Sauce for the Goose is the seventh episode of the eighth series of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders and was originally aired on 3rd April 2005.
Synopsis[]
The squabbling members of the Plummer family have something new on their plate when a man is found dead in the family-owned relish factory. Plummer's Relish is an old standard and the business is on the decline. The company is now owned by Amelia Plummer and her three children: Ralph, Anselm and Caroline. Ralph is the Managing Director but his wife Helen is more or less in charge. Anselm and Caroline would like to sell out to Fieldway Foods but Amelia and Ralph vote down the proposal. The dead man found in the factory is Dexter Lockwood, the grandson of a Plummer family rival, and many years before, a one-time rival for Amelia Plummer's affections. He was also working for Fieldway Foods. Old love letters, a power of attorney, and a pair of missing glasses are central to solving the murder.
Plot, Part 1[]
Amelia Plummer heads out on her tricycle to the Little Upton Antique store. She finds a piece of china she likes and while Mr. Judd is getting her something else to look at, she puts the first piece of china in her purse. When she arrives home, she looks out her window and sees a body hanging from a tree.
At the Barnaby house, Joyce brings down a box from the attic. She tells Tom that she has found just the carpet for Cully's old room. And she thinks they should buy a bed. She pulls out a jar of Plummer's Relish, planning to bin it. Tom tells her not to.
At the Plummer and Son, Co. factory, Anselm Plummer drives up and hits his parking sign. He is arguing with someone on his cell phone. Caroline Plummer drives up beside Anselm. Amelia parks her tricycle in her parking spot. Ralph Plummer is out in the woods watching birds in his hide. His phone rings and scares away the birds.
In the factory, people are preparing to go on a tour. They all wear white coats and hats. Ralph and Helen Plummer drive up.
The tour guide explains about the Plummer Relish and the group tours around the factory.
In the boardroom, Sonia Hardwick sets out chocolate biscuits for the Annual General Meeting. Helen goes over the items on the agenda. Anselm interrupts her and wants to know about shareholder dividends as he wants more money. Helen tells him they did lose money over his restaurant. Caroline adds they also lost money on his polo ponies. Anselm retorts that they lost money on Caroline's cookbook. They argue. Amelia tells them to calm down, "Children, children."
On the tour, the guide introduces his son, Mr. Hardwick. A man lurks along the side of the group.
In the meeting, Helen says "We have assets but no cash. As you know Fieldway Foods are desperate to buy us out." Amelia says they don't have the secret recipe. Anselm wants to sell the company. Ralph says he promised papa they would keep the company going. Anselm says, "Dammit, Ralph, Fieldway Foods could make us rich." Helen tries to suggest a compromise but Anselm tells her to shut up as she's not a member of the family, although she is married to Ralph. Anselm tells his mother to vote for selling the company. She declines and says that the firm must stay in the family. Anselm says to Ralph, "You propose doing bloody nothing." Amelia pops up with "I saw a dead man in the garden. And then when I looked again, he was gone." The family members stare at her.
In the factory, the lurking man is apart from the group. He is told to catch up.
Anselm says, "Well done, Ralph. Another triumph of indecision." Ralph puts on his white coat as Mr. Judd from the antique store shows up. Ralph says he will handle it and asks him if he will take a check. Anselm says Mum's been nicking things again. "We have to do something about mummy" he says to Caroline. "What can we do about it? Have her committed?" says Caroline. Anselm says, "Now there's an idea."
In the factory, the lurking man sneaks off and Helen sees him. He runs away and goes down a passage to a back room. There are rows and rows of relish on pallets. Cue spooky music. The man says to someone, "Oh there you are. Funny place for a meeting isn't it?" A forklift with a load of relish comes after him. He puts out his hands to stop it, but is crushed by the relish jars.
The next day, workers arrive and a naked body is found in the sterilizer. The police arrive and interview workers. Sergeant Dan Scott directs DCI Tom Barnaby to the crime scene. Dr. Bullard says, "Here's one for the memoirs." Barnaby says, "Yours or mine?" Scott says the security guard is at home, tucked up in bed. Barnaby tells him to send somebody to "untuck him."
