Inspector Barnaby Collectors Box 1

Content: Since 1997 Inspector Barnaby solves now already the numerous murders, which are committed with beautiful regularity in the fictional county of Midsomer. Fifteen seasons with over 90 episodes have John Barnaby (John Nettles), his family and his colleagues already on the hump. Since 2005, Inspector Barnaby has also been successfully investigating on ZDF, where he delights an average of 3 million viewers with his sometimes wonderfully macabre humor. And on DVD, too, the idiosyncratic investigator, who has meanwhile retired and handed over his office to his cousin Tom Barnaby as of season 14, enjoys great popularity. In Germany, 15 boxes of the gilded DVD series have now been released, with each of these boxes containing four episodes. These cases of Inspector Barnaby make one thing in particular clear: as beautiful as the fictional county of Midsomer may be scenically, as picturesque as its small towns may seem, you don't really want to live there. After all, the life expectancy of the inhabitants of Midsomer is not particularly high, and the murder rate here is far above average. Whether it's something in the region's water or whether it's genetically inherited, people in Midsomer seem to be quicker to pick up guns, knives, pitchforks and other murder instruments than anywhere else. But luckily there are hard-working investigators like Inspector Barnaby, who does his best to put the bad boys (and ladies) of his region behind bars. For those who haven't picked up the DVD box sets yet, or who don't know the popular Inspector at all, a nice Collectors Box has now been released, containing all the episodes from the first five DVD box sets. That's twenty episodes from the first seven seasons, so almost 35 hours (!) of best TV entertainment. Beautiful, rugged landscapes, Barnaby's endearing quips against Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey), dry humor mixed with lovingly overdrawn soap elements drenched in blood make the episodes contained in this box a must for all old and new Barnaby fans - and actually also for all other crime fiction lovers. Whether to get started with the series or as a gift, this box is the perfect way to start or complete your own Barnaby collection. The DVDs in detail (Table of Contents Texts: ZDF) Volume 1: Death at Badger`s Drift (The Killings at Badger`s Drift).NEmily Simpson is found dead in her cottage - apparently the elderly lady fell down the stairs and broke her neck. Accident or murder? The victim's neighbour, Lucy Bellringer (Rosalie Crutchley), is convinced that her friend has fallen victim to foul play. She has seen the orchid collector coming distraught from the woods. In fact, the former teacher has been killed by a blow from a blunt object. Furthermore, a check of her phone reveals that Emily Simpson had called the telephone helpline shortly before her death. For Inspector Tom Barnaby and Sergeant Troy, the seeming idyll of the sleepy hamlet of Badger's Drift soon reveals deadly secrets. No one seems to be telling the truth here, everyone is leering at each other. Above all, Inspector Barnaby is thorn in the side of the eccentric Iris Rainbird (Elizabeth Spriggs) and her son Dennis (Richard Cant), the local undertaker, who watch events in the village from a lookout in their house. They take a keen interest in the circumstances surrounding Emily Simpson's death. It is also the bizarre couple who report another strange death that rocked the community a few years ago. Could there be a connection here? Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy dig deep into the past, and their investigation gets in the way of a ruthless killer with a perfidious plan ... Bloody Beginners (Written in Blood) The tranquil community of Midsomer Worthy is beset by a gruesome crime: Gerald Hadleigh (Robert Swann), chairman of the Midsomer Worthy Amateur Writers' Circle, has been brutally slain in his bedroom. Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles), who was already on the verge of becoming bored, immediately stumbles upon the curious circumstance that all the clothes have been stolen from the dead man's flat - is this supposed to be the motive for the terrible deed? Last seen alive was Hadleigh at the Circle's monthly meeting, and all five members have noticed his strange behavior, apparently related to the visit of former psychiatrist and current best-selling author Max Jennings (John Shrapnel). Amy Lyddiard (Joanna David) even claims that Hadleigh was downright terrified of meeting him - though she doesn't know the reason why. However, the other amateur writers also leave Barnaby with a few unanswered questions: why was Honoria Lyddiard (Anna Massey), who is downright obsessed with her family history, so desperate to reach Hadleigh the afternoon before he died? Who is the mysterious woman that Laura Hutton (Jane Booker), dreaming of campy romance novels, saw outside Hadleigh's house? Why does children's book-loving Sue Clapper (Judith Scott) become increasingly entangled in contradictions when it comes to the alibi of her contemporary drama-adherent husband Brian (David Troughton)? And why does Amy Lyddiard, of all people, who is devoted to poetry, inherit a large sum from Hadleigh's estate? To get to the bottom of Midsomer Worthy's mystery, Barnaby is forced to read between the lines in this case -and gets on the trail of a terrible tragedy that will result in more victims ... Requiem for a Murderer (Death of a Hollow Man) As if everything weren't exciting enough: While Midsomer Worthy's amateur theater troupe is in final rehearsals of Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus," Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) has to put his set work on hold when art historian Agnes Grey is pulled slain from a lake. While Harold Winstanley (Bernard Hepton), import and export merchant and director of the play, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown because of the approaching opening night, Esslyn Carmichael (Nicholas Le Prevost), the smug performer of Salieri, is stunned: who would have an interest in murdering his cousin Agnes? There doesn't seem to be a motive - Agnes was a reclusive woman who devoted all her efforts to animal welfare. But then where did all the money she used to fund her various projects come from? While Inspector Barnaby should really be taking care of his case, he keeps getting drawn into the backstage intrigue games by his wife Joyce (Jane Wymark), who is eagerly awaiting her "grand entrance" as Salieri's mute servant. When an open-stage murder occurs at the public dress rehearsal, Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) are also forced to wade through what seems to be the theatre's usual thicket of intrigue, lies and personal rivalries. When it turns out that the two cases may very well be connected, the tide turns - for the score of murders is far from finished ... A Bad Ending (Death in Disguise) Ten years ago, Ian Craigie (Michael Feast) and his partner Carter (Robert Pickavance) founded the "Lodge of the Golden Wind Horse" and have come to financial prosperity. Now strange incidents accumulate in the esoteric institute: First Carter breaks his neck in a fall down the stairs. A little later, during a storm, a stone ball falls from a parapet and misses the seminar participants standing below by a hair's breadth. And then Ian Craigie is stabbed to death while trying to contact the deceased Carter during a séance. Is someone trying to use violence to put an end to the mysterious goings-on in the Lodge? Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles), who has relatively little to do with the "power of stones", the "call of the dead" and the "mysticism of the mating behaviour of bees", takes up the investigation. But the reenactment of the crime scene reveals that no one was actually close enough to the victim to have committed the crime - except for the mute and maladjusted teenager Tim (Daniel Hart), who, however, worshipped his "master" like a demigod. And Tim, of all people, was supposed to be a murderer? Tom Barnaby finds this solution too simple. And so he and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) head into the depths of the "Lodge" - to discover, between fennel tea and reincarnations, that not only dead men have their secrets ... Volume 2: The Shadow of Death (Death`s Shadow) Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) and his wife Joyce (Jane Wymark) want to renew their wedding vows in celebration of their silver wedding anniversary, and their choice falls on St. Michaels in Badger's Drift. But it seems as if the past is repeating itself, for as it did 25 years ago, a death once again gets in Barnaby's way, making an undisturbed celebration unlikely. Property agent Richard Bayly (Dominic Jephcott) is killed in the most brutal of ways - with an Indian scimitar stolen from the house of Reverend Wentworth (Richard Briers) the night before. Bayly hailed from Badger's Drift and had been popular there until now. However, his latest project - to