#early midsomer murders

[cyare-fi]

Shout out to me and the three other Midsomer Murders blogs for keeping the fandom alive. Let's Go guys keep up the good work 💪💪💪💪💪💪

#sweet talks #midsomer murders #early midsomer murders #gavin troy #tom barnaby #dan scott #ben jones

[yorkshireteabagging]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!! This is what the inside of my brain has sounded like for the past 31 days!

#halloween #this theme always makes me feel like I’m watching a ~scary made for TV movie from the early 90s #im obsessed with it obviously #midsomer murders

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

275. The Gathering (2002)

#the gathering #the gathering (2002) #2023filmgifs #my gifs #i enjoyed that so much #it was deliciously creepy #and i loved the religion angle #and the combo of robert hardy and simon russell beale #and the very pretty combo of christina ricci and ioan gruffudd #even tho i kept wanting to shove a big sweater onto christina for most of it #give the girl a jacket you creeps #and yes of course that felt like a midsomer murders ep #since it was written by the guy who did the early season adaptations #kinda makes me wanna go back to the beginning of the show #there was even a barnabyesque eminently rationalist character #bless #also gave me such X Files Fight The Future meets religious ep vibes #i just liked it so much #a good time was had by all

[earlymidsomermurders]

Cully could pull off any hairstyle, but Joyce, unfortunately, could not

#midsomer murders #ask #ok maybe that early days mullet wasnt the best look.........

[dragonowlie]

Ah yeah my internet is fucked my data is almost out don't expect to see me much if at all in the near future ✌🏻

#best case scenario: i do So Much art #worst case scenario: it comes back tomorrow and/or i somehow get stuck doing nothing. lolz #my tv is Also fucked so like. zero possible distractions once my data is fully out. i either do art or read real books or become a hermit #me‚ watching old midsomer murders episodes: man wouldn't it be nice to be in the late 90's early 00's again. not much internet and such #my internet‚ very clearly hearing this: don't worry girlie i gotchu <3 #dragonowlie's random texts

[thoughtsofthegirlwiththecurl]

What I love most about early seasons of Midsomer Murders is that 80% of the cases only get solved because Cully happens to be doing a play that's weirdly relevant to the solution, allowing Barnaby to have an epiphany while watching it/running lines with her/etc.

#midsomer murders #theaterrrrrrrrrr #guess what I'm binging again in my covid cave?

[door]

my friend asked me for murder show recs and i put together a list of a bunch of them and thought i'd also share it here in case anyone else who was not raised by the glow of mystery! on pbs might want an intro. extremely subjective commentary, obvs. enjoy.

hello. welcome to the world of finding television shows about people getting killed comforting. it's fucked up, but who isn't. here's a list of the ones i like and why and where to watch them.

midsomer murders (1997-current): this is one of those sterotypical "it ran for 25 years and did nearly 18 episodes" british shows. it was adapted from a book series, which are the early eps. they're really fucked up and great imo. the later ones lose that sharpness, but until seasons 20+ i think it's a really solid show. the theme song is performed on a theremin. pluses: every great british actor shows up at least once, incredibly great deaths, lots of hyper niche hobby groups, tom barnaby is the best. minuses: showrunner brian true-may quoted as saying that his version of "english countryside" is entirely white. he was booted from the show at that point, however. i've watched the entire series 2-3 times, except for s5e3 "Ring Out Your Dead" because there's a death in it that i found particularly tragic the first time i watched it and have no desire to revisit it (but ymmv). robyn's fave ep is s3e3 "Judgement Day," because a brass band plays the show's theme song at a village fete and also Orlando Bloom is run through with a pitchfork. (ACORN)