Ralph is out observing birds in his shack in Albert Wood and gets a phone call. Helen tells Alex Hardwick "He must be in Albert Wood." Sam Hardwick tells the detectives he does the guided tours. Helen presents herself and Alex Hardwick, the production manager. She is the company secretary and her husband is the managing director. Sam tells the police he took a tour around yesterday. Barnaby wants the names and addresses of those who were on the tour. Helen says she will tell the family. They had the AGM yesterday so they are all staying at the house. They were having the AGM at tea time, about the same time as the tour group.
At the house, Amelia looks out the window. Anselm says, "Mummy, are you listening?" He shows her an enduring power of attorney. He wants her to sign it. "If I went Gaga, you mean?" says Amelia. Caroline interjects, "He doesn't mean that, Mummy." Anselm says, "Actually, yes, that's exactly what I mean. Listen, Mummy, if you don't sign this and you go doolally, we won't be looking after you. It'll be down to the Court of Protection. And God knows what they'll do. What with you running around the village nicking things, they'll probably lock you up." Amelia says, "Ralph would never allow that." Caroline says, "He wouldn't have any choice. That's the whole point."
Anselm says, "Look, face it, Mummy. Ralph is a busted flush. All he wants to do is sit in Albert Wood staring at the lesser spotted thingumajig." Caroline says, "While his dreary little wife runs round pretending to be in charge." Anselm says, "If you won't sign this, how about giving me some of your shares?" Amelia says that they both already have shares. Anselm says, "Yes, but Ralph has got more so we can't out vote him. Whatever I suggest Ralph votes against it. The truth is he resents the fact that I'm the one with the ideas." Caroline says, "What? Like a Plummer's relish theme park, I suppose." Anselm: "That was a bloody good idea." Caroline: "Hurling people around in giant vegetables?"
Plot, Part 2[]
MURDER 1: Amelia drifts into the kitchen and looks out the window. "Perhaps I won't see him today" she says to herself. Anselm gets a phone call. "Just what we need. Some twerp's got himself killed up at the works."
At the factory, Ralph arrives. Helen introduces him to the detectives. They don't believe the victim was a staff member. Likely he was a member of the tour group. They have had to shut the production line to gather forensic evidence. Sonia walks in with Chocolate biscuits. Helen tells the detectives there are no tapes from the CCTV cameras. They haven't put tapes in since the cut-backs.
As they leave, Scott notes that the place is a shambles. No-one knows whether they're coming or going. Barnaby says, "At least Helen Plummer has her pretty little head screwed on OK." They speak to the security guard. He says Mr Anselm had the door to the safe open. "He was in a right mood - Mr Anselm. He's always in a mood, isn't he, Anselm?" He didn't see anything unusual at the bottle sterilizer.
"Whatever happened last night, he slept through it." says Scott. He gets a call- A visitor on the tour gave a Causton address that doesn't exist. John Smith. The go to check the incinerator to find clothes and a wallet. There is a card with the name of Dexter Lockwood.
Meanwhile, Amelia is out back in her garden and looks around to find the hanging man hanging from a tree.
Dr. Bullard reports that the murdered man had a pizza for lunch, followed by chocolate cake. "It's barely digested, so I'd put the time of death between three and five in the afternoon. He was crushed to death between two large corrugated surfaces. Broken legs, pelvis smashed, ribs crushed. As you surmised, Tom, he was very dead before they put him in the sterilizer." Scott comes in and reports that the credit card belongs to a "Dexter Lockwood, aged 31, he's single, and he lives with his dad in Midsomer Magna. He's a brand executive, whatever that is, for Fieldway Foods. He's a bit of a high flyer. He didn't come home last night. He hasn't been seen at work for two days. They make convenience foods, sir. Soft drinks, snacks." Bullard says, "The kind of rubbish this poor chap had for his last lunch." Scott continues, "I'm not sure this is relevant, but Lockwood's boss at Fieldway Foods says they've been trying to buy up Plummer's for ages." Barnaby says, "Lockwood might have been at the factory on business." Scott replies, "No. They gave up trying to buy Plummer's ages ago because the family always knocked them back." Dr. Bullard adds, "Oh, by the way, Tom. Mr Lockwood had a stomach ulcer. Not surprising in view of his diet. Apart from the pizza and the chocolate cake, his belly was full of over-the-counter antacids."