turn the vacant country estate of Tye House into a retirement residence with an integrated golf course - had met with opposition from some local residents. Former headmistress of the primary school and keen conservationist Agnes Sampson (Vivian Pickles) makes no secret of her dislike for her former pupil, who had agreed to the felling of valuable trees and, in her view, wanted to blight the village. And an old acquaintance of Barnaby and Troy (Daniel Casey) also resurfaces: David Whitely (Christopher Villiers), the former estate manager of Tye House, demanded a horrendous price from Bayly for his crucial share of the estate's land. While Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy once again experience that no one in Badger's Drift will willingly tell them the truth, Whitely burns alive in his trailer. Only when Barnaby and Troy discover what terrible secret has connected the dead do they get to the bottom of the culprit ... The Strangler of Raven`s Wood (Stranger`s Wood) .When Carla Constanza, model and t h e face of the Monarch Tobacco company`s Brazilian cigarette brand, is found strangled in infamous Raven`s Wood, Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) must solve not only this murder, but three more identical, unsolved murders of young girls eight years ago. John Merill (Nick Farrell), the cynical marketing director for Monarch Tobacco, is the prime suspect. His watch was found near the body, as were white clay marks on the wheels of his Jeep that match samples from the crime scene. His wife Kate (Phyllis Logan) finds a shirt in the closet with lipstick on the collar, the exact same color as Carla's. Both she and her best friend Liz Frances (Trudie Styler), who piquantly is having an affair with John, reluctantly confess to Inspector Barnaby that John likes to strangle them during lovemaking. But Barnaby remains suspicious: the so-called evidence is just too clear. And what role do the other residents of Midsomer Worthy play, such as George Meakham (Frank Windsor), the quirky and obsessive retired inspector and investigator in charge of the old murder series, who keeps neckties in his drawer, or the windy Bill Mitchell (Jeremy Clyde), who, as manager of Monarch Tobacco, loses a lot of money with the death of his trademark? When another murder occurs, Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy get the crucial clue and battle against time ... Sport is Murder (Dead Man`s Eleven) Robert Cavendish (Robert Hardy) is the uncrowned king of Fletcher`s Cross, ruling his family with the same high-handedness with which he directs the cricket team. His regiment is shaken, however, when his much younger wife, Tara (Felicity Dean), is found dead in the old quarry. Everything points to an accident - if it weren't for the fact that the quarry has been avoided by all of Fletcher's Cross ever since the Cavendish's housekeeper died there under dubious circumstances some time ago. So what would Tara have wanted there of all places? And indeed: The results of the post-mortem examination clearly prove that Tara Cavendish was already dead before the fall - beaten to death with the cricket bat belonging to Stephen Cavendish (Anthony Calf)! Stephen had hated his young stepmother because at her insistence the estate was to be sold. His wife Jane (Annabelle Apsion) and he would have been penniless. Was this the motive for the murder? Inspector Barnaby's (John Nettles) investigation opens a can of worms about cherished vanities, lost dreams and dashed hopes - and a crime from the distant past whose atonement will bring more victims ... The Pitchfork Murderer (Judgement Day) Joys and sorrows lie close together: Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) have succeeded in record time in tracking down Peter Drinkwater (Orlando Bloom) as the mastermind behind the series of burglaries that has left Midsomer Mallow unsettled - and then the arrest is thwarted when this same Peter is found dead with a pitchfork in his stomach. Suspects abound, for Peter Drinkwater was a rapscallion and troublemaker, but who is really capable of such a brutal crime? Now, of all times, Joyce Barnaby (Jane Wymark), a magazine reader, is chosen to be on the jury of "The Perfect Village" committee and is delighted that she can finally enjoy the beauty of County Midsomer without constantly "tripping over corpses." Little does she know that the journey will also take her to Midsomer Mallow ... Volume 3: The Curse of Aspern Tallow (Beyond the Grave) .Cully Barnaby's (Laura Howard) new