User Reviews

As this episode of the long running murder mystery series opens a radio blares a warning... the missiles are in the air and Armageddon is minutes away! Luckily for disaster prepper Warren Kaine he has been preparing for such an event and had a large bombproof shelter in the nearby woods. On the way he calls to fellow preppers. Once there he has a drink to celebrate his survival... unfortunately for him it is drugged and the bunkers ventilation system is draining the air from the room. There was no missile attack and Barnaby and Winter are looking for a killer amongst the prepper community and their families. As the story progresses plenty of suspects and motives appear, as do further victims.

If like me you enjoy the silliness of most 'Midsomer Murder' stories you'll be sure to enjoy this. We get several regular tropes; members of a special interest group being murdered in highly imaginative ways, the second was particularly bonkers, numerous suspects, many played by familiar actors, and a range of motives. An early scene puts the killer on the viewer's 'suspect list' but doesn't make it too obvious; this show does love misdirection. Before that reveal there are some enjoyable plot developments and twists. The cast, both regular and guests, do a solid job playing things straight even in sillier moments. Overall I thought this episode was a lot of fun in a way fans of the series should expect.

I really tune into Midsomer Murders for the regulars and their lighthearted stories more than the mysteries. This has some good Barnaby humour throughout, with professional and personal stories tying together nicely. I'm glad I watched this in 2024 and not when it was filmed in 22 for reasons that are obvious when watching. It is weird-ish but not creepy which is good for me as I prefer these tamer episodes. Unusually, I followed this one fairly easily and I'd pretty much solved it, but got distracted by the other storylines because there is quite a lot packed in that I could relate to better.

Have enjoyed these from the start - even when the death toll went past 300 and some form of official enquiry would surely have been launched!

However, watching this first murder reminded me of the Death in Paradise episode with exactly the same demise. Other aspects of the story were also similar...

Generating antagonism between the main characters doesn't help either - Fleur is becoming a pain - and Barnaby's virtually abusive treatment of his sidekick simply would not be allowed.

And man-traps are illegal, but no action was taken on that.

As such this was a disappointing entry in the series.

Honestly people, if you don't like the show and are going to pan so many episodes, go watch something else.

I like to rate these episodes on A. Creativeness of the murderer; B. Funny goings on; C. Whether I can guess the murderer.

A. Very creative. Especially loved the method of murder for one of the victims. Murder by boat!!

B. Poor Winter gets wet/dirty/muddy, etc. This time, he even brought Wellies into the office. Barnaby stole them. I really hope he gets lots of money back from the Midsomer Constabulary for the damage to his clothes/shoes. Barnaby didn't pay him back when Winter bought beer and crisps to munch on when Sarah's mom came to visit. That should be in Winter's expenses.

C. Had no idea who the murderer was until close to the end. They kept it secret a long time.

Definitely think the victims deserved what they got!!

Have loved this show since we started watching it back in the day. But. But. It's not necessarily gone woke, but it has turned a character into a purely nasty old hag. And we are talking about fleur. What kind of name is that. She is nasty. She is mean. She likes to argue. She likes to fight. Say the wrong thing around her and the thought police are Busting your behind. DCI Barnaby has to put up with her. Has to let her throw her man hating remarks around to try to bait him into saying the slightest thing to give her reason to go file a complaint. And a lawsuit. Why do they even talk to her outside of work? She is poison.

Well done guys. You made this series even more realistic than before with this cackling cauldron stirring bat out of hell ready to pounce on any fool foolish enough to cross her.

And given there is no free speech in jolly old England these days not even DCI barnaby dares.

Well done guys.

Ever fearful for the end of the world, Warren heads to his shelter after a message warns of the end of the world, but he's been tricked, and a killer has put an elaborate plan in place.

UK viewers have certainly had to wait for this, the question as always, was it worth the wait?

Yes and no, the best thing about The Blacktrees Prophecy, was that wonderful opening sequence, it gave me Saw vibes, shades of horror, and the promise of lots of suspense, the worst thing however, the rest of the episode.

A disappointing story, definitely inspired by the pandemic, at times it was just silly, that scene with the boat however, was like something out of a spoof. The writer seems to want to have a pop at conspiracy theorists, but didn't quite have the skills to write it, it was just stupid.

The acting was a real mixed bag, I thought Nina Wadia and Holly Aird were pretty good, unfortunately some of the other performances were really poor.

When I think of episodes from years gone by, I always knew is revisit them, Strangler's Wood, Written in Blood and Happy Families I've watched multiple times, I certainly wouldn't watch this again in a hurry.

Nope.

5/10.

This episode was tremendously satisfying to view. The survivalist and virus themes were cleverly woven together. Writers layed out the story in an easy to follow manner tieing loose ends as the story progressed. Acting was superb with each character unique. I especially enjoyed lovely Carly-Sophia Davies as Becky Burrows sweet as pie turning into a monster performance. Only miscast I thought was Tej Obano as Stu Levy didn't hold up as a ladies man. Such a solid main story I thought the ending might not hold up. But, the ending was terrific with most questions answered. Only iffy part was Zane and Becky's both working separately apparently or slight unison never really explained thoroughly even rewatching the dynamic end. Fleur Perkins (Annette Badland) in the background where she belongs. Betty AWOL no explanation. Sarah's mother's visit side story eh. Bright Winter not knowing clothes ruined on the job are compensated for is silly?

I was glad that people kept getting killed off, because the character list was so long and confusing, it cut down on who I had to keep track of. Reveal at the end was unsatisfying I'm disappointed how Sarah Barnaby was written. When we met her, she was a fully realized, confident person-a full partner in her marriage, a successful professional in her job; then to see her brought to her knees because her mother might criticize her house?! Come on.

Also, Winter is not a rookie anymore, and it's just backward and mean the way Barnaby hazes him constantly in this episode. It's like they tried too hard to make it amusing or cute, but it's a miss. It just appears that Tom is a jerk.

I love these films, all episodes are 8-10 for me, from 1997 and onwards.

... BUT this one was definitely a 4/10 (!)

WHY? The actors where great but the manuscript and the cutting of the film was on a film student level. I was so disappointed.

• It was badly edited, many scenes were abruptly cut.

• Barnaby turned up like "a rabbit in a hat" exactly everywhere!

• The lines for the actors were very odd at several times.

• The female characters were very badly written. They took a stereotyped male character and gave it to a woman. (I work in a mine for a living, so don't make fun on females with technical knowledge, we're not "men").

• The whole story was a mess. Less is more: More elegant would be more peaceful to watch.

But the actors (top cast) made att great job!

One of the worst yet.

Many of the newer episodes have absolutely none of the charm of the original Midsomers but this is as bad as it gets.

No kitsch characters like the Rainbirds, no memorable or interesting characters at all, no picturesque village scenes, no subtle camp comedy, just distinctly average writing, and truly awful acting. Special mention in this category to Kate Robbins (??) and the lad who played the character of Zane - he alone made this episode almost unbearable to finish, he was truly truly terrible to the point I physically cringed every time he was on screen.

Forced myself to finish watching it but won't bother again.

Just doesn't get any worse than this.... and that has been the case for several seasons. None worse than this one, horrid acting, writing, etc. Holes in the plots bigger than the Grand Canyon. Two lead actors that don't seem to wanna be there. And yes you are right....no one is making me watch And I will not continue to after watching the first two episodes of the 23rd season. I thought the earlier seasons with the previous Barnaby, John Nettles, Were Entertaining even when thousands of characters were getting killed within one episode. It had a bit of charm back then.... It's a shame that it has lost that charm along with every other thing that makes a show of this nature entertaining.