The Best Episodes of Midsomer Murders

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
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   8.2/10(2645 votes)

   #1 - The Killings at Badger's Drift

   S1:E13/23/1997

   An elderly woman is found dead in her cottage and DCI Tom Barnaby is convinced the death is not down to natural causes

   Director:Jeremy Silberston

   Writers:Caroline Graham, Anthony Horowitz

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   Director:Jeremy Silberston

   Writers:Caroline Graham, Anthony Horowitz
2. 

   8.2/10(1617 votes)

   #2 - Death's Shadow

   S2:E11/20/1999

   Barnaby and Troy are in Badger's Drift again, this time to investigate the murder of an unpopular property developer called Richard Bayly who had been suffering from a brain tumour. Bayly had recently come up with plans to build a new housing estate in the sleepy village, despite determined local opposition, and he was killed with an Indian sword belonging to Stephen Wentworth, the local Vicar. Another interesting factor is the recent arrival in the village of Simon Fletcher, a theatre director with unhappy childhood memories and perhaps an old grievance.

   Director:Jeremy Silberston

   Writer:Anthony Horowitz

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   Director:Jeremy Silberston

   Writer:Anthony Horowitz
3. 

   8.2/10(1597 votes)

   #3 - Judgement Day

   S3:E31/29/2000

   Midsomer Mallow has a shot at the Perfect Village title, provided it can keep a murderer at bay.

   Director:Jeremy Silberston

   Writer:Anthony Horowitz

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   Director:Jeremy Silberston

   Writer:Anthony Horowitz
4. 

   8.2/10(1125 votes)

   #4 - Last Year's Model

   S9:E89/17/2006

   Annie Woodrow, a charity worker from Midsomer Malham, is standing trial for killing her best friend, Frances Trevelyan, in a case that Barnaby had investigated ten months previously. But he becomes increasingly unsettled that the prosecution's case doesn't match the facts. Barnaby & Jones enlist the help of key witness Mrs Beverly in a risky entrapment to find out what really happened. Jones's promotion to Det Sgt comes through at the same time.

   Director:Richard Holthouse

   Writer:David Hoskins

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   Director:Richard Holthouse

   Writer:David Hoskins
5. 

   8.1/10(1184 votes)

   #5 - Painted in Blood

   S6:E31/17/2003

   Barnaby's wife, Joyce, finds a dead body on the Midsomer Florey village green while taking part in a watercolour painting class, and she recognizes it as the elderly Miss Fairfax.Barnaby is given the case, then finds himself taken off it and replaced by a team from the National Intelligence Squad, while he is assigned to deal with a missing handbag. However, he continues his investigation into the murder, finding deceit and double-dealing. It appears that 'Miss Fairfax' was not an elderly spinster at all, but a young detective sergeant from the National Intelligence Squad working under cover, and that her colleagues are busy fitting up the village handyman for the murder of an old lady who never was. He discovers that someone is busy hunting for some five million pounds still missing from an old robbery. In the closing moments, Barnaby has to lock two of the National Intelligence Squad's officers in a bank strong-room, where they are trying to snatch the missing cash, and to arrest the

   Director:Sarah Hellings

   Writer:Andrew Payne

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   Director:Sarah Hellings

   Writer:Andrew Payne
6. 

   8.1/10(1319 votes)

   #6 - The Green Man

   S7:E111/2/2003

   The Barnaby-Troy partnership is about to come to an end, as Troy has passed his inspector's exam and is moving on. However, the murderers of Midsomer go on piling up the bodies. Joyce Barnaby gets trapped in a fallen canal tunnel, and in getting her out seven skeletons come to light in a hidden chamber. Meanwhile, two local tearaways are shot dead in the woods at Midsomer Worthy, and a tramp called Tom is accused of the killings. While Troy looks into the shootings, Barnaby wrestles with an old mystery. And although six of the skeletons found in the tunnel date from the 18th century, one is much more recent.

   Director:Sarah Hellings

   Writer:Michael Russell

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   Director:Sarah Hellings

   Writer:Michael Russell
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7. 

   8.1/10(1112 votes)

   #7 - Second Sight

   S8:E61/23/2005

   John Ransom is found murdered with suspicious burn marks to his head. The investigation leads to two feuding families - one with the ability of second sight.

   Director:Richard Holthouse

   Writer:Tony Etchells

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   Director:Richard Holthouse

   Writer:Tony Etchells
8. 

   8.1/10(1090 votes)

   #8 - Vixen's Run

   S9:E33/5/2006

   The elderly Sir Freddy Butler has invited both his ex-wives, Annabel & Lucinda, to stay with him and his current wife, Tara. When he dies suddenly of a heart attack, the bitter rivalry between the three and Sandra, the wife of his heir, comes to the surface, with murderous consequences. To solve the mystery, Barnaby must unravel paternity questions about some of the residents of the hall, and find the legendary missing emeralds.

   Director:Peter Smith

   Writer:Michael Aitkens

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   Director:Peter Smith

   Writer:Michael Aitkens
9. 

