Master Class

Somewhere in a private musical academy, a handful of gifted children are fighting for a scholarship. The prize matters, and the parents care far too much. At least one of the young pianists is carrying emotional troubles that have nothing to do with the examiners. The academy is the sort of place that calls itself a community and runs on fear, and the scholarship is the prize that makes the fear worthwhile. Into this rarefied world walks a murder investigation, and the polished corridors start to look a good deal less civilised.

The episode has a sharp eye for the quiet cruelty of these places, where every performance is judged and the most gifted child doubles as a walking advertisement for someone's ambitions. Barnaby and Jones have to pick their way through teachers and rivals without stepping on anyone's concert career. There are parents who want their own child to win and parents who want someone else's child to lose, and telling the two apart takes most of the episode. The adults in the room include Simon Sharpe and Francesca Sharpe, while Zoe Stock, Terry Stock and Dawn Stock all have reasons to care about how the scholarship lands. Joyce appears at the edges, and Dr Bullard and DC Gail Stephens keep the procedural side ticking over.

Nicholas Martin and Caroline Graham wrote it, and Renny Rye directed. John Nettles and Jason Hughes lead the cast, with Michael Maloney, Katherine Press, Lydia Wilson, Ian Puleston-Davies and Janet Dibley in support.

But there is something quietly chilling about a murder inquiry in a place where everyone is used to being graded. The music is lovely and the ambition is uglier, and the mystery sits somewhere in between. It is one of those episodes where the setting does half the detective's work for him, and the show knows it.