friend, aspiring actor Nico (Ed Waters), is preparing for a role as a detective sergeant and is given permission to observe Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) and his assistant Troy (Daniel Casey) for a few days. Unfortunately, no more interesting case arises than the damage to a painting in the Lowrie family mansion, now a museum, which is said to be haunted. Barnaby's disinterest in the case only changes when he finds a packet of smoked mackerel in the neighbouring graveyard - after all, such an absurd situation can't be a coincidence! And he is right, because suddenly strange occurrences are multiplying in Aspern Tallow: Why is the church bell suddenly ringing at night, with which, according to legend, Jonathan Lowrie's ghost announces his appearance? Who is responsible for the attack on the curator Alan Bradford (Malcolm Sinclair)? What's behind the ghostly apparitions that conservator Sandra MacKillop (Cheryl Campbell) claims to have? And is the whimsical Eleanor Bunsall (Prunella Scales), the self-proclaimed ruler of Aspern Tallow really getting messages from beyond the grave? Finally, when the body of his descendant Marcus (Charles Simon) is found in the desecrated grave of Jonathan Lowrie, who has been searching for his ancestors' family silver for decades, the case takes an unexpected turn ... The Garden of Death (Garden of Death) In the tranquil Midsomer Deverell, Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) and his wife Joyce (Jane Wymark) are visiting the stately gardens of Inkpen Manor when suddenly a gunshot shatters the summer silence: The choleric Rodney Widger (David Ross), a neighbor of the Inkpen-Thomas family, fires a shotgun at tourists on his doorstep! No sooner is this crime foiled, however, than Inspector Barnaby must head back to Midsomer Deverell for a far more gruesome crime. Felicity Inkpen-Thomas (Sarah Alexander) is found bludgeoned to death in the family garden. In her hand is the remnant of a piece of paper. The investigation soon leads to a first suspicion: The gardener of the estate, Daniel Bolt (Neil Dudgeon), was there at the time of the crime and had an affair with both Felicity and her mother Elspeth Inkpen-Thomas (Belinda Lang). The number of suspects increases dramatically when Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) find themselves in the middle of a village feud: The Garden of Remembrance is to make way for a modern tea room, according to Elspeth. She does not budge from this plan even as she mourns the loss of her daughter. The protest of the village, led by Augustus Deverell (Anthony Bate), is strong. Both families are hostile to each other. Has the wrath of a fanatical flora and fauna lover been directed at Felicity? When Elspeth is mysteriously poisoned with foxglove, Barnaby and Troy suspect they may have missed something important in the inextricable jungle of clues ... A Little Man Dies in the Woods (Destroying Angel) Mourning in the county of Midsomer: The beloved owner of the historic Easterly Grange Hotel, Karl Wainwright (Edward Jewesbury), dies, leaving his fortune and property equally divided between general manager Suzanna Chambers (Samantha Bond), her husband Gregory (Philip Bowen), chef Tristan Goodfellow (Tom Ward), and accountant Julia Gooders (Abigail McKern). That Gregory does not appear at the funeral or the subsequent reading of the will strikes everyone involved as odd. Only Suzanna remains unconcerned, as her husband wanted to go into the woods to pick mushrooms - his passion - before the funeral service. In particular, Woody (Robert Lang) and Evelyn Pope (Rosemary Leach), friends of Joyce Barnaby (Jane Wymark) and the owners of a traditional Punch & Judy puppet theatre, become concerned and ask Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) for help. There was no way Gregory was going to miss his upcoming performance as the "Professor's" puppeteer. During a search of the woods by the villagers, a gruesome discovery is made: Gregory's right hand, severed from his body with a hacksaw! The deeper Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) look behind the facade of the village community, the more abysses open up: Greed, passion, anger, envy, jealousy and resentment have led to a dangerous cocktail of emotions that more people will fall victim to before Barnaby and Troy get to the bottom of the ruthless culprit ... The Dead Man in the Crop Circle (The Electric Vendetta) Wealthy farmer Sir Harry Chatwyn (John Woodvine) can't believe his eyes: On his land in County