Product Description

As seen on A&E and The Biography Channel

WHAT EVIL LURKS BEYOND THE WELL-TRIMMED HEDGES OF MIDSOMER . . .

The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these contemporary British television mysteries. Inspired by the novels of Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, the series stars John Nettles (Bergerac) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby with John Hopkins (Love in a Cold Climate) as his brash young assistant, Sergeant Dan Scott. Guest stars include Oliver Ford Davies, Annette Crosbie, Owen Teale, June Whitfield, Geoffrey Whitehead, and David Burke.

THE MYSTERIES
Second Sight -- A mysterious death brings the detectives to Midsomer Mere, where villagers claim psychic powers.
Hidden Depths -- Barnaby and Scott face a bizarre crime scene when a local oenophile gets killed by a combination of catapult, croquet, and Chateau Lafite.
Sauce for the Goose -- After a visitor dies while touring Plummer’s relish factory, Barnaby and Scott investigate the local food wars.
Midsomer Rhapsody -- Barnaby links a long-deceased local composer with odd events that crescendo to a murderous conclusion.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE Caroline Graham biography and cast filmographies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3434 in DVD
• Brand: ACORN MEDIA
• Released on: 2008-03-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: .70 pounds
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
Gruesome doings in bucolic villages make Midsomer Murders an addictive British detective series. Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles), a staunch, determined policeman with a nose for sniffing out motives and crucial mistakes, investigates murders in this bizarrely homicidal rural district, accompanied by the younger, not as insightful, but still dutiful Sergeant Scott (John Hopkins). Set 10 features three superb episodes and one disappointing one (which, confusingly enough, are from the show's eighth series on the BBC). Each episode is a 90-100 minute movie, cunningly structured so the solution always seems just out of reach yet tantalizingly close. The characters are well-developed and rarely feel like mere puppets designed to distract viewers from an inevitable solution; the psychological richness of the show is crucial to its appeal. In Second Sight, a young lad may have died from electric shocks delivered during tests of his extrasensory powers. As Barnaby struggles to separate science from superstition, he comes across an ominous caged chair, a psychic baby, and a man who fears he's foreseen his own death. Hidden Depths features some truly spectacular revenge killings, including one using a catapult and many bottles of wine; the episode is practically a genteel (and less pretentious) version of Saw or Seven. Sauce for the Goose turns the prosaic setting of a relish factory into a swirling crucible of madness, secrets, lost love, and boiled flesh. Only Midsomer Rhapsody, in which the possibly forged manuscript of a dead composer results in a variety of head traumas, founders in melodramatic backstory. But even when the show isn't at its sharpest, Nettles drives each episode forward with his charismatic blend of compassion and doggedness. Viewers usually resistant to crime-show formulas may find Midsomer Murders more compelling than most, while any fan of mysteries will be hooked in seconds. --Bret Fetzer

San Francisco Chronicle
"Four nicely crafted mysteries"

Customer Reviews

Great Detective Series
My wife, mother, and I followed these when they aired on a couple cable networks. We were all sorely disappointed when they did not continue to air them. I had already bought several sets on DVD for my mother when they ceased televising them. I am just very happy they are putting all the sets on DVD. I just ordered sets 9 and 10 for my mom's birthday. I do wish they put them in seasons rather than sets, because you end up buying sets that you aren't sure what season they were. All the sets are available in the UK, but haven't been released as Region 1 in the US. If you enjoy detective series, this is one of the best out there. I am a fan of police shows, and the change to the British countryside and culture has a nice feel to it. The stories, acting, directing, sets, and scenery are great. Each set contains four mysteries. I highly recommend this series. The DVD quality is first class and they have excellent replayability. The set is the slim case type. - C. Luster

Death by piquant sauce, then sterilized, is just one of the murders DCI Tom Barnaby faces this time
Violent death comes frequently to the unfortunate residents of all those pretty Midsomer County villages and small towns. It makes one wonder if the gorgeous scenery, picturesque homes and carefully tended gardens compensate for the fear that must make at least some of the inhabitants quail every time they hear a knock on the door or see a shadow on a path.

With set ten of Midsomer Murders, Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) is in fine form. He's a shrewd, experienced, unflappable man with a dry sense of humor. He's going to need all his wits to deal with what the murderers, and the series writers, have come up with. Let's see...one person gets it by being staked to the ground, with a miniature trebuchet used to hurl bottles of wine down on him. Another is crushed by jars of Plummer's Piquant Sauce and then run through the sterilizer. My favorite is the person on a speeding motorcycle late at night. An encounter with a wire strung between two trees sends the man and his machine continuing in one direction and his head flying in another. Fortunately, the camera cuts away at the most gruesome moments and we're only left with our imagination. That means we wind up shuddering and smiling at the same time. As for the living, we and Barnaby encounter a marriage gone so loveless that you wouldn't wish it on a New York trophy wife. And at least two killers are so cold-blooded one would think jellied consommé must run in their veins, not blood. It may be that the writers are beginning to strain a little to keep our interest up, but I'm not complaining.

The four 100-minute mysteries that make up set ten are, in my opinion, among the more interesting we've had in this long series. The plots are often complicated, but if you pay attention they make sense. One word of warning. In Midsomer Rhapsody there are so many characters related in one way or another that a pad of paper to make notes on will be helpful. Without exception the acting is first-rate. It was good to see such experienced actors as Oliver Ford Davies, Annette Crosbie and Frank Middlemass have major roles. Middlemass, 85 when he appeared in Midsomer Rhapsody, died a year later. He has always been a favorite of mine since I saw him as the headmaster in To Serve Them All My Days.

Something also needs to be said about Jim Parker. He's the man who composed Midsomer Murders' theme music. It's a moody and distinctive melody that does a fine job of getting us ready for Tom Barnaby and his inimitable corpses.

The DVD transfer is first-rate, with clean, vibrant colors

midsomer murder series 10
Consistently well-written, filmed, acted, and produced, this series is a constant delight to those of who want mysteries with snappy dialogue, beautiful scenery, and the chance to try to solve the mystery before the police. They manage (somehow) to tell a story without a great deal of swearing, gore, or unecessary violence. Thank goodness the BBC keeps issuing them for purchase since we have little here in the States other than reality shows to watch. When the Biography Channel in its infinite wisdom (not!) decided to cease running this show I dashed off a letter of protest.

John Nettles is a delight in the main character of Barnaby, walking a fine line of police authority with charm and humor that show his acting ability is top notch. His wife and daughter in the series are always incorporated into the mysteries in ways that make perfect sense, and his sidekicks (all 3 that have been in the series) are well written and possess different strengths and weaknesses that keep the viewer rooting for them in their dealings with Barnaby. What really shines is the ability of so many different writers maintaining such a high level of consistency.

For those of you who enjoy STORY and CHARACTERS along with a good plot rather than predictable science or gore, this series is for you. This particular collection has an outstanding variety of mysteries that will give anyone a good sense of the doings in Midsomer. I can't wait until March when it comes out. Each show runs approximately an hour and a half. Please BBC keep them coming!! If you release them, I promise we will BUY!!