Poirot (1989-2013): truly the goat. David Suchet bodies this role. i don't know how familiar you are with christie, but hercule poirot was her recurring detective character, a fastidious little belgian living in 1930s England. in this show, it's the late 1930s for 20 years, and the sets and costumes are so good. not a single streamline moderne property in england is overlooked. the early episodes are short--40ish minutes each--but they transition to 90 minutes at some point. they adapt all of the poirot books, with the big ones--murder on the orient express and death on the nile--done as higher budget tv movies. (BRITBOX)

marple (2004-2013): another christie adaptation, with 2 actresses playing miss marple in sequence. they also adapted a bunch of non-marple stories to have miss marple in them. set post-WWII, mainly countryside english mysteries. (BRITBOX)

miss fisher's murder mysteries (2012-2015, film in 2020): set in 1920s melbourne, mfmm follows independently wealthy private eye phryne fisher. it's an adaptation of modern novels, so it's less conservative than the christies. phryne's best friend is a suit-wearing lesbian doctor. it's a sharp, smart show, and phryne herself (as well as her relationship with buttoned-up detective jack robinson) is very sexy. it ran three seasons and was followed by a crowd-funded film in 2020, which isn't GOOD, but it is FUN. there's another a spin-off set in the 1960s called miss fisher's modern mysteries, which follows phryne's niece. again--not good, but fun. nothing beats the og series tho. (ACORN)

lewis (2006-2015): this is technically a spin-off of the inspector morse series, which started in the 80s, but i've never watched it so you should be fine. this follows very un-academic inspector lewis and his very academic assistant DS hathaway in EXTREMELY academic oxford england. i really dig the pacing of this, as well as how profoundly weird smart people can be. the big downside is the actor who played hathaway is laurence fox, who's a real stinker of a dude. right-wing, racist, etc. so. ymmv. (BRITBOX)

vera (2011-current): vera is a nearly retired, irascible, set in her ways detective in northumberland. she heads her own department, so part of the appeal is definitely trim youngsters dashing to do her bidding with a "yes mum." she drives a huge old land rover, wears a raincoat everywhere, has no patience for class barriers, and in short i love her. in the newer seasons there is also a detective in her squad called Jaq who is a very cute butch. (BRITBOX)

dalgliesh (2021-current): adaptation of pd james novels following detective-poet adam dalgliesh. set in the 1970s, which sets it apart and which i quite enjoy. his character is really sensitive and thoughtful is a way that's unusual for cop shows. (ACORN)

annika (2021-current): i'm gonna dive into some of the weirder ones now. annika is still pretty serious, but the title character has a habit of breaking the 4th wall to loop the audience in on the meta nature of her thoughts--usually relating to a book or story. it's set in glasgow and they investigate marine crime specifically. annika is played by nicola walker, who full disclosure i find VERY attractive. she's norwegian, she's odd, and she's trying her best. she has a teenage daughter who's gay. (PBS)

queens of mystery (2019-current): this one is VERY odd. think british murders meets pushing daisies. there's a narrator, and occasional technicolor flights of fancy. it follows a very serious detective who was raised by her three aunts after her mother was killed. she comes back to work in her home town and has to navigate both sides of her life, plus still wanting to know who killed her mother. production was interrupted by covid, so the main actress changed between seasons, but the new person is also very good. (ACORN)

brokenwood mysteries (2014-current): this one is sort of...sillier than the rest? it's a new zealand show set in a small town. it's fairly queer (although not nearly queer enough), and one of the things i love the most about it is it maintains a roster of recurring characters (which i think is only possible because of the small size of the NZ film industry). pretty good maori rep, especially jared, a local who seems to know or be related in some way to everyone in town. i adore him. he's off the show now, and i miss him. (ACORN)

mcdonald & dodds (2020-current): set in bath, this is an odd couple partnership of an ambitious young cop lately from london and a shy older cop who has lived in bath all his life and hasn't seen action in a decade. their interactions are funny and lovely, and it's refreshing to see a black woman character allowed to be ambitious. (BRITBOX)

#took out the julie mentions left in the robyn mention #because their love of a tv show playing its theme song on the show is so funny and i love it #gentle murders #this is like. half the length this list could have been #and that's not even getting into the mini-series

