Midsomer Murders - Talent For Life [DVD]

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At his home, Duncan Goff tells his wife, Dixie Goff, that he has to go see a few patients. He tells her not to wait up. She is working on sculptures in her studio.

Quentin sees Gwen walking by and asks if she remembers seeing him at the village shop the day of the murders. She says yes, she did. Rebecca rants, "Isobel had no comprehension of economy. As you can see we don't exactly live like lords. It severely stretched us, letting her live in that house, and we've had to scrimp to get by. Isobel, of course, continued to live the high life. I know she's family and you have to be loyal but the truth is, Isobel was a very manipulative woman. Men ran around after her and she did nothing in return." Troy asks, "Which men ran around after her?" Rebecca says, "My husband for one. And Quentin Roka for another. Her antique dealer playmate. God knows what was going on there." Melrose says, "Quentin runs the antique shop near Isobel's. He often helps her out..." Rebecca interrupts, "Wheedling his way into her confidence. With the finances." Melrose says, "Quentin paid the odd bill for her at the Post Office. I am the person who will benefit financially from Isobel's death in that I now have possession of my assets." Out on a country road, Joyce Barnaby drives up to where Cully is stranded, her car broken down. Cully transfers photo albums to Joyce's car. Cully says, "Thanks, Mum. I really do appreciate this. You're a lifesaver. The man from the garage said he'd be at least two hours and I've got to get these up." Joyce asks, "Have you got enough for a good show, do you think?" Cully says, "I hope so. Still got a few more promised. People have been coming for the gossip as much as anything." Joyce asks, "About the murders?" Cully says, "Loads of theories, most of them ridiculous." Eureka!" Moment: Barnaby realises that the apparent Gone Horribly Right fake murder gambit must have been actual murder when he overhears someone using the phrase "in the dark": if someone was faking a murder attempt on themselves and their survival depended on being able to make a phone call for help, why would they risk dialling a number in the dark?The next morning, Rebecca is clearing out the trash at Isobel's house. Leo comes to look at a table at Quentin's antique shop. Quentin asks Leo what he meant yesterday when he said Keith had bullied Ruth into lying for him? Leo says he couldn't accept Keith wasn't involved. Beatrice speaks to Barnaby. She says, "I think it more likely Isobel was the target. I spoke to her by phone the night before she was killed. She'd just had the most terrible row with a mutual friend....

The story is hugely compelling, and never simplistic and never losing any of the maturity of most of the previous episodes. There is a lot going on mostly without being cluttered or rushed (remarkable for an episode that as ever is heavy in exposition), and that nothing is what it seems, or very few people are who they seem adds to the complexity, while there are no out of kilter scenes. The twists, red herrings and turns keep coming, and rarely in an obvious or press-the-rewind button. The characters are colourful, eccentric and not what they seem. When two bodies are discovered by the side of a fishing stream, Barnaby and Troy have yet more murders to solve. John Nettles is great at delivering his lines to suspects, especially the arrogant, the wealthy, the upper-class, and those who think he is just a dumb copper. He is humble and yet you can see what he is thinking, and that is pretty cool. Nettles expressions do the acting! At the photography exhibition, Cully and Joyce look at the photos. Barnaby drives up with Quentin in the car. Troy asks, "What's happening, sir?" Barnaby says, "There's been a development. Quentin Roka was our man after all. He's just confessed to the murders. All three. It seems your first hunch was the right one. You see, it suddenly occurred to me that if Gwen Dobson, the local gossip, didn't know about Melrose owning Isobel's house, then it was possible no one else did either. Maybe not even Quentin. It's a long story. Of course, I couldn't have got there without Troy working out the business with the fridge. Good work. You thought it was Quentin from the word go. See the lesson in all this? Always follow your first instincts." Troy says, "I'll get the car, shall I?" Barnaby tells Cully he'll see the exhibition some other time. Barnaby calls, "Hang on, Troy. I'm coming with you." and puts his arm around Troy's shoulders.Barnaby goes to see Melrose Plunkett at Isobel's home. Quentin is upstairs valuing the furniture. Barnaby asks where Isobel's share certificate is. There is another document under the certificate. Barnaby asks, "Is this the formal agreement between yourself and Isobel for the transfer of the ownership to you of the house and furniture?" Melrose says, "Yes, it is." Rebecca calls, "Melrose! The Jaguar man's here." Barnaby says, "Your agreement with Isobel about the house, was that common knowledge in the village?" Melrose says, "Not as far as I know. She was a proud woman. She asked us not to mention it."

