John Ransom collapses and dies outside a pub after a fight with his brother-in-law over the baptism of his niece. He has electrical scars across the top of his head.John Ransom collapses and dies outside a pub after a fight with his brother-in-law over the baptism of his niece. He has electrical scars across the top of his head.John Ransom collapses and dies outside a pub after a fight with his brother-in-law over the baptism of his niece. He has electrical scars across the top of his head.
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Did you know
- TriviaThe newspaper shown several times mentions a UFO sighting. The character Romany Rose was played by Wanda Ventham, who appeared nine times in UFO (1970) as Colonel Lake. That series dealt with a secret government organization trying to stop UFOs.
- GoofsAt approx 27 mins when a file is being burnt in an incinerator, the sticker on the file in the front top right hand corner with the person's details is clearly seen to burn to ash. Later when Barnaby retrieves the file the sticker is fully intact and untouched, the only burn is a smouldering circle below it.
- Quotes
Sergeant Dan Scott: Well, whatever they call it, sir, Jimmy Kirby knew I was wearing this tie before I came in.
DCI Tom Barnaby: I should think everyone from here to Causton would know you're wearing that tie.
Featured review
Science v Religion v Insanity
This show is hard to digest the first time, because it really has everything tossed into it. The primary conflict is science versus religion. The investigation starts when John Ransom, a local known for having "second sight" gets beaten up at a bar and drops dead, with burn marks on his head.
Ransom's only family are also the eccentric town scientists who investigate "second sight." They are a father and son team who pay the locals to conduct second sight experiments on them using an electric skull plate that shocks their brains and leaves scars on their skulls as part of the investigation of "second sight." The fact that nobody had killed these kooks before is probably the most shocking thing about this episode.
The primary quack scientist, Gregory Ransom (played by Geoffrey Whitehead) could care less that his son John has died. The other son, Max, manages to care even less than that. What a family of pathetic weasels.
Into the mix is the local priest, "Preaching Pat" (played by Will Keen), who is another weirdo. He has to build up a flock in his church within one year, or else he gets demoted. That part of the story subtly drills home the fact that religion to some degree is a business.
Preaching Pat has to make some sales, or his franchise will be shut down. That proves to be a crucial issue in this story, since Preaching Pat feels like he cannot win over converts as long as the people in Midsomer Mere believe in "second sight."
Into the mix is Romany Rose (Wanda Ventham) and her claims that clairvoyance is second sight, and her boyfriend the sleazy bookie (Bill Stewart). They keep popping up through the episode, to confuse the attention as to who the real killer might be.
Barnaby, Sgt. Scott, and Dr. Bullard spend the episode in a thoughtful pseudo-investigation of second sight by learning some background and history at the local bar with the locals. This town has way more weirdoes than usual, and at least a few of them should have been taken off to a mental hospital long before now. I really enjoyed the wackiness and insanity of this episode. I think it is a pretty intense episode as far as the characters and the story goes. It seemed like the wealthy town scientist/eccentric had mistreated and bullied a whole town for many years. I felt sad for many of them.
Barnaby almost seems amused during most of it, and I think he is intentionally gaslighting Sgt. Scott about second sight. A lot of the acting of John Nettles is very subtle. He is an interesting actor who lets his expressions and body language do some of the acting. On a second viewing I often get another way to look at what Nettles was conveying in an episode. In my humble opinion, Barnaby is a hardcore skeptic about everything, and he never believes in second sight, but goes along with it to understand what the townies are thinking, and to find the killer. That is always the only thing Barnaby cares about.
Ransom's only family are also the eccentric town scientists who investigate "second sight." They are a father and son team who pay the locals to conduct second sight experiments on them using an electric skull plate that shocks their brains and leaves scars on their skulls as part of the investigation of "second sight." The fact that nobody had killed these kooks before is probably the most shocking thing about this episode.
The primary quack scientist, Gregory Ransom (played by Geoffrey Whitehead) could care less that his son John has died. The other son, Max, manages to care even less than that. What a family of pathetic weasels.
Into the mix is the local priest, "Preaching Pat" (played by Will Keen), who is another weirdo. He has to build up a flock in his church within one year, or else he gets demoted. That part of the story subtly drills home the fact that religion to some degree is a business.
Preaching Pat has to make some sales, or his franchise will be shut down. That proves to be a crucial issue in this story, since Preaching Pat feels like he cannot win over converts as long as the people in Midsomer Mere believe in "second sight."
Into the mix is Romany Rose (Wanda Ventham) and her claims that clairvoyance is second sight, and her boyfriend the sleazy bookie (Bill Stewart). They keep popping up through the episode, to confuse the attention as to who the real killer might be.
Barnaby, Sgt. Scott, and Dr. Bullard spend the episode in a thoughtful pseudo-investigation of second sight by learning some background and history at the local bar with the locals. This town has way more weirdoes than usual, and at least a few of them should have been taken off to a mental hospital long before now. I really enjoyed the wackiness and insanity of this episode. I think it is a pretty intense episode as far as the characters and the story goes. It seemed like the wealthy town scientist/eccentric had mistreated and bullied a whole town for many years. I felt sad for many of them.
Barnaby almost seems amused during most of it, and I think he is intentionally gaslighting Sgt. Scott about second sight. A lot of the acting of John Nettles is very subtle. He is an interesting actor who lets his expressions and body language do some of the acting. On a second viewing I often get another way to look at what Nettles was conveying in an episode. In my humble opinion, Barnaby is a hardcore skeptic about everything, and he never believes in second sight, but goes along with it to understand what the townies are thinking, and to find the killer. That is always the only thing Barnaby cares about.
helpful•94
- Johnny_West
- Apr 15, 2022
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