The Noble Art

Midsomer Morchard decides to restage a famous bareknuckle boxing bout from 1860, with the full pomp and ceremony the occasion deserves. The 1860 fight is a piece of local heritage, which in Midsomer means it comes with grudges attached. Spectators come and speeches are made; then the fists fly. And the bodies start piling up, because this is Midsomer and no one can hold a village celebration without someone fetching a corpse.

Barnaby and Jones work the crowd of revivalists, local worthies and families with long memories. The revival draws history buffs and fight fans, along with people who simply like a day out with a theme, and half of them turn out to be hiding something. The Farquaharsons are everywhere, and Gerald, Sebastian and Camilla all act as though the day belongs to them. Iris Holman and Giles Braithwaite keep the older generation's interests close, while Joyce appears at the edges of the festivities and Dr Bullard has the thankless job of counting the casualties. DC Gail Stephens does the legwork. The whole production has the feeling of a village show that has lost its way, which is more or less what Midsomer does best.

Barry Purchese and Caroline Graham wrote it, and Richard Holthouse directed. John Nettles and Jason Hughes head the cast, with Kevin McNally, Matthew Douglas, Daniela Denby-Ashe, Michelle Fairley and Ken Bones making the village look properly lived in.

And there is a version of this episode where the boxing pageant is just background noise. Instead the show leans into the strangeness: a village that celebrates a bare-knuckle brawl from a century and a half ago with civic pride, then has to explain why its citizens keep dying. The spectacle is half the fun, and the other half is watching Barnaby stand in the middle of it all, unimpressed.