Midsomer Murders Series 15: The Dark Rider [DVD]

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Season 15 Episode 1 of Midsomer Murders resulted in a 0.00 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Midsomer Murders Season 15 Episodes... The Dark Rider is the first episode of the fifteenth series of Midsomer Murders and originally aired 1st February 2012.

Inside the house, the family sits around the dining room table. Jones tells Barnaby that they have looked at dozens of video phone cameras. They're pointing at the main entrance. The family's nowhere to be seen. Barnaby tells Jones to get the Fleetwoods' statements. He then asks Simon if they can have a chat. Barnaby and Jones drive up. Jones asks Barnaby. "You like horses, sir?" Barnaby says, "No. Nasty brutish creatures. They always tread on me. Modest little place," referring to the mansion. Jones says, "An Englishman's castle is his home." Diana DeQuetteville greets the officers. Otherwise, for a John Barnaby-era episode "The Dark Rider" was very satisfying. As always, the production values cannot be faulted as usual, it's beautifully and atmospherically shot with suitably picturesque scenery. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the haunting theme tune is one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre. At the Barnaby home, Sarah Barnaby explains the situation at the DeQuettevilles: The Roundheads won at Naseby in the civil war. But the DeQuettevilles, who were Royalists, Cavaliers, have never really liked that result. So when they do their battle re-enactment, they fix it so that the Cavaliers win. As the new secretary of the Historical Society, Sarah is gaining the respect of her staff and making sure the re-enactment is accurate. Barnaby tells her he is dealing with a weird death up there and doesn't like her being up there. Sarah tells him that they are bound to cross paths sometimes and to live with it.

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At Quitewell Hall, Ludo tells Barnaby that he saw the headless horseman last night. Ludo says, "It's the ghost of Geoffrey. I'm a goner!" Barnaby says, "Sir Ludovic, if his horse was real, there's a good chance the rider was real too." Ludo says, "No, no, it's Geoffrey. And he's coming for me!" Barnaby tells him to stay inside today with the battle on.

Murder 3: Ludo hears a rattling at the window. He looks out and sees someone he knows. He says, "Oh, it's you. I'll let you in." He goes outside and a giant gargoyle falls on him. Love Makes You Evil: Toby DeQuetteville murders everyone between himself and the Lordship, because he's afraid of his wife leaving him, and assumes being a Lady will make her stay.Toby tells Barnaby and Jones that his relationship with Julian was all good. He would be the next in line to inherit. Toby admits that he is uncomfortable with being called a sir and running the place. He is a bit... socially... clumsy. Toby mentions that The Fleetwoods have been in a family feud with the DeQuettevilles for "yonks"- a long time. In the woods at night, Simon is burning a spear and when it catches fire, he turns and stabs a cloth figure on a pole. In the lab, Kate says, "Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. See, he was born with an extra connection in the heart that allows the electrical signals to bypass the atria-ventricular node and move from the atria to the ventricles faster than usual. It eventually disrupts the co-ordinating movement of the electrical signals through the heart, leading to cardiac arrest." Jones says, "So it was an accident, then." Barnaby says, "Jones, a headless horseman was also present. Probably frightened him off the roof. Accident? I don't think so." Jones tells Kate, "He hates accidents. Makes him feel superfluous." In the dining room of the hall, Simon is arranging silverware. Betty is setting up chairs. Betty says Simon is obsessive compulsive so setting up the silverware keeps him calm for a while. Barnaby asks about the accident to his mother. Betty says that no one really knows what happened. Simon and Angela went for a ride along Badger's Ridge. A few hours later, Simon returned, leading his mother's horse with her body slung across the saddle, just like a Western. Barnaby says there were no reported ghosts at Quitewell until about six years ago when Betty took over as estate manager. Betty tells him that there were stories about the Dark Rider, as he was known, from the Twenties- housemaid stuff. When Betty found the headless Geoffrey portrait, she revived the story and freshened it up a bit. She supplemented the spook inventory with a lady who walks on the lake at full moon, and the skeleton found in the walls of the cellar. All to make money: Mystery murder weekends. Spooks, ghostly tales, dark spooky things. It's all essential. There hadn't been any sightings of a headless horseman, it's just this daft family jumping on their own bandwagon. She says, Toby is a DeQuetteville- Suggestible. Barnaby asks why did she marry Toby? Betty replies that Toby may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he loves her. Unconditionally. Like a Labrador. And that is enough for her right now, thank you very much. Simon drops silverware and stares at the landing on the second floor as if he has seen a ghost. In the library of the mansion, the family are seated together- Izzy next to Ludo; Julian with an arm around Diana. Toby walks in and joins Betty. Izzy is saying to the police, "I'm sorry if we sound callous, but we didn't like Bentham." Ludo joins in, "Total misery." Izzy says, "Spat at the visitors. Smelled of boiled cabbage. And his death hasn't really increased his charm at all." Jones asks Toby what happened last night. Toby says, "I was taking the dog out for a walk. Slash. And... I heard these cries. I came running round the corner. And there was poor Uncle Ben. You know, awful." Jones says, "You saw a grey horse riding away." Toby says, "I did, yeah." Barnaby says, "And you say the rider had no head." Other family members smirk, murmur. Toby says, "Er... Well, yeah. He was a bit... headless." Jones says, "And as your uncle died, he said the name Geoffrey." Julian looks at Toby and warningly says, "Toby!" Toby says, "I might have misheard that. He was on the ground. You know... I don't know really." Barnaby continues, "And Geoffrey... Is there a Geoffrey in the family?" Ludo lies and says, "I can't think of a Geoffrey. Can you, Izzy? No. There's a Rupert in Norfolk. Mind you, he's pretty dead as well. Isn't he, Betty?"

It boasts a fantastic cast, William Gaunt, Eleanor Bron, Raquel Cassidy, Paul Ritter, they really did pull out all the stops to assemble such a gathering. They all combine to make some fantastic characters, especially the pairing of Izzy and Ludo (Bron and Gaunt,) they are wonderfully eccentric. Jones calls Barnaby to tell him that he found out that Betty used to work for the Norfolk branch of the DeQuettevilles. She managed the estate up there until Rupert DeQuetteville died- he fell off a horse. Jones goes to talk to Amanda at the stables. She says she's not providing horses for the DeQuettevilles. Julian never paid her last year. She says Sasha and she were at uni together. They had similar ambitions to use their brains to get a good life. Sasha's got there whilst Amanda is still up to her eyebrows in debt and horse dung.Murder 1: Toby DeQuetteville is taking the dog out for a walk when he sees the a figure on a horse with apparently no head. He runs over to Bentham's body. Bentham says, "Geoff..Geoffrey." and dies. It's a dark and stormy night at Quitewell Hall, which is the size of a castle. Bentham DeQuetteville hears a noise and goes on the roof. The flag has come down and he tries to get it loose from the stone it's wrapped around. Then he sees the headless horseman pointing at him. He cries out and falls to the ground clutching the flag. Barnaby says to Simon, "I'm just a policeman, but in my line of work I tend to come into people's lives when they are at their most vulnerable and confused. Sort of where you are now. So I want to help you as much as I can. But mainly, I need to apprehend a murderer. I don't know what you know. I don't know what's in your head. I don't know what you've done. Have you done something I should know about, Simon?"