   8.0/10(1186 votes)

   #9 - The House in the Woods

   S9:E110/9/2005

   A couple who have been searching the Midsomer area for a suitable property to renovate, Peter & Caroline Cave, are found brutally garrotted in their car outside a supposedly haunted dilapidated old cottage in the woods near Midsomer Newton. There are several other people interested in buying the house, but are they desperate enough to murder potential rivals? Barnaby investigates, with the assistance of PC Ben Jones, who he temporarily appoints Detective Constable, in the absence of DS Scott. Joyce Barnaby is helping a local group of conservationists identify architecturally important buildings in the area, and is asked to investigate the same cottage, potentially putting her in danger. Barnaby then discovers that there is something odd about the person selling the cottage.

   Director:Peter Smith

   Writer:Barry Simner

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   Director:Peter Smith

   Writer:Barry Simner
10. 

    8.0/10(917 votes)

    #10 - Happy Families

    S22:E310/3/2021

    Barnaby is investigating the murder of Victor Karras, a manufacturer of exclusive board games, who appears to have been poisoned.

    Director:Audrey Cooke

    Writer:Nicholas Hicks-Beach

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    Director:Audrey Cooke

    Writer:Nicholas Hicks-Beach
11. 

    7.9/10(1477 votes)

    #11 - Strangler's Wood

    S2:E22/3/1999

    Nine years after a series of unsolved murders at Midsomer Worthy, a new death which follows the same pattern (a girl is found strangled in the woods) leads to fears that the serial killer is back in business. Barnaby and Troy look out the old files in dealing with the first new murder - and then others follow.

    Director:Jeremy Silberston

    Writer:Anthony Horowitz

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    Director:Jeremy Silberston

    Writer:Anthony Horowitz
12. 

    7.9/10(1435 votes)

    #12 - Dead Man's Eleven

    S2:E39/12/1999

    Troy is in the Midsomer Worthy cricket eleven for the annual match against Fletchers Cross, so he is on the spot when the wife of Robert Cavendish, the Team Captain and a big local landowner, is found bludgeoned to death with a cricket bat. As often happens, the death toll mounts before the killer can be unmasked. Why should the cricket team's scorer be stabbed to death with a Nazi dagger at the following match? Cavendish, as a mine owner, may have been responsible for the 'accidental' deaths of two of his employees in years gone by. If someone is out for revenge, who is it? Meanwhile, a protest march to maintain footpaths across Cavendish's land finds a foot-bridge has been sabotaged, and their leader takes a ducking...

    Director:Jeremy Silberston

    Writer:Anthony Horowitz

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    Director:Jeremy Silberston

    Writer:Anthony Horowitz
13. 

    7.9/10(1316 votes)

    #13 - Destroying Angel

    S4:E28/26/2001

    Barnaby attends the funeral of the owner of the Easterly Grange Hotel and hears that the hotel manager has gone missing. The will is read, and it seems the hotel has been divided between the missing manager and his beautiful wife, the hotel's chef and its accountant.A dog finds the hotel manager's severed hand, and the others named in the will receive threatening notes. Then accidents start to happen to them all, including mushroom-poisoning, an apparently accidental shooting, a falling drinks cabinet and a sabotaged vehicle. Barnaby next learns that the missing hotel manager had in his possession a more recent will, which is also now missing....

    Director:David Tucker

    Writer:David Hoskins

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    Director:David Tucker

    Writer:David Hoskins
14. 

    7.9/10(1081 votes)

    #14 - Country Matters

    S9:E69/10/2006

    Frank Hopkirk, an environmental adviser on the proposed site of a controversial Goodfare supermarket in Elverton-cum-Latterly, is found stabbed to death in an old farm building on the site. Barnaby & Jones question locals on both sides of the debate over the plans, and find that Mr Hopkirk had extra-curricular dealings with a number of the local ladies and their businesses. But which one of these caused passions to be stirred up to such a murderous extent?

    Director:Richard Holthouse

    Writer:Andrew Payne

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    Director:Richard Holthouse

    Writer:Andrew Payne
15. 

    7.9/10(1112 votes)

    #15 - The Animal Within

    S10:E21/19/2007

    Faith Alexander arrives in Midsomer Deverell to visit her estranged Uncle Rex, much to the surprise of his friends and associates who had been told she was dead. The problem is Rex is missing and Barnaby's initial investigation into his disappearance becomes more sinister when Rex's body is found at the bottom of the weir. The case becomes more complicated as it appears the eccentric Rex left several different wills and everyone wants a slice of his estate. Was this the reason for murder, or is it related to a family feud from 40 years ago? What was the secret of the feud? Those who know are not saying but someone is prepared to commit further murders to ensure it is not revealed.

    Director:Renny Rye

    Writer:David Hoskins

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    Director:Renny Rye

    Writer:David Hoskins
16. 

    7.9/10(1018 votes)

    #16 - Blood Wedding

    S11:E25/10/2008

    An upper class wedding results in an evil and sudden death, which becomes another challenge for Barnaby. These people are not used to having the police around asking a lot of silly questions. Besides, Barnaby has Cully's wedding to sort out as well

    Director:Peter Smith

    Writer:David Harsent

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    Director:Peter Smith

    Writer:David Harsent
17. 