[anoseforrottenapples]

I’ve been binge-watching Midsomer Murders and have been on an A-Team kick again, which has led my brain to pondering an interesting area of discussion: Suits. Specifically, men wearing suits and how wearing such suits can be used to make statements or establish a sense of belonging to a group or situation.   Show!Troy’s introduction to the suit game is…infamous to say the least. The brown-and-orange suit with striped tie in The Killings at Badger’s Drift has gone down in fandom history, and his regular use of funky ties continues almost until the end of his run. However, I would make the argument that A) Troy has one of the more distinct suit-styles of the Sergeants and, by the end of his run, he is also wearing some of the nicest suits. There is a definite trend toward grey suits instead of black ones, and jewel tones for his shirts and ties that all look very nice. Somewhere between series 1 and series 6, Troy really starts putting some serious thought and effort into his wardrobe, especially when compared to Barnaby who admits to buying his work suits off the rack in the department store (Blood Will Out). This is hinted at as early as Series 2 (Blood Will Out again) when Joyce and Cully drag Barnaby to the men’s clothes store to buy pants, which he protests every step of the way, and Troy unexpectedly comes into the same store. The shop assistant actually knows Troy by his first name (a fact Troy is clearly uncomfortable with—likely because A) the store clerk was a little too friendly when he said it, B) Troy doesn’t seem to use his Christian name all that much and C) he’s in front of the Barnabys). This indicates Troy’s been in the store regularly enough that the staff knows him, and that he is not buying his suits off the rack. Now, to factor into my earlier statements, from very early on it is established that Troy is very young to be a Detective Sargent. By my math, he was probably about 23/24 in the pilot episode—in comparison, other Sergeants like Jones start out as Detective Sergeants roughly around the same age Troy was when he was promoted, and left Causton to go to Middlesbrough. This is lamp shaded in several episodes (even as late as Painted in Blood in Series 6) with people commenting on how young Troy is, asking if he’s old enough to be a Sargent, and being generally dismissive of his abilities because of his age. There is every indication that Troy is an ambitious man who intends to climb the career ladder—and appearance play a massive role in climbing that ladder. The most talented man in the world can be bypassed for promotions and opportunities if the brass thinks that  they don’t dress the part, or carry themselves in the right manner….and Troy has clearly figured this out. As Troy gets a better grip on how he wants to present himself and, more importantly, be perceived by others, his suit style evolves into something more mature that also stands out. He still has more color in his clothes than most of the other Sergeants—but they are better coordinated than earlier on, and match his own coloration better. He still cannot resist unique ties, but the patterns gradually grow more subtle and serve as accents rather than distractions. He starts sending a message with his clothes—that is he is a competent professional who deserves, at the very least, respect for his position and acknowledgement of his skills. This focus on appearance and how he is perceived likely stems back even further then his earliest days as a Sargent. All indications hint that Troy did not grow up in the middle class, but more likely in a blue collar home, and many people considered him a failure from the start. Harken back to Mr. Belgrove in Written in Blood, announcing in front of Barnaby that he always knew Troy would come to no good. Given Troy’s general frustration and hostility at times toward people, it is a good bet he has heard that sentiment from quite a few people in his life. Growing up as he did, and (getting into headcanon territory here) joining the police ranks right out of Causton Comprehensive, Troy likely went right into uniform and had no reason to own any suits. Then he is shifted into a Plainclothes position, and he abruptly realizes the only suit he owns was probably purchased for a funeral while he was still in school. He likely goes to Marks & Spencer, and buys the first shirts, pants, and jackets he can get his hands on that he can afford—proper fit and decent colors be damned. Only Troy realizes, as he enters an office setting, that what a man wears matters—especially when that man is an exceptionally young officer who is trying to give orders to older men who happen to hold lower ranks. He figures out after the first year or so that wearing obnoxious colors and barely remembering to comb his hair just gets him made fun of behind his back, no matter how good he is at his job. He starts taking his clothes seriously—at least as seriously as his budget will allow. For a while he tries khakis and does not like them. Then he tries to mimic Barnaby—black pants and jackets with white shirts… but he cannot resist the crazy ties. As his salary goes up, he starts really exploring his options. He invests in a decent watch, and starts cutting his hair short since it makes him look older. Most importantly, he begins purchasing suits that actually look like some money went into them. He starts taking care to ensure the jackets are the proper length for his arms, and he narrows down the colors that he knows he looks good in. He also realizes that wearing colored suits, like the grey ones, makes him positively stand out in an office full of guys in black suits with white shirts. He sticks in the minds of both people in the community, and his senior officers. He also discovers that a good-looking suit is a sign of competency. While he still gets some quips about being too young to be a Sargent, they become an oddity instead of a regular occurrence in his life. Most people assume that a man in a decent suit is an intelligent man who is clearly very good at his job whether that is a true assumption or not. They convey a level of trustworthiness that people often respond to, and of competency. While Troy himself is very good at his job, he begins to realize that quite a few of his superiors have earned their positions by mastering their physical appearance rather than their work. While he feels this information has served him well, as he promotes out and leaves Causton behind, it likely makes him a good deal uneasy about many of the officers he is going to be dealing with going forward. Are they actually good public servants… or have they just mastered the Art of the Suit?

