Days of Misrule

Christmas in Midsomer is less about peace and goodwill than about bodies, and this one supplies them in quantity. An explosion and a run of murders near a local freight company keep Barnaby busy through the holidays, and to make things worse he has to work alongside an acting chief superintendent with very firm views on teamwork. The man's ideas are good on paper and insufferable in practice, and watching Barnaby manage him is nearly as entertaining as the mystery itself. The dead include people connected to the depot, and the blast complicates an already crowded scene.

The freight operation and its surroundings supply the suspects. Tim Pigott-Smith's Matt Parkes and Joseph Millson's James Parkes head the list, with Niamh Cusack's Penny Galsworthy and Judy Parfitt's Caroline Halsey adding weight, and Nick Fletcher's CS John Cotton keeping the uniformed end busy. Barry Jackson's Dr Bullard does the forensics, Kirsty Dillon's WPC Gail Stephens does the legwork, and Jason Hughes's Ben Jones holds the middle of the investigation together. Jane Wymark's Joyce provides the home front, and the festivities carry on around all of it, tinsel and mince pies alongside the crime tape, which only makes the darkness feel worse. The seasonal trimmings never quite cover the damage, and the show knows it.

Elizabeth-Anne Wheal and Caroline Graham wrote it, Renny Rye directed. The explosion gives the plot a bigger canvas than usual, and the show makes good use of it before narrowing back down to the people. The balance holds: enough investigation to satisfy, enough Christmas to remind you what is being spoiled.

But the holidays are no excuse for a killer, and Barnaby says as much with his usual restraint. It all wraps up, as these things must, not before the acting chief superintendent has made his presence felt at every turn. Some men are harder to survive than a murder inquiry.