Episode 189 - Midsomer Murders - "The Devil's Work" - I’ll Put What I Want In My Priest Hole!

So there's drama.

Lucien is not coming to the funeral.

Then he's coming to the funeral.

And he says, right
now, Dad, whatever plans a flower.

On slabs of flower. Right.

Can't believe he did that.

Yeah, but that's exactly what we expect
out of Lucien, because he doesn't

change his clothes
or shower and lives in a year.

Hey, maniac.

Hey. Midsummer. Main.

Midsummer. Me, baby. We're back.

And we're back.

It feels good. I'm so excited.

Somebody on the subreddit
this week was like.

I keep noticing all these little weird
things in the episode,

and I was like,
If only there was a podcast.

That pointed out the weird stuff.

And then Irma Katz said,
I was your bag man.

That's okay, isn't it?

I don't mind. I'll be the bag man.

We have more.

Of an endeavor term than it is. Yes. Yeah.

It's a sidekick. Yeah, right.

We are here this week to talk about season

24 Episode one of Midsomer Murders.

Yes, Mr. Maniac's Sorry.

Midsummer Maniacs.

Mystery Midsummer Maniacs is a comedy
Recap podcast dedicated to mystery TV.

Each week
we digging to do an episode of the show,

including the murders, the mayhem,
the loonies, and everything else we love.

This week, Midsomer Murders,
The Devil's the devil, the work.

We are going to spoil it.

We're going to talk about
who did it. We're going to give it away.

If you haven't seen the episode yet,
go watch it.

And before you watch it,
listen to our many episode

that has watched Like a Maniac steps in it
and it is spoiler free.

If you watch the kids.

Going to the kill, what kind of parent.

Are you really?

Listen to the many, watch the episode

and then come back and join us here
if you haven't seen it yet.

Caleb is an adult, but.

He's a young adult.

Wow. And it's we'll get there.

We'll get that.

It's really bad for watch like a maniac.

We had nine question.

So we'll hit those
as we go through them in the episode.

And if we don't, I'll make sure
that the answers are in the notes.

Before we dive in.

I got to do I have to tell you something
that happened this morning?

Okay.

So our dog

Olive has
taken to looking at our dining room window

because it's on the front of the house
and she's a nosy dog

and wants to see everybody
that goes by judge them.

She is the nosy us dog.

So I thought she might

like a little set of stairs
that would get her up to the window

so that she could sit on.

She needs a little pad
so she can write out citations.

What are you doing over there?

That's your job.

I'm the bagman.

I'm the dog's bagman.

So this morning I was in the kitchen and
I got off a racket from the dining room.

It sounds like somebody is in there,
like moving tables and chairs around.

Okay? And I go in and it's dark.

I turn on the light and olive
Is there frozen?

Of course. Of course.

With her front paws on the bottom
stare of the whole stairway

and her back paws on the floor,
pushing it across, spiritual striving.

She's driving a little staircase around.

I don't know where she was taking it,
but she pretended nothing was happening.

She making room for a.

I'm just afraid she's going to push it
around and, like,

get access to, like the table
or the kitchen counter or something.

You have to. Understand, she's got ideas.

That we our house is like a toddler house
because there's baby gates everywhere.

Yeah,
because. The dog's not allowed everywhere.

Dog is only allowed
in certain sections of the house.

Cause we can't trust her
because she's in affairs.

She drives stuff around.

That's why she wants to get to the car.

Every time she wants. To drive, she.

Wants to drive around the neighborhood.

I just couldn't
believe she was doing that.

I had this idea in my head that she would
climb up the steps and sit on the top

and just look out the window
and be so happy.

But instead she's like.

I've been given a new. Tool.

And drive around.

Now she's been pushing it around.

You gave me stairs.

I used them.

Anyway, the devil's work.

There's been a lot of talk on line
about the title.

This comes from biblical stuff.

James, There's a reference to devil's
work.

Most people think it's idle hands.

Make the devil's work. But that.

But actually I realized that

in, in the King James version of the Bible

that quote is idle
hands make the devil's workshop.

And then I was like,
That sounds like a fun place to work.

The Devil's. Workshop.

It's very different
from like the Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Yeah.

Yeah. It's Build the Devil Workshop

to. Build a devil.

Work. You know,

you make these little voodoo dolls
like the one hanging in this episode.

Jeremiah The Devil's workshop.

Yeah,

it's like the What is it?

What do you put it in the sounds? Yeah.

yeah, yeah, yeah.

Now, what is the.

The Sesame Street workshop.

Is that what it's called?

It's the Children's Television Workshop.

That's it.

Yes. That's different
than the devil's workshop to.

It's not all hands are the children.

So we did see

we did see a clip of Elmo in Doom
the other day, and that was pretty funny.

Okay.

This episode was released
a beer month ago.

A beer month ago.

A mere month ago,
the 4th of December 2024.

Yes, I'm aware
our friends in England have not.

Seen 23.

Don't worry.

You're all watching Toby's
new show about the post office.

They're all up in arms about it.
As you should be.

As you should be directed by Roberto

Bangura and written by Julia Gilbert.

I like it.

Yeah, and I like that
Peter Serafinowicz is in it.

I love Peter Cerf.

I know you do, and he's great in it.

Why does he's. A good guy?

Why does he not have a detective show?

He's gruff.

Probably because he doesn't want.

He's got a great voice.
He can do what he wants.

To do, needs a detective show.

He can does he can do what he wants. Yeah.

Yeah. He's a good guy.

He's made out to be the worst human
being ever in the whole episode.

And he's the only one
who just tells the truth.

Yep, he tells the truth constantly.

He's trying to find out what crimes
have been committed against him.

Yeah, He's.

Constantly
being framed by multiple people.

Who are related to him,
who. Are related. To.

And all he wants to do is start
something that will help people now,

like, wow,

just I mean, he should take a shower
and maybe change his clothes.

I mean.

He needs to take a shower,

change his clothes, and maybe not sleep
with as many women at the same time.

He's honest with them.

He is. That's his business.

Hundred percent. Honest.

If he's hurting anybody, it's because
they're allowing themselves to hurt.

Absolutely. I'm fine with it. Yeah.

All right. Now,
he should wash his glasses.