[kirkenovak]

I’ve watched the Midsomer Murders with Ferdinand Kingsley strictly for him and here are my thoughts:

- 22x01 if anyone cares

- I had seen every early episode on this show but I haven’t been watching in about a decade, the last episodes I watched were just after Barnaby left, so yeah, ~ a decade. How are there any people still alive in that village if there are, on average, 3 murders every 12 weeks.

- it wasn’t really hard to guess who the murderer was or maybe I’m just that good

- best Ferdie look since 1389!Hob. No, I’m not taking any questions.

- he was a bit of a wet dog. A little scrimblo. A bit of an eeby deeby. 11/10 I’d change nothing

- he was in it much more than I thought he’d be! I honestly thought he’s going to be killed off early in it but no, he endures throughout the episode

- you can absolutely headcanon it as Hob just having a wee break in a notorious murder village

- he’s just really passionate about glamping, ok?

#ferdinand kingsley #midsomer murders #hob gadling #the sandman

[cyare-fi]

ALSO I forgot how much I miss Gavin's dynamic w Tom. I feel like when I saw him again and Tom was so excited to see him, just watching that made me emotional. I really loved him as DS. I feel like as much as I do adore Ben and Dan, he still has my heart in a way.

#sweet talks #midsomer murders #gavin troy #season 11 #blood wedding #season 11 blood wedding #early midsomer murders

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

"Meanwhile, anyone with a PhD will cheerfully admit to liking monster trucks and Midsomer Murders."

I don't have a PhD, but I love, love, lurve Midsomer Murders. Ditto Agatha Raisin. Old school Agatha Christie. Early seasons of Death in Paradise. 

They are the television hug my brain needs at the end of each week in a very stressful job. 

******

Exactly. What you watch on television and what games you play has no bearing on your intelligence or intellect.

I am shit at crosswords, Wordle, and the only Jeopardy I can win is Kid Jeopardy, but when all I do at work is think and strategize, the last thing I want to do when I get home is keep my professional thinking hat some more. Give me a bowl of spaghetti, turn on some Bravo or hot guy TV, and it’s a good night for me.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actress Sandra Voe born on Shetland on 6th 1936.

Other than the fact she was born on Shetland, where her father owned a fishing factory, there is little I can tell you about Sandra’s early life. However she has been a very busy lady, appearing in many TV shows over the past 50 odd years Voe began her on screen career in 1966, appearing in an episode of Dr. Finlay’s Casebook.