Barnaby and Scott interview the family members. After the AGM broke up Helen went onto the factory floor to talk to Alex Hardwick. She passed the boiling room as the visitors group was leaving it. Anselm says he left straight after the meeting. Caroline says, "Me, too. I had to work. I'm a novelist, you see." Anselm says, "And last week she was a painter. The week before, she was a film-maker." Ralph says, "Anselm, please." Ralph explains that he had a little business to transact with Mr Judd after the meeting. Then he walked home. He left the car for Helen. Helen did some paperwork and drove home about an hour after the others left. Barnaby points out that Anselm returned to the factory after midnight, according to the security guard, to look at something in the safe. Anselm says, "All right. I was looking in the safe. So what? It's my safe, too, you know." Ralph says, "What on earth for? If you take any interest in the firm, you'd know the original recipe is in the bank in Causton." Helen says, "The real secret is that it's inedible. Albert poisoned the housemaid when he tried it on the servants. So his cook came up with another version."
Barnaby tells them that the dead man is an executive for Fieldway Foods. His name was Dexter Lockwood. Amelia comes in the room and announces that she saw the hanging man again. And this time he didn't go away. Barnaby introduces himself and Amelia tells him about the hanging man. The detectives go to investigate and find signs that someone was using a rope on the tree and there are footprints beneath. Amelia asks about the man who died at the factory. They tell her it was a young man called Dexter Lockwood. Amelia says she suddenly feel awfully tired and goes back to the house.
The detectives go to visit Derek Lockwood, Dexter's father. He tells Barnaby that his father revolutionized the relish making business. They were filling jars by hand till his dad built them a proper production line. He didn't get on with Maurice Plummer though. As soon as Maurice took over the firm, he kicked his dad out of the factory, out of his house and out of the village. His father committed suicide. That was the coroner's verdict. But Mr. Lockwood thinks it was murder.
Barnaby finds DS Scott in the cafeteria talking to Caroline Plummer. Scott tells Barnaby that Caroline is writing a book and it's got a policeman in it. Also, there is a bloke over there reckons he saw something in the boiling room just before Dexter Lockwood disappeared. Scott samples the Plummer's relish. He says it is "Peppery, fruity, hint of turmeric, quite autumnal."
The detectives go to interview Mr. Milner. They pass by Sam Hardwick on the way. Sam tells them that he remembers Stan Lockwood. He was a bit soft in the head and they had to let him go.
Milner tells the detectives, "I was working over here when Sam Hardwick brought the trippers in. I was busy, but I noticed one of them hanging round as the others were going. A young fella in glasses. Then Mrs Helen came in. She says, "Hello. It is you, isn't it?" The bloke jumped out of his skin. I thought he was going to fall in the tomatoes." The detectives go back into the factory storeroom and find blood on the floor and broken relish jars on a pallet.
Plot, Part 3[]
Helen Plummer sees Barnaby and asks if he will meet her at the Two Brewers in Midsomer Market. Barnaby drives by the antique store and sees Amelia go in. He comes in after her. Mr. Judd is counting out money and giving it to her. Amelia says, "Well, Inspector, it seems you have me bang to rights." She explains that she needs cash and so she has an arrangement with Mr. Judd. Amelia explains, "I remove something from Mr Judd's shop without paying for it. It's not shoplifting, you understand. I'm absent minded. Now, Mr Judd, goes to Ralph, who pays for whatever it is I've taken. And then I sell it back to Mr Judd at trade price. I don't make much, but every penny helps. I don't have a bean. I get a tiny allowance from Ralph. And nothing at all from my shares, because the business is doing so badly." Barnaby asks her about Stanley Lockwood" Amelia says, "Yes. I knew Stanley Lockwood. He was handsome, funny, clever, and I loved him, Inspector. And he loved me. Stanley was desperate for me to marry him, but... He was a village boy, so what did I do? I married Maurice. He was a Plummer. He was rich. I married the wrong man, Inspector. And I have been paying for it ever since. When we were married, Maurice was a bully and a tyrant. But I stuck with it. As one did in those days. And Stanley? Maurice was insanely jealous of Stanley and he couldn't bear having him around, so he sacked him. And I never saw him again, which was what Maurice wanted. I read about Stanley's...death in the local paper." Barnaby says, "Whoever's playing games at the bottom of your garden, Mrs Plummer, they know that story."
