Let Us Prey

Series Sixteen Episode Two
Let Us Prey
Airdate	8 January 2014
Village or Location	Midsomer St Claire
Writer	Paul Logue
Director	Alex Pillai
Episode guide
Previous	The Christmas Haunting
Following	Wild Harvest

Let Us Prey is the second episode of the sixteenth series of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders and originally aired on 8th January 2014.

Synopsis

A series of murders in Midsomer St Claire seem to be inspired by macabre images on a medieval fresco recently discovered in the church crypt. As the village prepares for storms and flooding it appears that someone is using ancient torture methods to punish modern-day ‘sinners’. But who is responsible and why?

Plot

In Midsomer St Claire DCI Barnaby and DS Nelson investigate the death of 28 year-old Nancy Dewar who is found in the water by river officers Ava Gould and Zach Lime. Her face had been covered with a burlap hood and Dr. Wilding finds that although she drowned, there is also evidence of blunt force trauma on the back of her head. She had recently separated from her husband Michael Dewar and had moved in with artist Philip Hamilton who is repairing a medieval fresco discovered by Rev. Martha Hillcott and handyman Frank Dewar in the basement of the local church. The fresco itself depicts a hooded woman, much like Nancy's. Two further murders suggest someone is imitating the death scenes in the fresco. The decision to sell a cottage owned by the church - and occupied by the now retired Rev. Arthur Gould, the church's longtime pastor - has also created ill-feeling in the community. Learning a long hidden secret however is the key to solving the crimes.

Cast

• Neil Dudgeon as DCI John Barnaby
• Gwilym Lee as DS Charlie Nelson
• Fiona Dolman as Sarah Barnaby
• Tamzin Malleson as Kate Wilding
• Rebecca Front as Reverend Martha Hillcott
• Paul Copley as Frank Dewar
• Andrea Lowe as Ava Gould
• Doc Brown as Zach Lime (as Ben Bailey Smith)
• William Beck as Michael Dewar
• Roy Hudd as Victor Spencer
• Patricia Brake as Stella Spencer
• Billy Postlethwaite as Noah Evans (as William Postlethwaite)
• Gerard Horan as Ewan Evans
• Michael Jayston as Reverend Arthur Gould
• Vincent Regan as Professor Philip Hamilton
• Sarah Lochlan as Nancy Dewar
• Richard Banks as River Authority Worker (uncredited)
• Hannah Blamires as CID Officer (uncredited)
• Chris Cowlin as CID Officer (uncredited)
• Gioacchino Jim Cuffaro as Villager (uncredited)
• John Duggan as Flood Volunteer (uncredited)
• Anthony Farrelly as Criminal Investigation Department Officer (uncredited)
• Susan Fordham as CID Officer (uncredited)
• John W.G. Harley as Flood Volunteer (uncredited)
• John Neville as Man on Bicycle (uncredited)
• Andrew Parker as Flood warden (uncredited)
• Mike Ray as CID Officer (uncredited)
• Ruth Shaw as Villager (uncredited)

Galleries

Body Count

Nancy Dewar
Head was covered with a burlap sack and then she was struck on the back of the head. She was then thrown into the river.

Frank Dewar
Death due to multiple injuries due to having 2 tons of rubble dumped on him.

Philip Hamilton
Impaled by heavy chandelier.

Supporting Cast

Reverend Martha Hillcott

Ava Gould

Zach Lime

Michael Dewar

Noah Evans

Ewan Evans

Reverend Arthur Gould

Victor Spencer

Stella Spencer

Episode Images