Her shows in the 70’s include Coronation Street, Emmerdale Farm, Within These Walls and Sounding Brass, during the 80’s on TV and film, Bread or Blood, The Practice, Open all Hours and Local Hero, the 90’s saw her in the brilliant Takin’ Over the Asylum, which seems to crop up in a few of our anniversaries and another regular show on my posts Taggart, over into the 21st century and oor Sandra was still working hard, the pick of 15 different shows and films were Playing the Field, Midsomer Murders, Foyles War, and of course Monarch of the Glen .In 1993 she was also in the gritty film Naked, which also starred Ewan Bremner, Spud in the Trainspotting films.In the past 8 years Sandra Voe, now in her 70’s shows no sign of slowing down, Holby City, Howards end, in 2013, inevitably she turned up in her home Islands on the superb Shetland. Just this year Sandra has chalked up a couple of appearances on the hit series, Vikings as a witch

As well as the many, many TV and film roles she has also been a regular treading the boards at some of the top Theatres, including Sheffield Crucible, Leicester Phoenix, Leicester Haymarket, Oxford Playhouse, Birmingham Rep, Manchester Royal Exchange, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Nottingham Playhouse, Bristol Old Vic, Bloomsbury, Hampstead, Lyric Hammersmith, Almeida, Bush, Shared Experience, RNT, Royal Court and Ambassadors.

Her daughter, Candida Doyle, was keyboard player with the '90s British pop band Pulp, her son, Magnus Doyle, was Pulp's drummer. Sandra was last on our screens in the very good mini-series Trigonometry.

Recently Sandra has been reliving her Local Hero experience when she makes a return trip to the north-east for the 40th anniversary of the film. She has teamed up with fellow actors Jimmy Yuill, Jonathan Watson and Tam Dean Burn and met school children from Banff Academy and Fraserburgh Academy.

Sandra said: “It’s wonderful to be coming back. The place and the community is conjured up so well by Bill Forsyth that you really believe it.”

#scotland #scottish #actress #happy birthday

[phoenixyfriend]

Part of me REALLY wants to write an early-season Midsomer Murders style fic of The Death Of Palpatine. Modern AU, seems a bog-standard mystery, has like eight twists of extremely unnecessary proportions including a Hat Reveal, and a gun vs antique sword standoff with a guy that hasn't slept in weeks and the detective who only just figured out The Situation based on a half-eaten leg of chicken and a ceramic pillbox.

#star wars #sheev palpatine #midsomer murders #Phoenix Talks #modern au

[oldshrewsburyian]

I'm ill and likely won't be on and about for weeks, so I'm in need of new TV (crime) recommendations. I've already seen Midsomer Murders, Morse/Endeavour/Lewis, Poirot, Miss Marple, Lord Peter, some of Father Brown, Vera... Hopefully you have some ideas, preferably nothing to gruesome? I'm quite desperate...

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that you're ill, Anon; I wish you good convalescence.

Granada's Sherlock Holmes (starring Jeremy Brett as the Master) is streaming on BritBox and it is my ultimate comfort viewing. The series are listed as "The Adventures," "The Memoirs," etc.

There are two versions of Maigret streaming on BritBox, and I enjoy both of them. The 1990s adaptation with Michael Gambon has a delightful theme song, Parisian streetscapes, fine character actors, and Michael Gambon gnawing on a pipe. The recent series starring Rowan Atkinson (sic) is also very good, I think, and much closer in tone to the excellent novels. I don't know if the Jean Gabin Maigret is streaming anywhere, alas.

Shetland, based on Ann Cleeves novels, is beautiful, I think. The crimes are no darker/more gruesome than those of the Morseverse, the landscape is stunning, and the team of detectives who are also friends is a delight.

Lupin, starring Omar Sy, is great fun. It's smart and stylish and gives my French a workout.

I'm not sure if Tatort is available subtitled anywhere, but if you have German, you also have 50+ years of episodes to work through.

