A Rare Bird is the eighth episode of the fourteenth series of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders and was originally aired on 11th January 2012.
Synopsis[]
A row between keen birdwatchers in Midsomer-in-the-Marsh turns nasty when their president is killed. Patrick Morgan met his death while hoping to sight a rare bird, but is his obsession with ornithology to blame – or something more sinister?
Plot[]
DCI Barnaby and DS Jones investigate the murder of Patrick Morgan, president of the Midsomer-in-the-Marsh ornithological association. Morgan wasn't very likeable and was downright nasty to people, including his wife Nina. He suspected her of having an affair after she announced she was pregnant - he knew he could not be the father as he had a vasectomy some years ago. He had also challenged Ralph Ford's claim of having seen a blue-crested hoopoe, a bird that is native to Uganda and had threatened to sue local farmer George Napier if he went ahead with a drainage project. Nina was a former prima ballerina and with former professional musician Michael Hipsman, now a bookshop owner and member of bird-watching society, teaches ballet classes locally. Nina hasn't been truthful with the police and finally tells them who fathered the child she is carrying. When he too is killed, the police have to look elsewhere for the culprit.
Cast[]
- Neil Dudgeon as DCI John Barnaby
- Jason Hughes as DS Ben Jones
- Fiona Dolman as Sarah Barnaby
- Tamzin Malleson as Kate Wilding
- Genevieve O'Reilly as Nina Morgan
- Alexander Hanson as Patrick Morgan (as Alex Hanson)
- Paul Bigley as Tim Whitley
- James Dreyfus as Ralph Ford
- Allan Corduner as Michael Hipsman
- Paul Nicholls as Dave Foxely
- Tony Haygarth as George Napier
- Nicholas Boulton as Dr. Markham
- Amanda Lawrence as Olivia Carter
- Ella Al-Khalil Coyle as Aimee Whitley
- Carol Cummings as SOCO (uncredited)
- David Golt as Parent (uncredited)
- Nick Thomas-Webster as CID Officer (uncredited)
- Julie Vollono as Pub Patron (uncredited)
- Chris Wilson as Police Officer (uncredited)
Galleries[]
Body Count[]
Lured into the woods with a rare bird hotline alert on his phone, trapped in a birding net, beaten with his bramble beater and thrown in the lake where he drowned.
Lured into the woods with a medical emergency phone call, trapped in a birding net and then shot twice in the chest with a shotgun.
Supporting Cast[]
Episode Images[]
Videos[]
Notes/Trivia[]
Continuity
- Through the end of this episode, the finale of series 14, Barnaby phones Jones during midday to arrange to meet, but Jones hints that he is in bed with another person.
- Later in an interview made by Jason Hughes for Murder of Innocence, the second episode of series 15, episode where Jones is seen having a relationship with Susie Bellingham, Jason says: "In the last series, Jones turns up late to a crime scene and it's hinted that he was in bed, but not at his own house. In the new film, that storyline is developed a bit further." This suggest that Jones and Susie were already seeing each other during the events of A Rare Bird.
The following actors and actresses who appeared in this episode have also appeared in the following episodes
- Tony Haygarth - Destroying Angel and King's Crystal
- Julie Vollono - The Dark Rider and Murder of Innocence