The next morning, Andrew Turner is casting his line into the river when it gets caught in a tree. He tries to get it down and trips over the bodies of Isobel Hewitt and Duncan Goff. They had been bashed in the head ... Key creepy music. Cully has returned! She now runs a mobile library of sorts. Glances between her and Troy indicate their attraction is still there. Her absence goes unexplained. It seems her parents bought her a cheap car, which they call Bert. The murder plot itself was interesting, confusing to follow since everyone's a suspect. But watching it a second time when knowing the identity of the killer, makes it much more pleasant to follow what is happening, notice all the red herrings, and enjoy the script as it is. The deaths are not too gruesome and the initial motives were tame by the series' standard as being a sudden crime of passion based on a broken heart. There was a funny bit about how Troy had pegged the killer early on but was talked out of it by Barnaby's doubts. Then Troy came up with a theory that faulted someone else and Barnaby agreed, celebrating Troy's success with Cully and Joyce. However, Barnaby realized Troy's theory was wrong and once again solved it all himself. Troy was embarrassed but Tom recalled Troy's initial gut feeling as correct, and walked off with his arm around the dejected Troy. At the police station, Troy tells Barnaby he is about to take a statement. A woman wants to press charges of assault against Isobel Hewitt. Barnaby says, "Isobel Hewitt, the Jaguar-owning pensioner?" Troy replies that there was a bit of a barny at the Midsomer Fly Fishers last night. Barnaby accompanies Troy to the interview.The biggest problem however is the pacing. I am not one of these people who do not appreciate character building, but in this case the story does take too much time to settle down and get compelling. Mainly because of unfocused storytelling. Ruth Scholey comes to the restaurant and finds out her husband has been killed. She tells the detectives that as far as she knew the door was fine. She had an argument with her husband earlier because she wasn't sure about the alibi she had given him. He had told her she was being disloyal. A Talent For Life" takes place in the Midsomer village of Malham Bridge and the story starts when Isobel Hewitt slaps Margaret Seagrove in the face. Margaret wants to press charges and Barnaby and Troy come along to have a word. Isobel Hewitt brags about her slap against Mrs Seagrove and as she talks with her nephew, Melrose Plunkett and his wife Rebecca, they inform Isobel that they can not carrying on paying off her overdraft. Shortly after, Isobel Hewitt and Duncan Goff are found murdered by the river. The motive was also agreed not very interesting and pretty mundane and clichéd. Again agreed the show was at its best when the motives were either fresh, darker and more outlandish (though some, especially the Neil Dudgeon episodes, went too overboard on the outlandish to the point of absurdity and were convoluted at times too), here in comparison it was bland.

I've always loved "Midsomer murders", especially when Tom Barnaby was around (that would be 1-13 seasons), but after John Nettles left, the show has not been the same. The 5th season was pretty strong throughout. ( In my opinion only not very good episode being "Market for murder"). The sixth season however starts of quite decent with "A talent for life".

Cast & Crew

At the Old Fisherman pub in Malham Bridge, the meeting of the Midsomer Fly Fishers has just ended. Margaret Seagrove goes after Isobel Hewitt and grabs her arm. Margaret says, "What do you mean, limited skills? I've won the casting final three times in a row and you call my skills limited? How dare you?" Isobel slaps her and says, "Is that any better?" Duncan Goff says, "Isobel!!" Margaret say to her husband, "She hit me. Aren't you going to do something." Duncan gives Isobel a lift. Didn't mind the character building and establishing the characters and such for the first twenty minutes, and it was quite interesting stuff and added a good deal to the characters, but at the same time it took a little too long to set up and get to the meat of the story. Quentin walks over to Isobel's and they drive off riding in her red Jaguar. The race past the mobile library, which Cully Barnaby is tending. Isobel enjoys racing around an old airfield ( cue old 50's Big Band music). Barnaby hears the car racing from a distance and identifies it as Isobel's Jaguar- straight 6, twin cam. Troy says, "Come on, sir. You can't tell that from here."