Anselm comes in and asks Amelia where his clean jodhpurs are. Amelia says she is not his housekeeper. Anselm reports that "the quack's arrived to see her." Barnaby goes to see Dr Sarah Stannard, Amelia's doctor. She says Amelia is fit as a fiddle. Otherwise she wouldn't have witnessed that EPA for Ralph-Enduring Power of Attorney. Sarah says, "Ralph got her to sign one the last time I was here. So that he can take charge of her money and so forth. If necessary. Apparently, Anselm tried to get her to sign one. And Ralph got wind of it. Have you met Anselm? I wouldn't let that one near my loose change."
Ralph is out in his Bird Hide in the woods and Anselm comes to see him. Ralph says he should go back to London, but Anselm says the police have told him to stay around for a bit. Anselm complains about the companies' lack of funds. "We owe the bank millions, the domestic market has dried up. Now the factory's closed down because somebody shoved a stiff in the sterilizer."
Barnaby meets with Helen Plummer at the Two Brewers. Helen says she recognized Dexter Lockwood. When she went off to talk to him, he ran off. She had some meetings with the Fieldway Foods people. She was hoping she could hammer out a compromise that would save the firm without having to sell it outright. The suddenly all went quiet and Dexter didn't return her calls.
DS Scott shows up at the Two Brewers along with Caroline Plummer. Caroline sees Helen and Barnaby together. Caroline says, "She's such a teacher's pet. When she married Ralph and started working at the factory, she made a point of doing every job in the place. Talk about sucking up. She worked on the production line, bottling plant, you name it, she did it. And nobody was the slightest bit impressed. Anyway, we're here to talk about my book, not her." Caroline goes on to talk about her book. Scott asks if Helen learned to drive the forklift and Caroline says of course she did. "There's not much else to do in a warehouse."
Barnaby asks Helen, "Why do you think Dexter didn't return your calls?" Helen says, "I don't know. Plummer's may be making a loss but the name, the brand is still worth something. It's mostly sugar and vinegar anyway. The other ingredients just look good on the label. Tomatoes, onion, garlic..." Barnaby says, "Tamarind, ginger, Scotch bonnet, cinnamon...My father always had Plummer's on his sandwiches every day. I used to read the label. I thought it was so exotic. And I was very disappointed when I found out that Scotch bonnet was a sort of pepper. And not a Celtic hat." Barnaby enjoys having a drink with Helen. As they are leaving, Barnaby asks Helen about the EPA that Amelia signed in Ralph's favour. She says she I doesn't know anything about it. The Plummers keep family matters to themselves.
Outside the Two Brewers later, Scott tells Barnaby that Helen Plummer used to work in the warehouse. She can drive a fork-lift. Barnaby says why would Helen run down Dexter with a fork-lift? He was trying to help her bail out Plummer's, wasn't he? Barnaby adds that Ralph does his bird watching in a wood across from Plummer House.
Joyce talks to Tom about the colors she has picked out for Cully's room. He appears to not be listening. She can hear in Tom's voice that he finds Helen attractive. Tom asks what the food is on his plate and Joyce angrily retorts that it's been so long since she cooked it, she can't remember. She gives him a jar of Plummer's Relish to have with it.
Scott and Barnaby go to check out Ralph Plummer 's bird watching hide. Ralph says he'd rather see him at the office, but Barnaby says he is never there. Barnaby asks about the enduring power of attorney his mother signed. Ralph says she signed the papers three months ago. Pressure was being applied on her from other quarters, so...he felt that he ought to take precautions.
Scott and Barnaby pass by the tree where the hanging man was placed and find indigestion tablets on the ground. They then go to speak to Derek Lockwood. While Barnaby is looking in Dexter's room at his computer, Scott finds a stuffed "Man" in the trash along with a folder about the Plummers. When confronted, Derek denies knowing anything about anything. He scoffs at the phrase "Poor Mrs. Plummer." The detectives find a POA in the folder dated before Amelia started seeing the hanging man. Barnaby tells Derek that he will haul him to jail if he doesn't start talking.