Yes, the glasses
he drinks out of our brows.

He also needs to not drink
30 year old booze.

And we'll get to that.

So it starts out with Henry
Shire Wells funeral.

That's the patriarch of the family.

Well, we get the manor house
first with the girt.

Yes, the York and the totem pole

like this
is staking your claim on the estate.

I will put my years where I want to.

What are you going to do about it,
Francis?

Everything in this episode
is so close together.

There's a map,
and yet everyone seems to think

that when you leave the room,
you're in another world.

It is a big house. It's a big house.

But like, what I don't like is the family,
the the three.

Let's call them
normal Members of the family

are in like overcoats at the funeral home.

Now, I don't know where
he's going to be buried.

Maybe he'll

he'll get buried somewhere else
and they have to go bury him.

I would assume that they would have
a family plot on the ground.

I would think so.

So why do you need heavy overcoats
when you're coming across the driveway?

Because the chapel is cold.

I guess. It's an unheated chapel.

There are 18 people
plus the vicar in that chapel.

I count.

There's such a nerd.

So there's Lucien, the oldest brother?

Yes. Then Francis, his next friend's
wife, Davina.

Don't call me Francis.

Call me psycho. Yeah.

And then the little sister Ursula? Yes.

Who's older than both of the actors
who play her.

Well, now she's the oldest because.

that's right.
She says, Lucy, insert little brother.

That's right. Gets everything.
Yeah, because it's male.

Because she's cool.

Who for? Cocoa Puffs. She's cuckoo.

She's a. Girl.

Ignatius Shire.

Well, looks super familiar in his picture.

We couldn't find anybody referencing him,
but he looks like a midsummer person.

He definitely an actor.

Yeah. I couldn't tell you who he is.

Couldn't find out who he is,
and he's just an older white guy.

I mean, there's nothing about him
that's distinctive.

That would let me find him there.

Mother Clarissa died 40 years ago.

Yes, but this is Midsummer,
so it's Chekhov's dead mother?

Yes. Well, there's also Chekhov's
Diary Notebook and Chekhov.

Pretty store.

Yeah, there's a lot of Chekhov.

That's not a priest hall. Yeah.

You don't put pictures in your priest. All

I'll put what I want in my priest.

I'll thank you. Very well now.

Well, now there's drama.

So it's, it's full of tropes.

This is juxtaposed with Lucien working
in his workshop.

Making a mask.

Making a mask and drinking
milk and grand scotch whiskey,

which has not been made
in the UK for 20 years.

It would make sense that he drinks
an old vintage, made sure his dad had

a cellar, his mom had the wine dungeon,
so it was whatever it was.

It was weird.

I watched the entire scene like four times
to make sure that he actually picked up.

He puts the screw top on the bottle
and then he leaves

and he has the bottle in his hand
and then he has the bottle in the church.

I was like, Continuity, please.

Absolutely no reason.

I was like.

yeah, they did it right.

It's the same bottle and he's carrying it.

What do you know? Yes.

So there's drama.

Lucien is not coming to the funeral.

Then he's coming to the funeral.

And he says, Right now, Dad,
whatever slams a flower on slabs.

Flower, Right.

you can't believe he did that.

Yeah, but that's exactly what we expect
out of Lucien, because he doesn't

change his clothes
or shower and lives in a year. Yes.

Like, are we are
we supposed to think that he

actually lived somewhere else
and he's just brought his.

You're there for the funeral?

I don't know, because he also has
a bedroom in the studio.

Yeah.

And yet he's supposed to be a estranged
from his father.

Okay.

But lived on the grounds of the big house.

If you're estranged from your father, he's
not going to let you put his

dirt in his yard.

Nothing happened after he died.

I'm sure he's not going to let
you have a kiln building.

No, And a studio building.

I want two buildings on them. Yeah.

And have all your sort of lady friends
over.

Like he clearly lives there.

Yeah, He just puts the.

You're up for Jordanna again.

It's one of those things

that they step out of the room and then
he's in a completely different world.

No, he's right over there.

Well, I think Henry had been bedridden
for a while.

I can maybe Lucien kind of crept in
and set up his pottery

studio behind his dad's back stones.

I double checked.

They don't get in the car and drive
anywhere.

They walk everywhere.

You're a little stuck
on the first 20 seconds of this episode.

I want to move on. Welcome to Midsummer.

Now, we got big old Betty.
Betty is struggling.

To grow this taller than Sarah.

Now she's looking. Yeah.

Hello? Hello, Mother.

Can you fit me with the Elizabethan gown?

I just want to say that
Betty is a standout in this episode.

Agreed.

The actress is more comfortable.

She's does a good job at acting.
Yeah, And.

Then they're lighting her.
And they write her. Better.

Yeah, well, now that she's older, yeah,
she can do more.

I think it's great.

I like that
because it makes her more realistic.

Now, we still have episodes in the season
where she's just gone.

Yeah,

so she's

not always going to be this good,
but she's good in this episode.

I think she's spectacular in this episode.

Well, it's Midsummer,
so we've had a bad funeral with drama

and we've stoked the tea about everything.

What must we immediately go to?

We must have an attorney read the will.

Instantaneously that like line,
one of my rule will be 15 minutes.

Within 15 minutes of me dropping dead.

There better be everyone in a. Room.

Reading.

I believe you all here. Have gathered
you all.

I have a videotape.

You're so warm in the next room and

I can to know you're dead.

So of course, all. Our children go.

I don't want to hear this crap.

Lucy is going to inherit everything
because he's the oldest son.

Even if he and his dad had a falling out,
it doesn't matter.

That's the rules.

That's how it goes.

There's these weird faces on the wall.

One of them is clearly a goat, man
kind of thing.

I think he has for years.

It's weird. For ears. Yes.

I'll send a picture of it.

Okay. I'll put a picture in the note.

And of course, the mistress has to say
what she says to the other mistress.

I can't drink. I'm.

I have tummy trouble. I'm not.

I'm 2 minutes
pregnant. I'm 2 minutes pregnant.

Because we have the big Sadie
and Jordanna showdown.

Yeah. Who has better hair?

Sadie has some way better hair,

but neither of them is allowed to go in
for the will.

