Midsomer Murders (TV Series) Death in Chorus (2006) User Reviews

The 50th episode is excellent.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 4 September 2018]

Death in Chorus marks the show's first landmark, and the fiftieth episode is a particularly good one. As you watch it, it has a feel of a special. It's a great story, with some really dark moments, it boasts a strong cast, and sees the return of two actors that starred in classic early episodes Annabelle Apsion and John Shrapnel.

It's a super cast, Peter Capaldi, Sara Stewart and Ronan Vibert, despite the many brilliant performances, it's Vibert that steals the show for me, he is excellent in this, his conversation with Barnaby is a great scene.

Some truly good moments in this one, the show is famous for its brutal killings, but it doesn't often go down the route of psychological cruelty, it does that here to a very strong degree, what happens to poor Carol is incredibly dark, with Sara Stewart being so lovely it makes it more effective.

There are plenty of laughs, and of course there's the real bit of nonsense, George's skills as a conductor make him look like he's trying to swat away a plague of wasps. The ending is a little corny.

A very strong episode indeed, 9/10

Lovely English madrigal music

[dszorc · 9/10 · 26 February 2023]

Again, music and art are the background for an intricate story line. Evidently Midsomer musicians are serious competitors as also evidenced in S5. E3, Ring Out Your Dead.

The piece sung by the chorus in this episode is "Fair Phyllis" (1599) by John Farmer, and is beautifully performed. I don't know if Jane Wymark and Barry Jackson actually lent their voices, but we know Jason Hughes has a very nice voice, as we hear in one scene.

Good supporting cast of many familiar faces. The gentle humor and John Nettles's delivery give it charm. The Bucks architecture and countryside provide their usual elegant background.

That Jones has a great voice!

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 21 June 2015]

The competition for the big chorus award is stiff, but would someone murder for it?

That's the big question Barnaby and Jones have to solve in "Death in Chorus," from season 9.

Connor Simpson, a choir member in Midsomer Worthy, passes out during a rehearsal and goes home. He leaves his phone. When someone goes to his house to return it, they find him dead from being beaten with a poker. There is a threatening note in his house with a pig's heart.

Soon all the choir members, including Joyce Barnaby, receive notes saying "You're next"

Then a birdwatcher, Sam Judd, is found dead from a shotgun injury.

The deaths are linked, but how?

There is a lot going on here. At the forefront is this nasty competition, which Midsomer Worthy has never won. Laurence Barker is pushing the choir hard, desperate to beat his nemesis, Francis Crawford, whom he feels took a job from him by nefarious means. Barker has problems in his home life, which don't help his mood.

A roll of film and something found in Connor's house both help Barnaby to figure out this murder.

Good episode, with Jones joining the choir after it's learned he has a beautiful tenor voice. And the music is lovely.

Great music, great story, finest production values

[tingaother · 9/10 · 24 April 2022]

This episode is one of my favorites: funny, intricate and absorbing, with well known faces in the cast. The episode is a prime example of how amazing the production values (especially the audio work) are throughout the series. Hearing individual voices in the choir, the wings of an owl as it flares over a churchyard, the framing of each shot and the color of Barnaby's eyes. This "behind the scenes" work, that gets far too little praise, is a large reason I go back to Midsomer Murders again and again.

SPOILER!

Also, I have to laugh at Barry Jackson being a better choir conducter than Peter Capaldi. I sang in madrigal choirs all through school and college. Jackson is a rock. Capaldi is a swaying Aspen dancing to a different tune.

Choral singing with 'Midsomer Murders'

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 8 February 2017]

Season 9 got off to a brilliant start with "The House in the Woods" while all the episodes in between ranged from decent to very good and "Country Matters" was great and one of the best episodes of the season.

"Death in Chorus" is also a very good episode and in the top end of Season 9. It is let down only really by a couple of parts that could have had more explanation, or at least a clearer one, like the significance of the pig's heart and the whole business with the photos and a somewhat strange second murder. However, it is interesting stuff, especially to see Jones have such a great voice.

The production values as always are top notch, with to die for scenery, the idyllic look of it contrasting very well with the story's grimness, and quaint and atmospheric photography. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the theme tune one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre. The choral stuff is a great addition.

Meanwhile, the script is smart and thought-provoking with some nice quirky and often hilarious humour, a grimness and with characters that are colourful and eccentric. The story is absorbing, never simplistic, sometimes creepy in atmosphere, never dull, never confusing despite a lot happening and the maturity that 'Midsomer Murders' has when on form is more than evident here. It's all tautly paced and the ending is satisfying and ties things up nicely.

John Nettles is a joy and Jason Hughes brings appeal and nice wry humour to Jones. The two work extremely well together, and the rest of the cast (which include charming Jane Wymark and Barry Jackson and Peter Capaldi enjoying himself as the dictatorial conductor) are uniformly strong.

