Down Among the Dead Men is the fourth episode of the ninth series of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders and originally aired on 12th March 2006.
Synopsis
When council clerk Martin Barrett is shot dead, DCI Barnaby and DC Jones discover he was an expert blackmailer. As they investigate which of his victims hated him enough to kill him, the trail leads to Fennacombe Bay. Why are Richard and Margaret Florian spending so much time by the sea and could police committee chairman Sir John Waverley have a scandalous past? With the help of a policeman turned fisherman, Barnaby takes to the waves to find out.
Plot
DCI Barnaby and DC Johns investigate the murder of Martin Barrett, who was killed with a shotgun blast while he was standing in his kitchen. It doesn't take them long to realize that Barrett was a blackmailer with several of the local villagers under his thumb. They include the local pub keeper who didn't report a very valuable painting as part of his late father's estate thereby avoiding death taxes; a local businessman, Richard Florian, who may be involved in a bit of smuggling; and Sir John Waverley a prominent local citizen who also happens to be a member of the Police Board. What the police soon learn is that Barrett had a business associate, one who tells them that Barrett had one particularly lucrative blackmail target in his sights.
Cast
- John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby
- Jason Hughes as DC Ben Jones
- Jane Wymark as Joyce Barnaby
- Laura Howard as Cully Barnaby
- Barry Jackson as Dr. George Bullard
- Grant Masters as Martin Barrett
- Charlotte Emmerson as Hayley Redfern
- Sam Kelly as Jack Fothergill
- Julia McKenzie as Ruby Wilmott
- Rob Edwards as Richard Florian
- Christine Kavanagh as Margaret Florian
- Arthur Kohn as Billy
- Derek Hutchinson as Reg
- Paul Freeman as Sir John Waverley
- Dermot Crowley as Peter Hatchard
- Polly Hemingway as Carol Hatchard
- Rebecca Lamb as Staff Nurse
- Duncan Watkinson as Policeman (as Duncan Clyde)
- Frank Mills as Ted
- John Snowden as Detective (uncredited)
Galleries
Body Count
Double barrell shotgun blast into the chest while he was standing in the kitchen.
Supporting Cast
Episode Images
Video
Midsomer Murders Series 9 Episode 4 - Down Among the Dead Men Preview
Notes
- When Tom and Joyce arrive at the shore in Fennacombe Bay, they reveal the Dr. Bullard and his wife Catherine have purchased a house in France and are going on holiday there the following week.
The following actors and actresses who appeared in this episode have also appeared in the following episodes
- Frank Mills - Death of a Stranger and Country Matters
- Polly Hemingway - Who Killed Cock Robin?
- Derek Hutchinson - Dance with the Dead
- John Snowden - Four Funerals and a Wedding, Last Year's Model, King's Crystal, The Axeman Cometh and They Seek Him Here