Reading it's family only.

No. Where do they pee? In the court.

In the corner.

There isn't a corner that's around.

I don't know where she is. In the yard.

Just I have a little bucket.

I tell you later on.

On the murder board.

It has stuff
that's in the yard and in big letters,

it says No
barbecue, two exclamation marks.

Now, that's
obviously a reference to the gas.

Leak or the CO2.

Couldn't have come from the barbecue cause
there isn't a barbecue, but.

Well, and Winter
says there's no oven in there.

Yeah, I'm just thinking

they're not going to be lighting Jordanna
in and out of the house all night

for Francis.

I need to go pee.

Maybe she goes in and out
the gnome door in the garden.

Maybe we'll talk about.

Talk about that.

No door. Yeah.

So the traditional
order of Herod says the old.

Lucien gets everything.

He's got to turn the place
into an artist retreat.

Now. Francis in Ursula, outside again.

Lucien is not a crappy person.

No, he says to Ursula,
You get the estate in France?

Yeah.

That's not bad.

That's amazing.

She doesn't want to go there.

And he says to Francis and his wife,
You get the probably

5 to $7 million flat in Marylebone.

Yeah. the hardship.

we'll get to her hardship.

Well, of course,

Francis and Davina are scheming, though.

Yes, because that's another trope the
responsible brother has to be responsible.

Yes. And stealing? Yes.

He and his money grubbing wife
mean when they interview her later.

about the life
that she was supposed to be accustomed to.

We need to rant on that girlfriend.

Yeah. Yeah.

You should have looked around.

So there's no place to go in the year.

But there's a record player
because there's record players everywhere.

Because Lucien is hipster record player.

The record player
next to the bed in the yard is cool.

That's like it.

Has a sound system, but no bathroom.

Now there are reports that
do have bathrooms, but they're permanent.

You're they're not like glamping.

You're like, This one is.

So I think Jordan has got a bucket.

We go to the cop shop, which we will call
from this point on top shop.

A Okay, because it changes.

It changes.

Yeah.

Enjoy it while you can because
next episode it's going to be different.

The families suspects foul play.

And we look at a bunch of websites.

That you tried to. Buy.

Yes, I tried to buy a hidden gem
of Midsomer Code

UK and I couldn't because I'm not British.

Because you're not in the UK.

You tried.

Tried twice.

You're like,
What if I say this in the form?

Will that fool them? You?

And they have made up.

A bit of a book.

It didn't work. No.

There's also Lucy in Shire.

Well, Echo Dot UK where he has his moody
photograph. Yes.

So it's called the Stour Wick Estate,
but not the shire wood estate.

But they made that mistake once I think.

Well the house is down and.

The family. Is shire. Well is shire.

Well that's pretty common.

Then he says.

So it says it's
associated with m y blunder

which is my blunder.

The house is associated with m y blunder.

M y blunder.
That's what it says on the website.

That's not referenced.
Who is and why blundered?

I don't know.

Did you give it a Google?

I did and it couldn't.

There's nothing.

Maybe he invented the blunderbuss.

So apparently the sheriff of midsummer

in 1491 took possession of this estate.

Right.

And his descendants
are the Shire Woods. Oak.

Oak. That all makes sense. Yeah.

But then Winter says

I have to be careful because it's winter.

Not Winters says.

Winter says the 16th century, I think.

And that's the 15th century.

Not in the 16th century. Right.

He's off hundred years off.

But the Henry the eighth

destroying of the monasteries
and the necessity of priest's holes. Yes.

A bit later is.

1490 is an early 1500. Yeah. So?

So it makes sense.

we're such nerds.

Speaking of nerds.

Nerds. Lairs. Cliff, Clarice.

Yes, Clare, As Cliff.

Is mentioned here, have you seen her? Her?

She's a famous ceramicist
of the mid 20th century.

Yeah, because Barnaby says well he's
no Clare as Cliff is he.

Because she's a potter in the Art
Nouveau movement.

Do you know what she called her
initial collection.

I don't know, but it's gorgeous.

She called it bizarre.

it was her bizarre designs.

They're all gorgeous.

They're beautiful, they're all geometric.

I wanted her her art.

And that's absolutely gorgeous.

Like Clara would have her stuff.

Yes, I think absolutely.

In 2004 one clatter.

Okay, It's a charger. It goes on the wall.

You don't even use it for.

Don't use. It.

Sold one of hers sold for £40,000.

One We're in the wrong business.

One one of her podcast, Sell for 40,000.

They don't sell for anything.

No, I know.

Her designs are amazing. I love them.

Who is the stupidest person in Midsomer?

That's a competition that I.

We'd have to take some time.

They seem to think that

the stupidest person
in Midsomer is Barnaby.

But why do you say that?

They're like, We just found this note.

Yeah, the funeral.

Well, that's because they're aristocracy.

See, They're wealthy people, so they think
working people like Barnaby are stupid.

I'm really.

Glad Davina thinks that she can just write
a letter and.

That both Barnaby and Winter
don't believe them at first.

And then when they get evidence,
call them out on it right

away, immediately.

The ruse doesn't last 5 minutes.

It's fantasy stick.

Never mind that
the cleaning girl squirrel sees her do it.

Yeah,
I saw her put something in in the drawer.

Wasn't my place to go and read it.

You got her name wrong.

Her name isn't Squirrel.

It's not needed character.

It's unnecessary character. Yeah.

With a notebook.

That whole ruse of.

He wrote a letter
that said he was in danger. And from.

From Lucien. Really? Yeah.

This is our 24th season of this show.

Lady Barnaby should just go try that
in another episode.

It didn't work then either.

It's just not so bad.

So bad, so stupid.

We missed our first our terrorism episode.

The bird on the Door.

yeah.

The the bird on the your doorstep.

Sir. Tony here.

One of the one of the things
we asked about in.

But that that wasn't art terrorism.

No, no, that's just a dead bird.

It's burlap.

It's crafty terrorism.

Yeah, but I don't think that's crafty
is a dead bird.

It's blue and it's written.

It's got that yarn around it.

the yarn makes it crafty. Crafty.

And she had to sit at the table
and do that.

You think she put that dead
bird on her table?

I don't know.