Grantchester is a series where I prefer the stories to the show, but especially the early seasons are visually pleasing and feature good acting. And you'll probably be less annoyed by the show than I if you do not have many opinions about theology and Anglicanism...!

The Hour (BBC) is not a detective show, but it follows many of the same beats, and its intrepid journalists do solve sinister mysteries. I love the writing and the characters so much.

The Brokenwood Mysteries (streaming, I think, on Acorn) is similar to Midsomer Murders, but I really enjoy that it at least gestures towards the implications of the small-town-mystery format in having recurring characters involved with e.g. struggling businesses, or petty crime, or pubs.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries is both frothy and genuinely sweet. Like the books, it riffs on the plot tropes of the 1920s and '30s. I find it charming.

I hope that some of these provide congenial company.

#my detection obsession #asks and answers

[earlymidsomermurders]

Guest actor glow up

Nigel Lindsay on Midsomer Murders: Painted in Blood (2003) and Dressed to Kill (2023)

I screamed I love to see guest actors from early eps return for New Midsomer. I still think about him throwing Troy out of that interview room. He is so good in both eps, just nails that Midsomer sweet spot of ridiculousness and touching honesty

#midsomer murders #nigel lindsay #side characters #painted in blood #season 6 #dressed to kill

[marjansmarwani]

20 Questions aka. Oversharing on the Internet version 92840938

Thanks for the tag @welcometololaland! Maybe reviewing all this will get me back in the writing spirit? 🤞

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

147

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

749,567

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently just Lone Star, but I do have a Midsomer Murders fic in progress too

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Puzzle I Love to Solve (911 LS)

Friends Like These (911 LS)

Brother (I will hear you call) (911 LS)

Where You Go, I Go (a 911/Lone Star crossover)

tender-hearted sadness pulls me through the day (911 LS)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! I love reading them. andI try to respond, but lately (aka the past year or so) I just haven't had the bandwidth for it

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

While about 85% of my fics are angsty, most of them have a happy ending. But not all of them. The obvious answer for this question is shut your eyes and fall apart (the one where I kill TK), but I think that my 2x02 coda - heavy from the hurt inside my veins - is a stong contender, especially with Nancy's section ending the fic. Honorable mention to time can heal, but this won't a 1x08 coda in which Carlos blames himself for TK getting shot.

Still, 3 out of 147 isn't bad.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of them do, and it's too hard to pick one.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Occassionally. If I do it's usually pretty mild and easy to ignore. I've only gotten really nasty hate once.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do not.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don't usually, the closest I have gotten to a crossover is a fic from the show crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, but I have had an OC stolen "borrowed." That was weird to encounter in another fic.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not as far as I know

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Once, and @justaswampdemon and I have one started. Someday we might finish it.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Tarlos has a very special place in my heart

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

At this point? Any of them.

But in reality, I have some AUs I doubt will ever get past the outline stage, as much as I would like to see them done

16. What are your writing strengths?

✨Angst✨ But also, characterization and pacing I think.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Smut.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I think I have done it once or twice, but I think it depends on why you are using it. If it makes sense and it's not being used in a sterotypical or insensitive or fetishining manner, then I typically say go for it. That being said, personally I would only do it with Spanish because that's the only other language I feel comfortable writing in.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

In peak early 2000s teen fashion, Harry Potter.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I can never decide, so here's a few honorable mentions:

You Can Learn to Love (Again) - Teacher AU

you can't hide from time - the one where I created the 252 crew

why can't I hold on? - my gwyn fic

I promise you that it's worth the risk - Amnesia fic

I am not what you planned - Dr. Reyes/Paramedic Strand

would've loved you for a lifetime

no pressure tagging a few people: @reyesstrand @justaswampdemon @moviegeek03 @morganaspendragonss @detectivecarlosreyes @kiras-sunshine @sunshinestrand

#tagged things