Why oh why did Midsummer Murders have to get so much worse? I get it that John Nettles couldn’t stay forever and was fine with the change even though he was the best detective.
BUT, despite at first the shows writing with Neil Dudgeon being about on par with later seasons with John it the. started to go down hill, first no one was allowed to just be a prick or a total cow anymore - they all had to be somehow redeemable. The whole cruel snobby gossipy feel of the small village was what made the show great in the first place. But no, there can be nothing mean said and characters can’t be genuinely unpleasant lest some pc type be offended by whatever random thing they say. How can the whole snobby village be written if no one in it is actually a snob or holds offensive snobby opinions or does anything mean?
Then you have the home life of the new Barnabys. Now I don’t mind either Neil Dudgeon or the actress who plays his wife but it’s all so modern sitcom and unrealistic. Perfect wife ruling the roost who knows better than her husband.
contrast that with Joyce and Tom who were very much a believable old married couple - sometimes one would (in a lighthearted way) mock the other or vice versa and sometimes one would show the other up, but mostly they were just stuck in a happy little rut of two old marrieds. I liked how Joyce always had her thing, some course she was taking a painting class, a walking tour etc and Tom was the stereotypical pipe and slippers type in contrast to that. I used to get a laugh out of those family scenes but with the new ones it’s just kind of bland.
Seriously, watch some early episodes of the show and compare them to now. The delicious viciousness of the small village, the hilarious unpcness of Troy (best sidekick), believable if slightly over the top characters. It was great. Now, less so than ever.
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Midsummer Murders used to be better. Tell me it’s not just me
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Tamzo85 · 19/05/2022 12:26
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