    7.9/10(966 votes)

    #17 - The Black Book

    S12:E28/5/2009

    The sale of a previously unknown painting by an 18th century painter sends Barnaby into an investigation of murders as well as art forgery.

    Director:Peter Smith

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Peter Smith

    Writer:Unknown
18. 

    7.9/10(974 votes)

    #18 - The Creeper

    S12:E61/27/2010

    Midsomer's Chettham Park House, once owned by Sir William Chettham, has been bought by entrepreneur Jack Filby to save Sir William from financial ruin. Long-term friends dating back to the days of university, Jack has allowed William, his mother Elizabeth, wife Isobel and son Freddy to stay on living at The Dower House - the smaller house on the estate where the Baronet's widowed mother would traditionally live. Jack is the man of the manor now with William and Isobel's son Freddy as his right hand man.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
19. 

    7.9/10(1059 votes)

    #19 - Master Class

    S13:E510/6/2010

    Piano student Zoe Stock has won a place at the Devington Manor Winter School led by internationally renowned musician Sir Michael Fielding. From the riverbank in the grounds of the manor she sees a woman jump from the bridge and disappear underwater. When Barnaby and Jones start investigating the possible drowning, they discover unsavoury connections to the past that could prove lethal twenty years later. But can they intervene before the body count escalates and will the talented Zoe survive her master class?

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
20. 

    7.9/10(1028 votes)

    #20 - Dark Secrets

    S14:E23/30/2011

    The reclusive lives of elderly eccentrics William and Mary Bingham comes under police scrutiny when a social services investigator is murdered. Barnaby and Jones must unearth generations of family secrets and decipher astronomical charts to find the killer.

    Director:Simon Langton

    Writer:Michael Aitkens

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    Director:Simon Langton

    Writer:Michael Aitkens
21. 

    7.8/10(1928 votes)

    #21 - Written in Blood

    S1:E23/22/1998

    Gerald Hadleigh, secretary of a writers' circle, is found battered to death the morning after the group's meeting with best-selling novelist (and former psycho-therapist) Max Jennings. Gerald did not want to invite Max to Midsomer Worthy, and he seemed apprehensive about the visit.Barnaby's investigations show that Gerald was a man of mystery - he had no National Insurance number, no family, and no marriage certficate to go with his wedding photographs. And it seems he had a mysterious woman visitor on the night of his death... then Max Jennings goes missing and is found dead.

    Director:Jeremy Silberston

    Writers:Caroline Graham, Anthony Horowitz

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    Director:Jeremy Silberston

    Writers:Caroline Graham, Anthony Horowitz
22. 

    7.8/10(1219 votes)

    #22 - Market for Murder

    S5:E16/16/2002

    A ladies reading group in Midsomer Market starts losing members to murder.

    Director:Sarah Hellings

    Writer:Andrew Payne

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    Director:Sarah Hellings

    Writer:Andrew Payne
23. 

    7.8/10(1280 votes)

    #23 - Ring Out Your Dead

    S5:E39/15/2002

    In the village of Midsomer Wellow, someone is killing off the bellringers of the parish church, in the week before a big bell-ringing competition. One young woman on the team is even shot dead in the churchyard on her wedding day. Before he can crack the case, Barnaby has to understand the significance of an old killing in the same village in the year 1860, when the Midsomer Wellow Vicar of the day, the Reverend Jonathan Ebbrell, was murdered and thrown down a well by the bellringers of his church. So where are the Ebbrells now?

    Director:Sarah Hellings

    Writer:Christopher Russell

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    Director:Sarah Hellings

    Writer:Christopher Russell
24. 

    7.8/10(1010 votes)

    #24 - Down Among the Dead Men

    S9:E43/12/2006

    Barnaby and Jones investigate the shooting of a blackmailer, Martin Barrett. But he had so many victims, they are spoiled for choice for a suspect. Then one of his victims, Sir John Waverley, gets another demand. The trail leads them to the seaside and diving for treasure on an uncataloged wreck.

    Director:Renny Rye

    Writer:Douglas Watkinson

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    Director:Renny Rye

    Writer:Douglas Watkinson
25. 

    7.8/10(1000 votes)

    #25 - Picture of Innocence

    S10:E66/3/2007

    There's a shock for Joyce when she and Tom visit a photo exhibition in Luxton Deeping. Barnaby also gets a glimpse of the bitter rivalry between the traditional film photo followers and the digital enthusiasts. Things develop a more serious turn, however, when a member of the local camera club is brutally strangled. For once there are no shortage of clues and leads, all pointing to one suspect - Barnaby himself !! Suspended from duty, Barnaby, with a little covert help from Jones, has to use all his deductive powers to discover the motive and unmask the real murderer before they strike again.

    Director:Richard Holthouse

    Writer:Andrew Payne

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    Director:Richard Holthouse

    Writer:Andrew Payne