Small Mercies

The body of a local troublemaker and lady's man is found in the model village at Little Worthy, the town's chief tourist attraction. It is a grim joke done well: a man who made real trouble ends up dead among the tiny buildings, a full-size corpse in a place built to be looked down on. The victim was well known in the village, which in Midsomer is never a compliment. The model village is a labour of love for the town, which makes the discovery all the more unwelcome. The setting gives the episode one of its better images, and the investigation has to work around the visitors who keep arriving to admire the miniature town.

The inquiry spreads through Little Worthy. David Ryall's Bob Moss, Margaret Tyzack's Harriet Compton and Caroline Blakiston's Hilary Compton give the town its proper weight, with Paul Bentall's Edward Palfrey and Olivia Colman's Bernice in support. Colman is a reminder that this show was hiring future stars years before the rest of the world caught up. The questioning is conducted at a proper village pace, with tea where tea is due. Barry Jackson's Dr Bullard examines the victim, Kirsty Dillon's DC Gail Stephens does the legwork, and Jason Hughes's Ben Jones and John Nettles's Barnaby divide the interviews between them. Jane Wymark's Joyce is present as always.

Peter Hammond and Caroline Graham wrote it, Peter Smith directed. The mystery stays close to the village, and the model village itself becomes part of the investigation in a way that earns the title. The pacing is patient, and the reveals arrive at sensible intervals. The episode wears its small scale proudly, right down to the last reveal.

It is a small story, and the show has always been good at those. The dead man made enemies the way he made conquests, and one of them finally had enough. But the miniature town, for its part, keeps its own counsel.