Plot, Part 4[]
Later, Amelia tells the detectives that Dexter came to her a month ago and said he found letters his grandfather wrote to Amelia and would she like them back. Dexter told Amelia that Helen and Ralph were planning to sell Plummer's to Fieldway Foods. He told her that the firm was in terrible debt. He was worried that once the deal went through, and all the debts were paid, there would be nothing left for Amelia and she would be shut away in some dreadful nursing home. Amelia says, "I love my children, but I am under no illusions about them. They're all of them in their separate ways totally unreliable. I'm afraid the picture Dexter painted was all too believable. He was sweet. Like his grandfather. It was as if Stanley had come back to me." The POA is dated a month ago. Barnaby asks, "Can you remember, Mrs Plummer, when you first saw the hanging man?" Amelia says, "Well, it was just after my birthday. So, um... A month ago." She starts to cry and the detectives leave.
Barnaby says to Scott as they leave, "Well, at least we've got a motive now, Scott. Somebody must have found out that she signed over the power of attorney to Dexter Lockwood. The question is who?" Scott says, "None of the Plummers would have been particularly impressed. Helen Plummer was the one who had all the dealings with Dexter, wasn't she?"
Anselm watches the police leave. "Those coppers are looking very bright-eyed and bushy-tailed." Caroline says, "Perhaps they're on to you, Anselm." Anselm says, "What do you mean?" Caroline says, "You were trying to steal the recipe for Dexter Lockwood, weren't you?" Dexter had told Caroline. He had asked her out and offered her a seat on the Fieldway board if she helped him. Anselm admits that Dexter spoke to him as well. Then he stopped calling.
That evening at dinner, Joyce and Tom are eating and Tom is trying to get the relish out of the jar of Plummer's Relish. Joyce says, "That's how they make their money. You can never get it all out of the jar. They do it on purpose. Can't the glamorous Mrs Plummer give you some on the house?" Joyce asks Tom if she noticed her new reading glasses. A light bulb goes off in Barnaby's brain- The Glasses!
The next day, Scott and Barnaby search the factory back room for the glasses that Dexter had been wearing. Whoever killed Dexter Lockwood was hoping to get the body off the premises during the night. They were probably reckoning on the security guy sleeping through his shift as usual. But in the middle of the night Anselm turns up creating mayhem and after he's gone the security guard starts doing his job properly for once, patrolling the factory. So they hide the body in the sterilizer. Maybe the glasses fell off while he was being killed. Or when the body was being moved? So you're moving the body, the glasses come off, you bend down, you pick them up... And you put them in the pocket of the white coat you wear on the factory floor. And in the general panic... you forget all about them. They decide to ask Sonia Hardwick.
In the middle of the night, someone is in the factory looking around and when the security guard comes to look, he goes locked in the cold room. The person goes to search white coats in the staff room. They grab Helen Plummer's coat, then Ralphs. Scott turns on the lights and catches Alex Hardwick with the white coat. Alex runs and Scott chases him and Sonia runs after and beats on Scott and Sam Hardwick comes to the fray. Barnaby picks up the white jacket and locates the glasses inside Ralph's jacket.
At the Bird Hide someone knocks on the door. Ralph says, "Did you get them?" He opens the door and Barnaby says, "Yes. Yes, I've got them. Mr Plummer."
At the house, Barnaby tells Ralph that the Hardwicks have been taken to Causton police station." Ralph says, "They were only trying to help, Inspector. I knew that Dexter Lockwood had approached various family members. But when he got Mummy to sign the power of attorney that was the last straw. And then when Mummy started seeing men hanging from the trees I knew what was going on. I told Dexter Lockwood that I'd changed my mind. I told him I wanted to do a deal with Fieldway Foods. He said he'd have to look around the factory first. He'd never set foot in the place before, obviously. I said that would be difficult. What if he were recognised? It might start tongues wagging. And he suggested joining one of our guided tours. The arrangement was that I'd meet him in the warehouse. I'd made sure the side door was left unlocked. Once he was in the warehouse, I... I cornered him. And ran him down in a forklift. I waited until everyone had gone home. Then I... I cleaned up as best I could. Then I dragged Lockwood to the main doors of the warehouse. That's when his glasses fell off. I picked them up and... ..put them in my pocket. My plan was to leave him by the doors and then somehow try and get him into one of the delivery vans. But it became obvious that wasn't going to work. Thanks to Anselm, the security guard started doing his job for once. I realised I wasn't going to get the... ..the body off the premises so I... Well, I... stripped Dexter Lockwood and shoved him into the sterilizer. He was covered in relish. Well, there you are, Inspector. You have your confession. There's the end of it."