When they meet Sorrel at the bar.

We have a question.

Is there a sauna at the spa?

It's really strange. Yes.

Every place that there can be in the pub,

there are beans, baskets,

shelves, boxes of rolled towels.

And these.

They might be blankets.

This is not because I double checked.

Is there a cold front
going through midsummer?

And that's why everybody has heavy
coats on in the pub is full of blankets.

I don't know. They are thick.

Okay, so this is not like cutlery
for the tables.

No, no, no, it's not napkins.

No, they're definitely blankets or nails.

They're big, big wooly things.

Plus, what are you serving
if those are the towels,

our steaks are the juiciest.

I thought maybe they were for sale.

Like if you were in,
I think maybe Yorkshire or, for example.

Yes. Where there are a lot of sheep
and wool is huge.

And all of the UK, right.

Yeah.

Maybe there's a local wool manufacturer

who's selling blankets in the pub.

Yes, but not that many.

There's like 20
just behind the front door.

Yes, that was number two.

And watch like a maniac by the way. Yes.

Well we asked
why are there so many towels in the pub?

They might be blank.

we still don't know why There is.

Hope, you know.

But there are definitely bundles
of rolled up

blankets or towels everywhere in the pub.

I also like how the maid sorrel is like,
I'll just give you up.

Yeah, like, instantaneously.

Well, she's got nothing to hide,
so she's just there to do her job.

Yeah, which is why the one thing
I don't like in this episode

is when Lucien puts the moves on
or implied that he puts the moves on her.

I could not tell whether he was trying
to put the moves on her

or he legitimately thought
she had an interesting face.

I don't know. I couldn't decide. And I.

Because he's.

How he works.

He's so kind of he's not easy.

He's really straight forward.

I think if she said no, thank you,
he would have said okay.

Like I think he is a equal opportunity
purveyor of women.

Yeah, I think every woman's
a possibility to him.

And I don't think he in his life,
if somebody wasn't interested in him.

That he would pursue it.
Yeah, I think he'd let it go.

Yeah, there's other women to pursue.

But he's got to try. Everybody.

We we have skipped a character
here, though.

Okay, Caleb?

Yes. Lucien son.

Yes. And also pottery helper.

Yes. But he's not portrayed as Lucien
son here.

We don't know he's losing a son.

But we find out he's. The farmer
and his wife.

That might as well be their names.

You mean Gideon and Lyla?

Yes. He's got fencing to do. Okay, Dude.

He doesn't want to have anything to do
with your father.

I'm choosing between fencing
and making for

any part

and dying in the kill.

I may choose that over fencing.

You've worked on a farm.

You won't choose roasting in a kiln
to working on a fence.

Painting is horrible.

Just fixing the fence is horrible.

They're in constant need of repair.

Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah.

So? So.

Yeah.

So Gideon and Lila
are the tenant farmers, basically. Yes.

Who all live. On top of each. Other?

Yes, they live on the estate
and they farm the estate.

Now, Gideon, this is interesting.

He was. He's played by Charles Dale.

Yeah, Charles
Dale was also in secret society,

which is the movie that in that Badlands
is in where she's sumo wrestling.

he is.

So they would have known each other
from sumo wrestling.

From sumo wrestling, Yes.

Maybe they had like you think

when they walked on set at the same time,
they both went down on their,

you know, on their haunches
and stomped their feet at each other.

I bet I can imagine Annette doing that.

She's so nice.

I'm sure she made him
feel welcome and wonderful.

So there's a doll hanging
from a scarf in the dirt

that Sadie has made
because it seemed like Jordanna took.

Jordan a scarf.

Yeah. It's so such terrorism. So she is.

We are terrorist.

And that was number
seven of our watch like a maniac.

And then Jordanna gets killed by a totem
pole.

What were led to believe at the totem
pole?

She's actually been poisoned
with carbon monoxide, but

she's pulled the totem
pole down on herself as she dies.

But she almost hits herself
with something on the toilet.

Yeah, well, did you see the items
the totem pole is made out of?

They're like geometric shapes.

Are they implying that they're ceramic?

I hope not.

Because that would be you would get a.

Clank.

They don't look ceramic.
They look like found objects.

One of them is a big red
watering can. Yeah.

Or a Jerry
can I could something like that.

But there's like a bowling ball
looking kind of thing.

Yeah.

And it sort of reminded me of the art
in Beetlejuice.

Yeah.

It kind of has that feel.

To it, but it also has.

And this is an answer to one of our watch,
like a maniac.

Big fork stuck in. Multiple for.

Random angles.

Yeah,

those are not the only pieces of Lutyens
art that have Falk stuck in them

in that random man years.
He likes the fork.

That.

This is from my fork
period, followed closely by my spoon here.

My frog face man. Period.

This is from
my stabbing Mask's collection.

This is where you insert the implement.

Was that before
or after the put baby parts

and containers section?

There's also two of those.

If all of the art
that he puts on pedestals in the

in the drawing room are his he
has a really diverse collection of works.

Yeah like the things he's making in
the pottery shop are pretty similar.

But some of those things are metal,
some of them are castings,

some are baby parts. In a birdcage.

There's baby parts in a birdcage
and baby parts under glass.

There's two baby parts for.

Baby parts under.

Glass, separate parts under glass.

Nobody puts baby under glass.

Yeah, I just made a dirty dancing
reference. Yep.

You did. About some bad art.

Fleur is on the case,
though, and understands what's going on.

It's not the totem that doesn't rain.

It's carbon monoxide poisoning.

But that that totem goes right back up.

Yeah.

I mean,
I guess since it's not the murder weapon,

it doesn't have to be confiscated
or whatever.

But I'm absolutely sure that later on

that afternoon
is when they let the people into the the.

The open day.

The open day, you can't clean up
a crime scene that fast.

surely it wasn't the same day
Jordanna dies in the morning

or is found in the morning.

And that afternoon Lucien is like,
Everybody, come on.

Okay. It's the next day. Yeah.

That doesn't make it any better.

I tell you what,
if I die out in our yard, it's

one of my Halloween decorations, falls
over and crushes me.

You cannot have an open house.

The next by the year.

By the year,
we have to give it at least 48 hours.