All in all, very good episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Watchable enough episode.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 3 March 2009]

Midsomer Murders: Death in Chorus starts in Midsomer Worthy where Joyce Barnaby (Jane Wymark) & Dr George Bullard (Barry Jackson) are both enthusiastic members of the local choir run by the obsessive Reverend Lawrence Barker (Peter Capaldi) who strives for perfection in his attempts to win the annual Four Choir's contest with a rival village Aston Wherry. If bum notes weren't bad enough the lead tenor & local artist Connor Simpson (Patrick Drury) faints mid choir practise & then is found brutally beaten to death at his home later on that night. DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & DC Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) are on the case & since Barnaby's wife Joyce is a member of the choir he has a head start & some inside information. The case goes nowhere fast but then out of the blue local photographer & bird watcher Sam Judd (John Cording) is also found brutally murdered, with more questions than answers Barnaby has his work cut out to catch a killer...

Episode 7 from season 9 this Midsomer Murders mystery was actually the 50th episode of the series to be made & was directed by Sarah Hellings & is a decent enough entry in the series although it's not the worst episode ever it's hardly the best either, I certainly think fans of the show will like it anyway. The murder plot here in Death in Chorus is pretty good, it's not a classic murder plot or one of the more memorable ones but it works well enough with forgery, gambling debts, conspiracies, affairs, threats & choir practise taking center stage. There really isn't much to say about Death in Chorus, fans of the show will know what to expect & won't be disappointed although it's never explained why Sam Judd was going to hand those photo's over to Carolyn or the significance of the killer sending Connor the pig's heart but everything works well enough. There's a few red herrings & some sub-plots to keep one interested that do come together quite nicely. The killers identity isn't too obvious & I doubt most would figure it out although they don't get much screen time before they are revealed so we, the audience, are never really given a chance of working it out. Death in Chorus reveals that DC Jones is in fact a superb tenor & both Joyce & Bullard sing together in a local choir, for those interested in series continuity & the like Death in Chrous is the first & only time in Midsomer Murders that Bullard's wife Kath is seen.

The production values are top notch as usual, there are two murders in Death in Chorus with neither being particularly graphic although a pig's heart is seen. The real life location used for the Church where choir practise takes place was in Denham in Buckinghamshire & is in fact the same location later used in Blood Wedding (2008) from season eleven where Barnaby's daughter Cully gets married. The acting is pretty good from all involved as usual.

Death in Chorus is a fine example of a great murder mystery telly show, it's not up there with the show's best episodes but it's not too far behind & Midsomer Murders fans should like all the same.

Dangerous Singing

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 2 April 2016]

As a choir makes its way toward a competition that they never seem to win, there are all sorts of goings on among their members, particularly, their dictatorial director. A couple murders are committed and as a result, several wounds are opened. There is unrequited love, a plot to get money through a conspiracy, and all the fallout from that plot. It involves Jones joining the choir to get an inside look. This is possible because he actually has a pretty nice voice. But more fundamental is a history of jealousy and deceit, and actions that bring about the attempted murders of people who have done nothing but get in the way. One is a woman who is being drugged for some reason. She is seen as profligate but doesn't really have any control over what is happening to here. There is also a strange murder of a man who is simply photographing owls in the woods. Confusing. A bit. But the conclusion is quite satisfactory.

Singing in tune for murder

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 23 July 2022]

The Midsomer Worthy amateur choir is thrown into panic when baritone Connor Simpson is killed on the eve of the prestigious regional Four Choirs competition. A birdwatcher is also murdered shortly after, and DCI Barnaby and DC Jones uncover bitter rivalry and tense marital relationships as they try to establish if there is a connection between the two cases. Peter Capaldi guest stars

A standard episode with the usual eccentric characters though there's a slight darker tone and intriguing look at choral singing. There's an amazing scene where Barnaby, prone to have breathing after just taking a few steps, jumps in the water to save a lady from drowning.

Yes, a chorus now

[vitoscotti · 8/10 · 18 December 2019]

Don't be fooled by the chorus setting. This is a tremendous episode. Had a inkling who the villian was, but the ending was a big surprise. Lots of glammed up Joyce in this one. A roll of camera film takes multiple days to develop for anybody yet urgent police work? Lots of bad toupees and overacting but a treat to watch. Vito S 12/18/19

Brilliantly complex

[marydm-43470 · 10/10 · 16 May 2022]

What an episode!

Rewatching the series on Tubi and am amazed at how incredibly well it has stood the test of time. Still fresh, still addictively enjoyable, still packing a punch as a paradigmatic thriller whodunnit.

Many great episodes and this one is right up there with the very best, not only in Midsomer Murders but in the genre as a whole.

A complex unflagging episode with all the subplots resolved brilliantly by the end.

Brilliantly acted by everyone, Capaldi and Nettles putting in extraordinarily charismatic performances.

Drama and comedy beautifully balanced, in that low key killer nuanced style the Brits excel at.

Just a brilliant example of the genre all round, worthy of rewatching more than once.

Bravo to all involved, thanx to Tubi for making it so readily available.