After a surprisingly long break 'Midsomer Murders' returned to ITV with an episode that appears to be set in Regency England. A woman in period dress walks away from a party at the local hall then we are brought back to the present as we see she is being observed by a sinister looking drone. Shortly afterwards she is murdered by an unseen assailant who stabbed her with a poisoned quill pen. Barnaby and Winter are soon on the scene; it turns out the owners of the hall were having a Jane Austen themed event. Of course not everybody approves, the head of the local Jane Austen Society believes they are getting all the details wrong. Not long afterwards they learn about the drone so investigate a local business that has been taking part in a trial to see if drones can be used to deliver medicines... again there are objections. As the investigation proceeds more possibilities arise; a possibly link to the hall being burnt down many years before and somebody starts blackmailing the owner of the hall.
This episode marks a welcome return for this long-running, slightly tongue in cheek, murder mystery series. The ideas involved are classic 'Midsomer Murders'; either the Jane Austen story or the drones might have sufficed on their own but together it works even better as the two ideas are so different. As is usually the case there are numerous suspects to keep the viewer guessing till the end... I guessed incorrectly but that didn't bother me when we got the final reveal. There is of course some sillines; the second murder, involving a drone, would have been almost impossible to execute in reality, drones often fly close to people without being heard and no comments are made about a shotgun that was fired at a party not being properly secured... this is all part of the charm of Midsomer though; it never really took place in the real world. Away from the case temporary pathologist Petra Antonescu takes an interest in Winters... given the number of Eastern Europeans living in the UK now it is good to see one featuring in a major series even if she may not be a recurring character. Overall I really enjoyed this; good fun Midsomer silliness.