Echoes of the Dead is the third episode of the fourteenth series of the ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders and first aired on 20 April 2011.
Synopsis[]
When a young woman is dressed in veil and strangled in a bath, it triggers a spate of ghoulish wedding-themed murders in Great Worthy. The case takes DCI Barnaby and DS Jones to a donkey sanctuary, a heritage steam railway, and a pub run by an ex-copper and former brothel madam. With the serial killer still at large, could history be repeating itself?
Plot[]
Dianne Price is left dead in the style of the Brides in the Bath murders of almost a century earlier. Blessed be the Bride is scrawled in lipstick on her bathroom mirror. Her grieving flatmate Jo, who works at a donkey sanctuary run by hard-drinking Liz Tomlin and her antagonistic son Sam, takes the opportunity to escape her voyeuristic landlord Bernard Flack to move in with vet Fran Carter but Fran too is killed, also in a copycat murder from the 1930s, again bridal-related. Pub landlord Matt Rowntree, an ex-cop, is married to Nikki, a former madame whose girls specialized in dressing up fantasies which arouses Barnaby's suspicions but then an elderly couple are slain, with Just Married written on their car and Bridal Suite on the door. Bernard's voyeurism actually saves Jo's life as he calls the police to arrest the murderer, out to claim a fifth victim.
Cast[]
- Neil Dudgeon as DCI John Barnaby
- Jason Hughes as DS Ben Jones
- Barry Jackson as Dr. George Bullard
- Fiona Dolman as Sarah Barnaby
- Sarah Smart as Jo Starling
- Ron Cook as Bernard Flack
- Adrian Rawlins as David Orchard
- Melanie Kilburn as Yvonne Flack
- Andrew Buckley as Malcolm Merryman
- Daisy Haggard as Fran Carter
- Thomas Arnold as Sam Tomlin
- Pam Ferris as Liz Tomlin
- Lee Boardman as Matt Rowntree
- Kacey Ainsworth as Nikki Rowntree
- Malcolm Terris as Len Merryman
- Jane Thorne as Olive Merryman
- Lisa Brookes as Dianne Price
- Edward Clayton as Frank Bertram
- Rosie O'Sullivan as Lottie (uncredited)
- Chris Wilson as Police Officer (uncredited)
Galleries[]
Body Count[]
Strangled with a ribbon, stripped, "dressed" up with a white curtain that was arranged like a bridal dress with a veil, then placed in a bathtub, the water was let to run, a flower bouquet was put in the room and on the bathroom mirror was written with her red lipstick "Blessed be the Bride".
Strangled with a ribbon, stripped, dismembered with a saw, put in a wicker basket and driven with her car to the train station. The basket was then transported with a sack trolley from the car to the station's hallway, inside the basket were put white rose petals and a note written with Dianne's lipstick which said "NOT WANTED ON VOYAGE" and on top of it a flower bouquet.
Bludgeoned with a sledge hammer along with her husband. The room was then decorated with flowers, outside on the room's door was left a note written with Dianne's lipstick which said "Bridal Suite Do Not Disturb", their car was decorated with white rose petals, tin cans and on it was written with the same lipstick "JUSt MaRRIEd".
Bludgeoned with a sledge hammer along with his wife. The room was then decorated with flowers, outside on the room's door was left a note written with Dianne's lipstick which said "Bridal Suite Do Not Disturb", their car was decorated with white rose petals, tin cans and on it was written with the same lipstick "JUSt MaRRIEd".
Body Count Notes[]
- The first two murders were copycats of famous murders from the past, hence "Echoing" the Dead.
Supporting Cast[]
Episode Images[]
Video[]
Midsomer Murders Series 14 Episode 3 - Echoes of the Dead Preview
Notes[]
- The inspirations for the murders based on real killings are the George Joseph Smith and Brighton trunk murders cases.
- The episode takes inspiration from the American slasher film He Knows You're Alone, following the exploits of a serial killer rejected by his wife, only to murder her and other brides in the state of New York.
The following actors and actresses who appeared in this episode have also appeared in the following episodes
- Adrian Rawlins - Tainted Fruit
- Edward Clayton - Birds of Prey