Barnaby says, "I'm afraid not, Mr Plummer. Cause I don't believe a word of that. Would you stand up, please, sir? Scott, the coat. You try that on, please. (Barnaby chuckles as the coat obviously doesn't fit Ralph.) Dexter Lockwood's glasses. They weren't in your coat. They were in your wife's. You put your coat on the wrong peg, didn't you? And the fingerprints on the glasses, Helen, they'll be yours."
Plot Denouement[]
Barnaby turns to Helen and says, "You recognized Dexter Lockwood on the factory floor, didn't you? Your husband can't have told you about his meeting with Lockwood so you didn't know what he was up to. So you followed him into the warehouse. (Flashback: Lockwood says, "A fine place for a meet... Ralph interrupts, "I'm sick of your devious tricks, do you understand? Don't go near my mother again, ever!") You saw them talking together. And that is when you decided to kill Dexter Lockwood. (Flashback: Ralph yelling at Dexter, "And I want the papers back. I want them back now. Now!" Helen gets on the forklift and starts driving it toward Dexter. Dexter says, "Hey... Oi! Stop! Stop! Hey! Stop! Stop!) All the rest happened pretty much as you described it, Mr Plummer. Except it wasn't you who picked up the glasses, was it? It was your wife. (Flashback: Ralph drags Dexter's body. They hear the guard coming and hide between relish racks. Then Helen goes to pick up the glasses.) So then, you had to think of a place to hide the body before you could get it out of the factory. I wonder, who thought of the sterilizer? Helen says, "I did. As usual I was the only one thinking straight. (Flashback: They drag Dexter to the sterilizer and strip him.) Helen continues, "We stripped him. Then dragged him to the boiling room. Then we heard Keith Carter coming back."
Barnaby says, "The question is, why did your wife kill Dexter Lockwood in such a reckless fashion, Mr Plummer?" Ralph says, "Because of what he did to my mother, of course. And because...she knew that I wasn't up to the job myself." Barnaby says, "No, Mr Plummer. Your wife killed Dexter Lockwood so he couldn't tell you about this," and holds up a set of papers. Scott takes the papers and continues, "This is a report prepared by Dexter Lockwood on the Plummers' assets. If you look here, you'll see that the...factory itself, that's not really valued very highly at all. The property in Little Upton, the houses where the employees live, that's worth quite a bit. But the real jewel of the crown, sir... ..is Albert Wood." Scott shows Ralph the document. Barnaby says, "Albert Wood's been reclassified. It's no longer green belt. Your wife and Dexter Lockwood hired a consultant to assess the likelihood of getting planning permission. He thought there was a very good chance indeed." Scott says, "That wood's big enough to build a small town on. A large fortune." Ralph says, "Build houses? In Albert Wood?" Helen says, "It would have saved the firm, Ralph. That's all I cared about." Ralph protests, "But what about the birds?" Helen says, "Oh, to hell with the birds! Someone had to do something."
Amelia walks in and says, "I saw that the lights were on." Ralph says, "It's all right, Mummy. Go back to bed." Amelia says, "But what's going on? It's the middle of the night." Ralph says, "I'll...I'll tell you tomorrow, Mummy." Amelia says, "And where's Maurice? He'll have something to say about this." Ralph says, "I'll take you back to the cottage, shall I? " Amelia says, "Who are you?" Ralph says, "It's Ralph, Mummy. Your son." Amelia says, "Of course it is. I'm going to bed and so should all of you. It's far too late to be gallivanting around." She leaves.
Anselm and Caroline watch Helen and Ralph escorted to police cars. Anselm says, "I suppose this means that I'm in charge." Caroline says, "It means WE'RE in charge." Anselm says, "What do you know about running a factory?" Caroline says, "What do YOU know about running a factory?" Anselm says, "Hells bells, Caroline, does this mean we'll actually have to work?"
Barnaby turns to Scott, "Don't say it, Scott."