We have no year,
or the children will be living in it.

No. Olive would be shoving it
around the yard.

This is my year now.

Mine back on the murder board is

when here we
they talk about the stove in the yard.

And look at pictures on her phone.

And this is where I saw
no barbecue in the yard.

But then we get to.

Go, Well,
there's one more thing at the coffee shop

where ginger picks up
those old files that are behind.

There's a bunch of old file containers
on all the file cabinets and ginger spice.

Because remember, there's.

The next desk. Yeah, there's the.

They're on a.

With young ginger in the baldy. Yeah.

Young Ginger opens one of those files,
so it could.

Be in the. File.

He's working on cold cases or something.

He's doing all the actual paperwork

for the cases
that Barnaby saw clearly empty.

But he does a good job of.

Looking really interested in that.

Maybe she saw crime photos and he just.

Just likes looking at him.

I like that they all assume
that your totem was an accident.

Obviously it was an.

Accident
because nobody in Midsomer has ever killed

anything with the weird thing. No.

Like a trebuchet? No.

I mean, you know,
that just doesn't happen.

And it turns out she wasn't pregnant.

She was having an art crisis
with her pregnancy test.

She just drew a little line in the window.

That would be remarkably easy to do.

I'd never thought about that.

Yeah,
I mean. If you're fake in a pregnancy.

That's so easy.

Maybe we should fake a pregnancy.

The children out.

you're pregnant.

Mark's pregnant.

I was pregnant.

She peed on the stick. Is it.

Is it implied that the ex-girlfriend
was trying to use

dark magic
to get rid of the pregnancy or Jordanna.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah.

Sadie, who has so many lemons
in her craft corner.

So many lemon.

How does she have so many lemons?

Just out and out says And the nicest house

I have ever seen a bartender own. Yeah.

I hope she owns the pub
because her kitchen is fantastic.

Yeah, She just admits that she was just,
you know, doing some dark magic.

That's what I do. Okay. My strange.

So the timing is she's dead

and they interview the family.

Then they're at the cop shop.

Then they're at the morgue. Yes.

And the morgue scene
that we haven't talked about.

Right. We have to, yes. And then?

Then is when they open up the house
for the people.

There's no Barnaby House scene in between.

So it's the same. It's the

world's fastest cleaner.

I guess.

Well, Lucy doesn't care about crime scene.

It was just his girlfriend
who's dead. Who cares?

Move on.

DAVIES appears out of nowhere,
cleans the scene.

And yes, this is the easiest one.

Yeah, Yeah.

That's a reference

to Greg DAVIES, who's on the cleaner.

Cleaner?

Which you should watch. Season
one and two.

Yeah, Brilliant.

So good and so we learn that

Jordanna wasn't pregnant
and that she didn't die from the totem.

She died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

I said CO2. It's not CO2.

Yes, but we also learn that Flora
once had her boobs cast by Pablo.

Pablo, the the artist.

And now they've been sold
to a Saudi prince.

So the Saudi prince owns the boobs
currently? Yes.

That was one of our watch.

Like a maniac. Questions? Yes.

But what amazes me
most is not that she had her boobs cast.

I completely believe that a flaw is
that she has a picture of them

handy on her phone.

So it was implied on Social media

that she basically sexually harasses
winter here.

By showing him a picture.

The point is, it's not her breasts.

No, it's a representation,
artistic representation of her breasts.

And if she stopped and showed him there,
that would be perfect.

But she does say, aren't they magnificent?

That's a little quick.

But it's flawed.

We love you. We love you.

But it's a little creepy.

You know,

I read that comment that somebody posted
and then I put myself in his shoes

and thought,
how would I feel if somebody at work

showed that to me
and I would be fine with it

as long as they weren't
her actual breasts.

It was a sculpture.

They might not even look like
they could be square.

Who knows?

I also decided that if Fluor had sent him
the picture later that it would be best.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But showing him in the moment.

And it's on her phone. Right.

Don her. She's not.

She's not. Put it on his phone.
No she's not.

Airdropped it to him and said okay
your phone.

No, my boobs.

It's not like
Wynter was scanning through her pictures.

And here's
a picture of him sculpting them.

And here's a picture of me modeling.

You know, like, Yeah,

but it does sound like it was recent.

But I'm not implying that it was Pablo
Picasso to me.

You go for. Yeah.

It could have been.

Okay setting up gallery later
that same day.

Because of the open day
that Lucien is holding

mere hours
after his girlfriend was found dead.

Even if it's the next day.

Who he thinks the 24 he.

Thinks was pregnant?

Yes. He doesn't know that
she wasn't pregnant yet.

So his.

His girlfriend and his baby are dead,
and he's like, must have an open house.

He just cares that little about her
just does not matter.

But Sara Barnett and Betty Barnett show up

because she got an alert
on the Historical Society app.

Before daughter Society alert.

Why do they have alerts?

Yeah, and like,

who did Lucien contact
Like the head of the Circle Society

sent out an immediate alert.

We're having a short notice.

Open house right now.

Time team spotted and Field eight. Yeah.

Go, go, go. I like.

Why would they even have an alert function
like what?

What kind of things
could they be planning for that?

This is a deep cut.

That's how the stragglers found.

Time team. Yes.

And if you don't know
what I'm talking about.

Okay, But if you know the stragglers
and you know Target

and you don't know what I'm talking about,
you're in for a treat.

But you know, it is mid-summer.

So it could be, you know, Headless
Horseman sighted at Civil War reenactment.

Go, go, go.

You know, or a sudden need for crones
and hags Go, go, go.

Jags or the World War two blowing up one.

Yeah.

I mean, cause, you know, everybody in
the circle society has at least one

period outfit.

Yes. That
if necessary, they can put on and show up.

Right.

So never mind the fact never mind
the fact that there was a dead body here

less than 24 hours ago
between four and 24 hours ago.

Never mind that
that they put the total back up.

Why would they put the total?

Well, you're not going to leave it
laying down. Okay.

Never mind all that.
This is a crime scene.

You do not open
crime scenes to the public.

Lucien does.

Well, they should have stopped it there.

But instead we have to have things stolen.

In the middle of the very short
lived, open house.

Yes, There's a lot of exposition in this
part that is a bit forced.

