Product Description

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 Tom Barnaby, with Jason Hughes (This Life) as his earnest, efficient protégé, Detective Sergeant Ben Jones. Guest stars include Phil Davis, John Castle, Richard Johnson, Lisa Eichhorn, David Horovitch, Harriet Thorpe, Flora Montgomery, and Suzi Quatro.

THE MYSTERIES
Dance with the Dead--A young man asphyxiates in a vintage automobile, setting off a search for his mysterious girlfriend.
The Animal Within--A mischievous old coot goes missing just before a visit from his niece—a woman supposedly dead for three years.
King’s Crystal--At an artisan glassworks, Barnaby delves into possibly murderous family rivalries.
The Axeman Cometh--The Midsomer music festival brings out the bluesman in Barnaby. Unfortunately, it also brings out someone murdering rock stars.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE Caroline Graham biography and cast filmographies.

Includes SDH subtitles.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #686 in DVD
• Brand: ACORN MEDIA
• Released on: 2009-09-29
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 400 minutes

Customer Reviews

Let's hope lucky 13 sees MM back to its usual form!
For those new to this British masterpiece, Midsomer Murders is a long running "who done it", based on the novels of Caroline Graham, starring John Nettles (of the Bergerac fame) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby. The series is set in the fictional Misomer County, which comprises of many cosy, rural villages, where wealthy and poor alike seem to do each other in at an average rate of three to four bodies per episode. The series has a worldwide following, not in the least due to the creative and macabre ways in which the MM victims are typically dispatched. I give the series as a whole a five star rating, though set 12 was a bit dissapointing (four stars) in that it lacked some of its trademark British humour which in the past acted as a buffer between the viewer and the grim reality of the bloody murders... Let's hope Set 13 sees MM back to its best form!

Set 13 contains the following episodes:

ep 52: Dance With the Dead; orig air date: Nov 2006
ep 53: The Animal Within; orig air date: Jan 2007
ep 54: King's Crystal; orig air date: Jan 2007
ep 55: The Axeman Cometh; orig air date: Feb 2007

SPOILER ALERT!!!: In The Axeman Cometh we meet Simon, Cully's intended. Her wedding is in ep 60 (which I guess will be in set 15). END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!

If you own any MM sets from Region 2, you may already own at least some of the above episodes, as the Region 1 and 2 sets are NOT synchronised. Better check... I read somewhere there were fewer MM episodes released in the US in order to keep the price of each set more affordable. If that was indeed the case, then it is a great shame... I would like to see those missing episodes released at some point in the US as well.

PS: As a side note, John Nettles is retiring soon, though we should see Barnaby episodes well into 2011. The makers are still shopping for a suitable lead who will pick up the baton. All they will confirm is that Barnaby will NOT be killed off, and that his current sidekick (played by Jason Hugh) is NOT in the running. The actress playing Cully has already retired from MM (her last episode was shown on British TV this summer; it was her character's wedding episode).

Still As Great A Series As When It Started In 1997
This is more a message to the fans of Midsomer Murders in The USA who get tired of having to wait almost two years after the show is broadcast to see it on DVD.

First the big review.....These episodes are as wonderful as all the previous shows. The ability of the writers to keep up the quality is nothing short of amazing. What a track record. Whoa!

Now the boring message...these episodes were released on dvd in the UK in September 2008. The entire TEN EPISODES of that season were released as "The Sixth Collection" You can buy it from Amazon UK for about $70 including shipping. This USA release has only four of those episodes issued one year later at about $36.

The one catch here is the UK releases are on the region 2 PAL format which will not play on a lot of the USA region 1 dvd players. BUT you can buy a dvd player that will play the region 2 PAL format right here on Amazon. I did.

Series Note....John Nettles will be retiring at the end of 2010 with one final series of eight episodes.With the way Acorn chops up these programs into little three and four episode packages for the USA it will be 2012 before we get to see any of them.

Midsomer Murders: Set 13
I thoroughly enjoy the Midsomer Murders series -- I have bought every one and will continue to add to my video library. I am able to share my love of this series with several of my family and friends and not one has been disappointed!