Midsomer, he discovers several mysterious crop circles, and in one of them lies a corpse - stark naked with burns on his hands and a strange stab wound to his neck. The victim is petty criminal Ronald Stokes. Sir Harry's wife Beatrice (Alison Fiske) and Midsomer Parva's UFO expert Lloyd Kirby (Kenneth Colley) offer their help to Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey), as Kirby is convinced the dead man was abducted and murdered by aliens. Although Lloyd has an alibi for the time of the crime, Barnaby is suspicious of him. But then, surprisingly, retired diplomat Sir Christian Aubrey (Alec McCowen) comes forward to bail the quirky ufologist out. While Barnaby attends a ufologist meeting in Midsomer Parva with his wife Joyce (Jane Wymark) for further research, a second body is found in the crop circles on Chatwyn's land: Serial burglar Eddy Field is also no stranger to the Midsomer police. There is initially no connection between the victims, both of whom appear to have been killed by powerful electric shocks. But Barnaby and Troy don't give up, and in their investigation they encounter a tangled web of cruel revenge, spurned love, and deadly loyalty that will claim more victims ... Volume 4: The Witch of Setwale Wood (A Worm in the Bud) In Setwale Wood, the myth-enshrouded woodland in County Midsomer, a body is found: Farmer Simon Bartlett's (Paul Venables) wife, Susan, is floating in a pond and can only be recovered dead by dog handler Sam Fielding (Chris Walker), who is walking his pack with his young daughter Julie (Clarista Hoult). The day before, Julie and her brother Sean (Charlie Hicks) had seen a lifeless woman in the woods, but mistook her for "asleep." A suicide note is found on Susan's computer. However, Simon and his mother Victoria Bartlett's (Wendy Craig) grief is contained: The Bartletts' marriage had been in crisis for some time, as years of trying to have a child had been unsuccessful, and Susan couldn't come to terms with the idea. For Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey), inconsistencies quickly emerge about the suicide theory: Bartlett, whose family has been in the area for centuries, is having an affair with his lawyer, Bernadette Sullivan (Emily Joyce), who is representing him and other residents in a lawsuit against arrogant farmer James Harrington (Adam Kotz). Susan, James and Simon were close friends as teenagers. However, Susan unexpectedly turned her back on James to marry Simon. Did Bernadette or James' wife Caroline (Janie Dee) get the rival out of the way? For Barnaby finds out that Susan and James were having an affair again. What's more, the email announcing her suicide to her husband was sent hours after the children had seen her in the woods. A short time later, James Harrington is recovered dead from his septic tank - previously poisoned with a powerful substance that turns out to be valerian. Barnaby and Troy are apparently dealing with a ruthless perpetrator who is ruthlessly pursuing a perfidious plan ... Ring Out Your Dead (Murder Bell) Shortly before a rehearsal, bell-ringer Greg Tutt (Dugald Bruce-Lockhart) is found dead in the church tower, killed with a well-aimed shot through the heart. For the bell ringers of Midsomer Wellow, where the art of change ringing is traditionally practiced, the death is a disaster as the team, led by police janitor Peter Fogden (Adrian Scarborough), prepares for Midsomer's annual bell ringing competition. The daily rehearsals have not been all joy for the residents of Midsomer Wellow due to the amount of noise they make. In particular, the uncomfortable retired officer Reggie Barton (Graham Crowden) vehemently opposes what he sees as blasphemous noise-making. Has he successfully tried to prevent the team from entering the competition? At Dutt's body, Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) find a note with a mysterious message. From church archivist Maisie Gooch (Gemma Jones), Barnaby learns that it is the local variant of a well-known nursery rhyme, referring to a historical murder case of a vicar named Ebbrell. The culprits in this crime have never been brought to justice. But Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy suspect rather different motives in the current murder case, for Greg Tutt was known in the village as a notorious womanizer. His wife Sue (Clare Holman) had thrown the philanderer out the door because he was having an affair with the wealthy Rosalind Parr (Carmen du Sautoy). Before Barnaby and Troy get on the trail of the brutal