Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Fiona Dolman, Gwilym Lee, Helen Baxendale, Emma Cunniffe, Alastair Mackenzie, Navin Chowdhry, Ty Hurley, Ciarán McMenamin, Clive Merrison, Sarah Middleton, Joseph Mydell, Diane Quick, Elizabeth Rider, Manjinder Virk.
Midsomer may have had more than its fair share of murders over the years, a record that is unlikely to be surpassed at any time in the near future, but it has never suffered from the ghoulish act of body snatching in that time and yet right underneath the noses of Lancaster family, the patriarch of the family is removed from his death bed and the body of proof is cleansed.
The makers of Midsomer Murders have prided themselves over the years on the various ingenious ways in which the deadliest deed is committed and yet whilst the body count rises, whilst people are electrocuted, poisoned, bludgeoned, stabbed to death, there has not been a time when the loss of life has already happened, when the act of not having a fresh casualty of murder is not noticeably high on the agenda and in doing so the start of the latest season of investigations by D.C.I. John Barnaby and D.S. Charlie Nelson is one of the most intriguing and entertaining yet.
Habeas Corpus, the proof that a dead body provides in being able to successfully incarcerate someone, to punish the guilty for the crimes, is a wonderful misnomer when it comes to this particular episode, ghoulish in thought, clever in its application with any number of suspects capable of providing an uneasy resting place for the deceased, Rachel Cuperman’s and Sally Griffith’s screenplay has all the senses of the macabre and the motifs of jealousy whilst pushing the boundary of suspense just that little further, a nod perhaps to the greats in which the series hangs on the tails of.
With Helen Baxendale and Alastair Mackenzie returning to prime time television viewing in their respective roles and Navin Chowdhry immersing himself beautifully into the character of Sunny Desai, Habeas Corpus reinvigorates a show that perhaps arguably had lost its way of late and adds a different layer of intrigue to the relationship between Detective and those he is meant to protect and serve.
A welcome return to an old favourite, Midsomer Murders adds that extra bit of warmth to the cold nights of winter.
Ian D. Hall