This door, that door is always bolted.

It will have to be forced.

The ghost wanders in the attic.

There's a priest hall. Yeah.

There's multiple
pretty stalls and a rocking horse.

Where is Betty?

Betty Scott herself stuck in Ursula's
bedroom, of all places You want to be.

Not in the Spencers bedroom.

So one of the priests
us, has a pink hallway.

Who painted that?

No, it's not really.

So the priest hall,
where the valuables from

the church are hidden, is not a priest
hall.

It's a space underneath
the hearth of a fireplace.

If you can fit a priest in there,
it's a tiny priest. Yes.

He's a really little father. Little.

Little. We, we.

Priest We Father Little.

Yes. Wow.

He just offended effort.

Hey, what's that?

The borrowers is about to freeze.
Borrower.

Now you just put down there with a little
acorn cap and he'll be fine for a while.

I mean, it's, it's, it's a space between
the floorboards that's not a priest.

Hall and then.

And this is good plot it It's good fine
because now Lucian is a good guy goes

the police have asked for a registry
for the insurance so that we can see

what's stolen.

That is exactly what somebody would do.

Let me go to the filing cabinet
where we keep the estate paperwork.

Because I am in charge of the estate.

Now. Yes.

And let me see two things.

Frances and Davina have.

Go so reluctant
to give over those key. man.

He's like the

it's it's good plotting.

Yeah, because then, you know,
what's up with them?

Francis's righteousness
just melts away real fast.

Yeah.

And then he and Davina
are down in the cellars, scrambling.

I have been.

I got on this kick during break
when I was offered

two weeks of watching these UK
urban explorers.

Yes. That go into abandoned
old country homes and stuff.

And that you. Should not do this.

You should not do this.

I'm glad they do it. Not me.

I love watching it.
Should maybe not film it.

Except except for the ones
where they almost get caught.

I don't like those.

They make me nervous,
but they go in some amazing places. Yes.

And I'm such a nerd about this
now that now I'm watching the scene

when they're in the in the cellars,
getting their stolen gold together.

Yeah. And I'm like, wow,
look at the rafters.

Those are like, original.

And you can really tell
how old that house is and the brickwork

and yeah, those are Tudor bricks for sure,

because they're this wide
instead of that man.

Like I'm a new kind of nerd now.

With Lucy walks in there the jig is up.

He turns the voice on to.

Yeah, he.

Can. He has to duck
to get underneath the floorboards.

Yeah.

Because he's so tall and they're not out.

Yeah. That evening.

Murder number two provided by Mozart.

How many people have died to this Mozart?

A lot. A lot.

But not in this way.

And as their sister killed.

On the read it,
at least three people mentioned it.

Two other episodes that people died.

To this music.

Yeah, it's the killing music. Yes.

Mozart killing people. Yeah. The

there's a weird camera move here.

When it goes across the table,
it bumps a little

that the editor hates.

He hated he had to use that shot.

But the way she kills him.

So she could rot him. Which is horrible.

Yes. Okay. With one of those cheese wine?

Well, it's a it's a pottery cutter.

Yes, but it's a cheese wire.

Basically.

It's a wire
with a wooden handle on each end.

Which would be. Several of them.

And which gives you the leverage. Yes.

I'm scared.

I have to do it. Tools.

But then she puts a mask on him,
and with a giant hammer.

It's a mallet.

It's a wooden mallet.

Smashes it into his eye.

So what she uses in
his eye is a pottery corer.

So it's a handle with a metal tube

that is cut at an angle
on the end and it's sharp.

Okay.

So she puts that in his eye
and then hits it more than once.

Yes, with a mallet.

He is a fantastic dead body.

He is a fantastic dying body.

He does a fair tastic job here.

But like
if you thought the letter was obvious,

I mean, she may as well have just written
Lucy and was here in blood on the Table

or something

because and Lucy and even says it,
Why would I put my own art on his face?

Yeah.

Like if I wanted to get away with it,
why would I do that?

Lucy And again, Lucy in tells everybody
the truth.

Yeah.

And is logical.

Yeah. He's not a flighty, crazy artist.

No, I think the worst thing he does in
the episode is have the open house

after Jordanna died.

Yeah,
that's the most insensitive thing he does.

Yeah.

It had to be Lucian.

He's becoming aggressive.
He must be killing.

Thanks, Ursula.

And he's so stupid. Apparently.

He'll be coming for you next.

Then they fly.

They find the giant tube in the river,
which was one of our watch,

like a midsummer.

The river is in state.

Which means it's flooded it's way.

Yeah, which we've talked about before,
because I didn't know what that.

So it's a first. Ursula has the two?

Yes. Ursula has hauled the world's
most giant.

To bear like.

So you think they're being DNA, Florence?

Like, what are you talking about?

Pit in the water, you moron.

But she's, like,
heaving it out of the river and over, and

she's like, What's its big tube?

We see Ursula working in the garden here,

and this is our first wee door sight.

The week in dark blue. It's blue.

Yes, the wee blue door.

This is where the gnomes live? Yes.

Though having watched it a couple of times
now, I think there are steps down to it.

I think it's a full size.

It's a full sized door,
but there steps down to it.

But I'm going to pretend there aren't.

There's actually two blue doors
on the same wall in the garden.

One you can clearly see
has steps down to it,

but it's a regular shape
or the round top door could be short.

I'm not sure.

Is this where Ursula was attacked
by a minor character for no reason at all?

Yep. Okay.

Sure is all.

We need to say about that.

Lyla and Caleb have a discussion
on the road that is also useless.

Well, we get to find out that Gideon,
the farmer,

was once in love with Ursula
and proposed to her.

And, of course, she had to rebuff him
because she was the rich girl

and he was the farmer, and so her dad
wouldn't allow them to be together.

And this is where they go and interview
Davina.

And, boy, this actress.

She does a great job.

She does a great job.

We're broke.

I was promised the good life.

The life I'd become accustomed to.

But we're poor as church mice. Wow.

Okay, Big chain.

Saw that necklace.

You'll be fine.

I can't even get a decent Chablis.

Your husband just was grounded

and had a pottery tool
hammered into his face.

And you're upset about wine?

you get what you deserve, though, right?