culprit, other members of the bell-ringing team fall victim to him ... Murder on St. Malley`s Day (Murder on St. Malley`s Day) Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) and his wife Joyce (Jane Wymark) attend the St.Malley`s Day run at the elite, posh boarding school Devington School. Horrified, they watch as the intelligent and sensitive Daniel Talbot (Sam Crane) collapses dead as he crosses the finish line. The perpetrator has fatally stabbed the model student during the athletic competition. While Miranda Talbot (Jane How) mourns the death of her only son, his father, diplomat Anthony Talbot (Jeremy Child), is cold-hearted: he is not quick enough to investigate Barnaby and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey), and he is convinced that only someone from Midsomer Parva could be the perpetrator, because on the day of the school's patron saint, St. Malley, hostilities are traditionally fought between the students and the villagers. A suspect is quickly found: Paul Starkey (Luke de Woolfson), the son of the pub owner of Midsomer Parva, was seen by taxi driver Dennis Carter (Bob Mason) making a quick getaway from "Friar's Copse" on his motorbike. The murder weapon was found in the woodland, a steak knife taken from Starkey's pub. But evidence of a connection with the school is also mounting: according to his classmate Charlie Meynell (Thom Fell), Daniel had a falling out with the ambitious Marcus Heywood (Nicholas Audsley), both of whom were members of Devington School's traditional pudding club. When quirky conspiracy theorist Dudley Carew (Patrick Godfrey), who was friends with Daniel and gives Barnaby and Troy a mysterious clue about the school, is found dead a short time later, Barnaby is convinced there must be more behind the murders than harmless squabbles between students ... To whom do I owe the honor! (Death and Dreams) Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) are called to a grisly crime scene: In his home, Martin Wroath has, by all appearances, taken his own life with the aid of an extraordinarily complicated contraption centered around a shotgun. His ex-wife Sarah (Jan Ravens) feels guilty: Martin had tried to win her back in the recent past and was therefore a constant source of trouble for her and her new partner, pharmacist Gordon Leesmith (Phillip Fox). Wroath, an alcoholic and gambling addict, was also a patient at Mercy Park Psychiatric Hospital, run by Dr. Jane Moore (Isla Blair), because of his increasing depression. Barnaby is pleased by this circumstance, having worked on a case with the attractive psychiatrist once before and becoming good friends with her ever since. In Mercy Park, Barnaby and Troy soon come across a suspect: The aggressive and extremely athletic Dean Hunniset (Paul Brennan), who is to be reintegrated into society under official supervision, didn't get along very well with Wroath, who often made fun of the clinic patients. When Dr. Bullard (Barry Jackson) detects a high dose of the antidepressant Tenzine in Wroath's organism during an autopsy, this lead Barnaby initially to Leesmith. But Dr. Moore's assistant Tony Parish (Stuart Bunce) confirms that Wroath was prescribed Tenzine during his stay at Mercy Park, but only under strict medical supervision. A short time later, Troy and Cully Barnaby (Laura Howard) find Dr. Parish dead in the climbing frame of Mercy Park's obstacle course. Barnaby and Troy come face to face with a cruel perpetrator who mercilessly continues his deadly game and even has it out for Inspector Barnaby's life ... Volume 5: The House of Satan ( A tale of two Hamlets) The opening of the "House of Satan" Experience, a horror theme park of sorts at the tranquil country estate of Upper Warden Manor, ends explosively in the truest sense of the word: Capricious young actor Larry Smith (Charlie Beall) is killed by what appears to be a remote-controlled bomb during his publicity appearance. Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) and Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey) quickly notice that Larry's passing seems to have no lasting personal impact on anyone in the Smythe-Webster family, landlords of Upper Warden Manor since time immemorial, even though Larry, as the son of Simon Smythe-Webster (Christopher Good), the vicar of Upper Warden, was part of the immediate family. Complicating Barnaby's investigation is the fact that the villages of Upper Warden and Lower Warden have been at enmity with each other since Cromwell's time. Now the family of Rupert Smythe-Webster (Ronald Pickup) has also laid claim to the historical writer Ellis Bell from Lower Warden: From his famous novel, House of Satan, film producer Frank Webster (Jonathan Hyde), Rupert's youngest brother, has made a cheap, lurid horror film, which provided the template for the theme park and starred the slain Larry Smith. The head of the local museum in Lower Warden, Sarah Proudie (Anne Reid), makes no secret to Barnaby of her hatred for the arrogant Smythe-Websters. Local video geek Darren (Leo Bill) turns out to be an important source of information for Barnaby and Troy: he meticulously archives all events in both villages and actually has a video recording of the explosion. When Frank Webster is electrocuted to death on his exercise bike, Barnaby is certain the Smythe-Webster family has a dangerous adversary ... Blood is thicker... (The Green Man) Barnaby's assistant Troy beckons promotion to inspector. Before he can decide, a historic tunnel collapses during restoration work. Among all manner of historic bones is found the skeleton of a recently deceased man. Barnaby investigates the suspicious death. Troy, meanwhile, pursues Tom, a mysterious outsider who lives in the woods. Tom has clashed with a group of aggressive teenagers. When one of the teens is caught in a beating trap and shot, suspicion immediately falls on Tom. The Dead Writers' Club (Sins of Commission) An award-winning writer is murdered at the start of the 12th Midsomer St Michael Literary Festival. But festival sponsor Sam Callaghan is determined to carry on. Especially as he has recruited Jezebel Tripp as a member of the jury, a scandal-plagued success author of popular women's books. After another murder of a man of letters, Jezebel fears for her life too. And rightly so ... Barnaby's investigation uncovers a swamp of corruption, lies, scandal and a mountain of debt. A young author with a criminal past may be implicated. Of all people, Barnaby's daughter Cully has her eye on him. Burn you shall! (The Straw Woman) A young schoolteacher, Liz Francis, burns a straw doll at a traditional festival to commemorate past witch trials in the village. Involuntarily, she revives the spirit of the witch hunts of yesteryear: A clergyman is burned in the straw doll, and a little later his lover is murdered. Fanatical zealots blow up the hunt against the provocateurs of a holy, church-protected village tradition, the enlightened Liz, the nightclub owner Clifford with his demonstratively loose lifestyle, as well as against the herbalist Kate Malpas, who nurses the terminally ill Clifford. It's a veritable witch's cauldron in which Inspector Barnaby and his assistant Scott investigate this time. Image + Sound: The early episodes of the series are still in the classic 4:3 format, only later switching to the 16:9 format common today. Apart from that, the implementation of the series is overall on a decent to good TV level. While the picture is not only noticeable for its slight graininess and deficiencies in overall sharpness, the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix of the sound is absolutely sufficient and good for the series, which is already quite quiet. The English audio comes across as a bit more natural and the atmosphere of the film is a bit more charming overall in the original English. But since the lack of subtitles makes it difficult even for those viewers who are proficient in English to a good degree to follow the action, the overall very good dubbing (praise at this point to the as always great Norbert Langer) is preferable to the original overall. Extras: The box set has a bonus disc with the first episode of each of the two series The Fades and East West 101 to offer. To Inspector Barnaby itself there is no additional material. Conclusion: Inspector Barnaby is now also in Germany for over seven years cult. No wonder actually, the series offers British crime fare at its best. Suspense and whimsical humor complement each other here to what makes the special charm of the bloody world around Midsomer. For those who have only seen the Inspector on TV or have never visited Midsomer, this Collectors Box is a great way to start your own DVD collection of this wonderful crime series. Even if the technical realization especially with the very old episodes is not on the highest level and not all episodes are included in chronological order, this extensive box can be highly recommended to every fan of the series and anyone who wants to become one

Quelle: Sebastian Betzold / Synopsis: ZDF