Dark Autumn

The postman in this one has a hyperactive libido and the village reputation to match, and someone nearly takes his head off for it. That single act of violence is the first link in a chain. But other villagers with similarly active private lives start dying, and Barnaby finds himself investigating a series of murders connected by little more than the victims' love lives.

It is a grisly premise wearing an autumnal coat. The leaves are turning and the days are drawing in. The secrets of several local families surface one body at a time: the Shortlands, represented by Debbie and Keith, and the Yeatmans, Mary and Mike, with John Field, Simon Reason and Owen August circling the edges. Barnaby's notebook fills up with names and times and the exact nature of each victim's business, and none of it makes comfortable reading. In a village this size, nobody's indiscretions stay private for long once the killing starts, and the whole community goes about its business looking nervously over its shoulder.

Peter Hammond and Caroline Graham wrote it, with Jeremy Silberston directing. John Nettles and Daniel Casey lead, and Jane Wymark is Joyce. The cast includes Fleur Bennett as Debbie Shortlands, Adam Blackwood as Keith Shortlands, Prue Clarke as Mary Yeatman, Del Henney as Mike Yeatman, Robert Glenister as John Field, Nicky Henson as Simon Reason and Alan Howard as Owen August.

Midsomer has always understood that its villages are prettiest when they are at their most dangerous, and this episode leans into that with real relish. Autumn suits the show: the light goes, the evenings close in, and the hedgerows start hiding things. The postman, who knew everyone's business because that was his job, turns out to have known far too much of it. You could say he brought it on himself. The show lets you decide.