They were made for each other.

Francis and Davina,
when we go back to the cop shop for them

to review in front of the murder boards
again, Yes, We see Gideon's mug shot.

And he has no topless.

No shirt on.

He has the topless mug shot in our watch
like a maniac was.

I looked at this so closely.

I'm like, is it a pink T-shirt?

Is it a peach colored t shirt?

Is it does he have a tank top on?

And the straps are just outside the frame?

Yeah, he's shirtless. He's shirtless.

Which only means to me
that either one of two things.

One, the actor has a topless

headshot somewhere
that looks like a mug shot, maybe for.

A secret society. Or two.

The character has been arrested
before in a situation where he committed

a crime without a shirt on
and they took his picture, that guy.

So they already had his mug shot.

So topless farm crimes.

You know.

Ursula goes searching for victims
and finds the next one

when she talks to her friend.

Because Lionel is like, you know what?

You can have him
you and Gideon can be together

and you can have. Him
because Lucien, Caleb's dad.

Yeah.

And Ursula goes murderous rage again.

Ursula is like, Well,
got to kill somebody. I'll see you later.

Meanwhile, fart jokes.

Wow. See

trick Jon into eating that gross soup.

Well, and periwinkles stew.

So this is absolutely
a thing that can happen.

I like how it brings
on the Elizabethan theme.

Yeah, it's.

It makes Sarah and Bette
Betty more close together.

It makes them look fun,
and they're filling in for John.

Yeah, and.

And they're playing on
John and John is doing

the dad thing where he's like, Well,
my child made this.

I didn't get to go, this is really good.

And then no, I.

Think you've done that to me.

I think I'm a good cook.

I think I sometimes make things
that you don't like and you eat them.

You never complain.

Like, whatever I've made is good.

If you like that food,

but you don't always like it,
but you never give it away.

I have no idea what you actually like
because you are willing to eat anything

and say that it's good.

That how I was raised.

And welcome

Periwinkle stew is not the worst
Elizabethan recipe you can come. Up with.

You find there. Are.

I mean, yeah of course they way

were stuff that you would find
completely unpalatable.

There was a show
where they ate food from the past.

It was called the Super Caesar's Go.

that's right.

Which is such a weird name,
but it's got a Sue

Perkins and a food critic
whose name was Giles Something.

It's Sue. Perkins. It's fantastic.

But it's called the Super Caesar's Go.

And they basically try out

what the the dietary norms
were of different periods of time.

I'm sick all the time.

my gosh.

Yeah, but it's so good. It's on YouTube.
You should watch it.

The super size is poo poo Elizabethan.

I'll put it in the show.

They eat all kinds of crazy
Elizabethan food.

Caleb gets burned and killed
and then they make the fart joke.

Well, wait.

He puts the horny bowl in the counter.

She puts the horny bull to balls,

two legs and hot.

Legs and more fun.

He puts it in
and then he gets trapped in there.

And is.

Is this the worst?

It has to be top
five worst murders in midsummer.

Because you're in there for 3 minutes
maybe before you pass out.

It takes a while for it to heat up.

Yeah, they heat up slowly
and they cool off slowly.

And he knows he can't get out.

And it's tight. It's like a closet.

it's horrible.

And he's young. Yeah.

And he had a broken ankle at one point.

And got a titanium screw in his ankle.

It's just.

Yeah, Poor Ursula's really bad.

She is horrific. Jordan gets off lightly.

The the worst part is
I don't know if you picked this up.

So we see Caleb

and we see Ursula, though
we don't know it's Ursula

in the silver suit, she shuts the door
and then turns up the heat.

Yeah.

There's no reason for her
to be in that silver suit. Now.

She got dressed up to kill. Yeah.
And then she goes, Well.

She wants to convince people she's Lucy.
And even though she's like, a foot.

Shorter
than was prancing around the grounds.

Some people see, people will.

See her, Lucy and have you lost, right?

Yeah. No,

I'm squatting.

I'm doing a dance.

She is. Horrific. It's.

It's such a bad way to die. Yeah.
And they.

They find his titanium ankle.

Yeah.

And identify him by it.

But what would be left of you?

Maybe The crowns and my teeth, maybe.

Yeah, My ring.

Maybe.

Same. Yeah,
maybe the underwears of my bra.

No, I don't know.

The underwriters in my bra,

my. Well, Bones,

I don't know.

I've got some mesh in my abs,

but I don't think it's the kind of metal
that would survive that kind of heat.

I think it would look like
a barbecue grill in there or something.

I'm not. Sure. I love how Barnaby goes.

I know who the killer is now
and then says it's Ursula.

There's no I'm. I know.

I have to get everybody together.

No, most people are dead,
so you can't really get.

I'm playing against Ursula. Yeah.

So while they're running to the estate,

Ursula and Caleb are in the chapel,
and there's this weird picture of a nun.

Not Ursula and Kayla. Ursula and Lucien.

Ursula loses. Caleb.

Sorry, said Ursula and Lucien.

And there's this weird picture of a nun,
and she's holding a skull.

Yeah. I don't know what that's about. It's
a weird picture.

I tried to look up.

Nun holding skull painting.

I can only imagine what that search
is going to get to, you know?

Well, and is that the theme of the chapel?

Like holding heads?

Because there's that one.

And then there's
the solemn picture at the back.

The big painting. Yeah.

With the head on the platter
being presented.

Couldn't find that one either.

But it's clearly Solomon.

These are not happy stories to be on.

Paintings in the chapel.

No. Well, it's a Catholic thing.

Okay?

I don't know. I don't think it is.

It can't be Catholic.

Remember, they've got priest.

well, no, I guess they could be.
But you can't.

Car can you have a personal church
if you're Catholic?

I don't know.

I don't think. That. Works.
But all. Priest.

We need to go to our little drunk room
with the Escher

hallway and stairs around them.

Well,
you go down through the cellars. Yeah.

And then back up again.

But then you're on the first floor.

But then there are more stairs.

Down.

To go to the, the, the wine jubilee at

mummy's little drinking room.

Can I play a little room.

Can I have one of those nice furniture.

It does. It's well-furnished. Yeah.

It looks cozy. Yes.

Yeah.

