32

Winstanley to relinquish control of their

32:34

upcoming theatre venture. It

32:37

becomes evident that it was Winstanley

32:39

who manipulated the prop raisers to

32:41

eliminate Esslin and keep his

32:43

secrets hidden. Nicely put, and

32:46

here's Barnaby to explain the death

32:48

of Esslin and what happened to

32:50

that razor. Listen, listen, and I'll tell

32:52

you exactly why and how he swapped them round. We

32:57

know that Harold went backstage twice during

32:59

the evening, just before the show

33:01

began, and at the end of

33:03

the interval. So

33:05

he must have made the first switch

33:07

moments before Catnapp swapping the original razor

33:09

with his substitute one. This way a

33:11

casual glance of the props tray would

33:13

reveal nothing wrong. Excuse

33:16

me, thank you. He

33:20

must have known it was going to be a fiddly job.

33:23

The interval gave him the perfect opportunity

33:25

and ample time to remove

33:27

the tape from the actual razor. And

33:32

then, just minutes before act

33:34

two, taking advantage of Deirdre's absence

33:37

from the wings, he

33:39

swapped them back. Poor

33:44

old Esslin. Never had a chance. So

33:48

we bring Harold in? Yes, we

33:51

do. As

33:54

this week's episode draws to a close, we

33:56

hope we have helped you to navigate your

33:59

way round Deirdre. of a hollow

34:01

man, where delusions of grandeur,

34:04

thespians, deceit and stolen

34:06

art are all tied up

34:08

by DCI Barnaby and his

34:10

trusted sidekick, DS Gavin Troy.

34:15

Next time, Ashley and I are

34:17

sneaking a peek at the Dark Rider

34:19

episode, in which the appearance

34:22

of a headless horseman at quite

34:24

well hall foreshadows a number of

34:26

deaths among an aristocratic family. In

34:29

the midst of a civil war

34:32

reenactment, the family relive their own

34:34

historic battles with their hostile neighbours.

34:37

But what is the truth about

34:39

the Dukatvilles and the Gosely Rider?

34:42

We're going to be hearing from DCI

34:44

John Barnaby, aka Neil Dudgeon, who'll be

34:46

talking about his sidekicks on the show.

34:48

One time the director had to send

34:51

us both out of the set because

34:53

we came back from lunch and spoke

34:55

to each other about 15 seconds and

34:58

then we're both crying with laughter for

35:00

so long the director had to send

35:02

us into the car park, which only

35:04

made it worse. We're like two naughty

35:06

boys being sent out of the classroom.

35:08

We'll also be hearing from our in-house

35:10

TV critic Scott Bryan about the best

35:12

bits of the episode. It features one

35:14

family being driven mad because of how

35:17

loud the civil war reenactments that their

35:19

neighbours have been doing. Full blown reenactments

35:21

of huge wars with rockets and blasters

35:23

and all of that stuff. And

35:26

of course the use of a headless

35:28

horseman. At the start of the episode,

35:31

just a joy. That's a

35:34

loopy, loopy, loopy, loopy. And of

35:37

course Ashley will round things

35:39

off with a superfan quiz. Midsummer

35:44

Murders Mayhem is presented by me,

35:46

Nikki Chapman. A massive thank you

35:49

to Bill Young and Ashley's story

35:51

and to our guest Caroline Graham.

35:53

This has been an all three

35:55

media international production with special thanks

35:57

to associate producers Rachel Blaister and

36:00

and Gary Wohl. This series was

36:02

created by Story Hunter. The

36:04

executive producer was Kirsty Hunter,

36:06

produced by Shannon Delwish. The

36:09

production team was Pam Muir, Annie

36:11

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