Joyce says, "I told you so." Barnaby says, "Did you get the new blue carpet? What about the oyster paint?" Joyce says no. She shows him a new jar of Plummer's relish that she bought. He throws it in the bin.
Sometime later, trees are cut down in Albert Wood.
Cast[]
- John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby
- John Hopkins as Sergeant Dan Scott
- Jane Wymark as Joyce Barnaby
- Barry Jackson as Dr. George Bullard
- Annette Crosbie as Amelia Plummer
- John Quayle as Mr. Judd
- Jasper Britton as Anselm Plummer
- Rod Hallett as Dexter Lockwood
- David Ross as Sam Hardwick
- Lizzy McInnerny as Caroline Plummer
- James Fleet as Ralph Plummer
- Ann Beach as Sonia Hardwick
- Geraldine Alexander as Helen Plummer
- Benedict Sandiford as Alex Hardwick
- Tom Bowles as Milner
- Steve Speirs as Keith Carter
- Pauline Whitaker as Jackie Carter
- Karl Johnson as Derek Lockwood
- Vivienne Ritchie as Dr. Stannard
- Lucy-Ann Holmes as Factory Worker
Galleries[]
Body Count[]
Prior to the Episode
Committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree some years ago.
Died of natural causes.
In the Episode
Chased and crushed by a pallet of relish being moved by a forklift, then dragged along the factory, stripped and left overnight in a bottle sterilizing machine where he was sprayed with steam that was heated to 200˚ centigrade.
Supporting Cast[]
Episode Images[]
Arrests[]
- Helen Plummer- for the murder of Dexter Lockwood
- Ralph Plummer- Accomplice in the murder of Dexter Lockwood
- Derek Lockwood- for the harassment of Amelia Plummer
Notes[]
The following actors and actresses who appeared in this episode have also appeared in the following episodes
- David Ross - Garden of Death
- James Fleet - The Curse of the Ninth
- Pauline Whitaker - The House in the Woods
- Lucy-Ann Holmes - Four Funerals and a Wedding
- Lizzy McInnerny - The Stitcher Society
Trivia[]
- In this episode there are made the first references about Barnaby's father. When he is asked by Ralph Plummer if he got on with his father, he replied "Yes, on the whole, yes", possibly hinting to the events described in Fit For Murder.
- Plummer's Relish appears to be a take on Branston Pickle, a popular condiment in Britain, dating back to the 1920's. Branston Pickle is used in sandwiches, as DCI Barnaby references, and is most commonly associated with the so-called "ploughman's lunch", a meal of bread, cheese, pickle and often ham. The rough similarity between "ploughman's" and "Plummer's" further reinforces the reference.
- Anselm stresses the importance of Amelia signing the Power of Attorney in case she "goes doolally." Doolally is a colloquial phrase meaning mad or insane, and comes from the former British Army station Deolali, India. Soldiers were sent there to await ship home and often, due to heat, boredom and other stresses, exhibited signs of mental affliction known locally as the "Doolally Tap."
- Bird-themed music is associated with Ralph Plummer. His ringtone is "Der Vogelfanger Bin Ich, Ja" from Mozart's "The Magic Flute."
- Barnaby states one of the relish ingredients as Scotch Bonnet. If actually present it must have been in a small quantity because Scotch Bonnet is a pepper with a minimum Scoville rating of 100,000 (compared to the maximum of 8,000 for a typical Jalapeno). Any sizeable portion of the pepper in the relish would have made it extremely hot and spicy to consume.
- The Trials and Tribulations of DS Dan Scott:
- Scott gets to enjoy tackling Alex Hardwick in the factory, but gets battered by Sonia Hardwick, his mother.
- Scott repeatedly tried to imply that Barnaby's view that Helen Plummer is pretty shouldn't affect his judgement of her guilt or innocence. In the end, Barnaby says, "Don't say it."
Quotes[]
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Goofs[]
- When DCI Barnaby and DS Scott are interviewing Carter, the security guard, in his home, the wall clock remains stopped at 9:55 throughout the scene, even though the pendulum is swinging steadily.
- Power of attorney requires witnesses, generally an attorney. The form that Dexter Lockwood had did not have any signatures or stamps other than Amelia Plummer's.
Video[]
Midsomer Murders Series 8 Episode 7 - Sauce for the Goose Preview
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