It's mummy's little drinking
and I want one.

I don't even drink and
I would be more than happy to sit in there

and just be left alone.

Brushing who is now
finally paying attention to his family.

Figures it out.

G. My sister killed my.

Mom and she's going to kill me.

And she's mad.

She pushes him down the stairs and then
runs down the stairs and is going to be.

yeah, she's going to Basham.
She's not done.

This is my killing Nook.

She just killed two.

She's right there
with the woman in the house.

The episode from a really early season who's writing the history of the family? Yes

my God.

It's Anna massey who plays
her, isn't it? Yes.

She's got that book. Yes.

If Ursula grew old and was still killing,
she's.

Got the crazy and the Massey locks.

Yeah, Yeah.

But they save her.

So their mother was mean.

She was horrible.

And her their father was mean. Yeah.

What I don't understand is Ursula
goes into a rage and kills her mother.

Why doesn't she kill her
father for another 40 years?

I guess he just didn't pass her off
enough.

I guess. I guess.

Then we find out her big motive.

Yes, Right.

For the current set of murders
is that she and Gideon were in love.

She and the farmer were in love.

She was pregnant.

Her dad didn't let them get married.

She lost the baby
and she buried it in the rose Garden.

And she doesn't want to leave the house
because to her, that's leaving the baby.

And this is where she finds out
that Jordanna wasn't pregnant.

Yeah.

So she killed Jordanna
because she thought Jordanna was pregnant.

And that put a threat
to the inheritance of the house.

Yeah.

She had to kill Caleb
because he could have inherited the house.

And she killed her brother.

She killed Frances
because he was going to sell the house.

Yes. That's something that comes out
in their argument.

Right.

So all of this is
so that she can stay at the house.

All of it. Yeah.

So that she can get a flower
really wrong. Yes.

Because she says that's a rose,
a mystical. No.

It's a hellebore. Yes.

It's not even a rose Roses mystic.

It is a pink rose. A pale pink rose.

I know that's a hellebore

because it's the only plant
I've managed to keep alive in our yard.

It is dead.

So she's going to go away? Yeah.
To prison.

And with seasons going to keep the house
and turn it into an artist retreat,

just like you said. Yeah,
he does the right thing.

Yeah, Lucien does the right thing.

He does what he said

he was always going to do to his brother's
dead and his sister's gone to prison.

His sister in. Law.

Is not going to have any money.

I wouldn't be surprised if Venus is like,
Hey, Lucien,

could I, like, stay.

Course,
she should naturally go to jail, too,

because she was complicit
in the crimes of Francis.

Yeah, I don't think
that's really all that important

now that three people have been murdered
within like three days.

People in crimes got to go to jail.

Probably low on the priority list.

So Sadie's just going to keep on running
in the pub, putting curses on people.

I don't. Know. She might get it.

She might get some probation
for doing what she did.

Maybe Sara is going to keep keeping her
diary.

The sorrow sad because her best friends.

Yeah, but died in a horrible way too.

But Caleb's
mum and dad share so horrible life.

Yeah. That's so sad. Yeah. Absolutely.

And then people say that Sarah Barnaby's
perfect at everything online.

I like that
she has to buy the costume here.

Yeah, I don't like that.

She fibs about making it.

Yeah.

Speaking of which, that's the one.

Watch like a maniac
that we haven't hit yet.

Which is.

Where is Ulysses?

In the Barnaby's living room. Yes.

When John and Sarah
have a talk on the couch,

you can see a pen and ink picture of James
Joyce behind Barnaby.

And he wrote Ulysses?

Yeah. So that was kind of a little tricky
question.

Well, tricky question.
We've got a screenshot of it.

Yeah, I'll share it with you.

So that's kind of after
the credit. Rough. Rough.

Who's.

Who's the best corpse?

I got to think Francis is the best corpse.

The way he sits in that chair
with the mask on and doesn't breathe.

Well,
you don't think how the actor that plays

Caleb turns himself into a pile of ashes
is impressive?

I Can you?

They must've been like.

So, first of all, on a set,
safety is super important right now.

I realize there's a camera there. Okay.

But they would have had to
because Caleb is 19 in the story.

I think he's probably 20 or so.

They probably had to like,
okay, we're shutting this door,

but you can open it any time.

Well, it's
not a kiln. No, it's just a closet.

No lights in it and shelves.

But I can see how that could be traumatic
to him even filming.

pretending to be trapped.

Yeah. Yeah, it would.
It would freak me out.

It make it easier to act.

Yeah,
I would be wary around those totems, too.

With the forks.

I'd be afraid that I would actually kind
of lose it and actually kick the door open

when it wasn't
supposed to be able to open.

Don't trap me in a closed room like that.

no, no.

So that is the devil's work.

And we have no horrible movies,

but there are a number of horrible movies
named The Devil's Work.

I bet. Yeah.

No, none of these actors
have made any big mistakes

in the movies that they've been in.

Sarah Woodward, who plays Ursula Shire.

Well,
the killer is in Queens of Mysteries.

She's great and she's been in
lots of other things and sounds good.

Yeah.

Peter Serafinowicz is awesome in
everything he's been into.

Yeah,
we went over his. We've been over that.

Yeah. In the Mini. Yep.

So that is the devil's work.

What's our next episode?
What's episode two?

Our next episode is the Book of the Dead
Book of the Day,

which is season 24 episode two,
which is not really a book of the dead.

It's more
they should call it the Book of Mystery.

It. Is, or the Book of Puzzles.

Book written by the dead guy.

Very sort. Sort of.

We got a lot.

Of fun.

Moving our little alien friends.

The bus ride.

It's really great.

I think
all four of these episodes are super.

I think they're really, really good. Yeah.

I hope you guys enjoyed that.

We had lots of fun watching it.

Several times, so.

We will return on the 15th of January
with season 24 Episode two.

We're on all the social media is follow
like subscribe all that good stuff.

Do that funky, funky social media thing.

Always happy to see your comments.

Yeah. Have the community. Yes.

All right. Bye, maniacs.

Bye, maniacs.

Wow. What is it?

The children's.

The Children's Workshop.

No, it's not the children's workshop.

That was 19th century England.

And it's a sweatshop.