John NettlesMidsomer Murders: Set 18 (Small Mercies / The Creeper / The Great and the Good)

Based on a set of only seven novels by Caroline Graham (beginning with The Killings at Badger's Drift), Midsomer Murders is a long-running and very popular series that debuted in the U.K. in 1997. The series features the likable Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) and is set in the fictional English county of Midsomer which consists of several villages each of which seems to rival Cabot Cove, Maine for their improbably high murder rates.Graham had a penchant for "interesting" characters and over the years, the show's writers have stayed true to the author's taste. Often quirky, sometimes downright odd, the characters and their many idiosyncrasies are central to each episode. Along with the uniformly first-rate acting, the quality writing and the intricate plots, they have helped to keep the show dependably entertaining. It is the only television show on my auto-buy list.With elements of the traditional whodunit, non-graphic police procedural and old-fashioned British cozy, Midsomer Murders should appeal to a variety of murder mystery fans. Barnaby is an approachable type and episodes nicely mix his work and home lives. His wife Joyce and daughter Cully appear often and occasionally find themselves involved in his investigations. The series has very little overall story arc and episodes exist more or less independent of one another. IMHO, they need not be viewed in broadcast order. Barnaby's Detective Sergeants do change a number of times over the run of the series, though, so viewers who might be annoyed by viewing episodes out of order for that reason should start at the beginning. (Oddly, with this series, it's actually Box Set #5 that contains the first aired episodes. After that, proceed with Box Sets #1, #2, #3, #4, #6 etc.)My only gripe with Set 18 is that it includes only three episodes, rather than the more usual four. They complete the 12th Season of the show and are as follows:* Small Mercies (Episode 71): In a model village located in Little Worthy, a man's body is found tied to the ground a la Gulliver in the land of Lilliput.* The Creeper (Episode 72): Has "The Creeper", a cat burglar selectively stealing from homes in the Midsomer villages moved on to murder?* The Great & the Good (Episode 73): Schoolteacher Connie Bishop fears she is killing the men of Badger's Drift while sleep-walking.Because of the somewhat unorthodox behavior of a number of the characters, some rare flashes of nudity and the often gruesome nature of the crimes, I feel Midsomer Murders is best suited to older teens and adults.Highly recommended.Notes:* All three episodes included in Set 18 have SDH subtitles.* If you're thinking of waiting for the Blu-ray version, please note that as of today, nearly four months after the DVD release of Set 17, the Blu-ray version of that set is not yet available for order. If you're not in any hurry... :-)* After The Great & the Good, only 8 episodes remain for release here in the United States starring John Nettles as Tom Barnaby. Barnaby then retires from the force (and Nettles from the series) and his cousin John Barnaby, portrayed by Neil Dudgeon, takes over his post.

Series 18 is only 3 episodes long. However, they are really good episodes. Our favorite episode in the set is "The Creeper". I can't tell why or I will give away a plot. The one about the little village that tries to add a little fun for people turns out to be the opposite and we couldn't pin down the murderer. The sleep walking school teacher is very interesting as well. The set is worth buying even though it is short one episode. Midsomer Murders is a habit forming series. We own all but seven earlier ones and have now pre-ordered set 19. We hope that they continue with the stories after Nettles retires from the series having then DCI John just as Inspector Lewis took over for Inspector Morse eventually. We look forward to meeting the new DCI in series 19. Even though we watch all of the sets over and over we still forget who is doing the murdering so, though, the story is famiiliar we still have to go all the way through to see the conclusion. That is the value of owning the sets because we CAN look at them over and over. We are older people so most of the movies out in theaters now don't appeal to us so Midsomer Murders has become our Saturday night popcorn, candy and pop movie night. There is seldom anything any better in the theaters. TV generally has turned into mostly garbage so if it weren't for the British TV series like Midsomer Murders, Inspector Lewis, the old Inspector Morse series, and many others, we wouldn't have anything to watch. So we appreciate having Midsomer Murders and other British shows available to us. Set 18 may be a shorter series but not the least disapointing in quality of acting and drama. We highly recommend the Midsomer Murders series to everyone that loves mysery, drama and yes, even a bit of humor. We are also thankful for Amazon.com for making it so easy to acquire the videos.

I love Midsomer Murders and was glad to get this set. They were older episodes, so I hadn't seen them in quite a while. Ordering was easy and my order came several days sooner than expected! I was very pleased with the whole experience.

The Midsomer Murder/mystery series has brought to my life many hours of great entertainment. Season eighteen (18) shows that the series is still going strong because I was highly entertained by the three (3) episodes on three discs. Once again, we go behind the beautifully "manicured" lawns (gardens) in the very beautiful little English villages of Midsomer to find loads of debauchery and murder along with some highly eccentric characters and once again Chief Inspector Sergeant Barnaby and his assistant Detective Jones are on hand to solve all of the murders and mayhem and they, per usual, solve all of the atrocities so very well in this season.Season eighteen (18) has many well-known British actors and actresses including one of my very favorites, Margaret Tyzack playing a very bitter character so very well--she's fabulous. I have made no secret, on this board, that I adore John Nettles as Chief Inspector Barnaby. Again in Season eighteen (18). , he's on hand to solve some horrendous cases and solve them he does with his usual wit and wonderful manner--Nettles is so very good in this role. Again Assistant Sergeant Jones, as acted by Jason Hughes whose acting, in this role, I too have come to adore, as Barnaby's "side kick" acts his role with much humor--he's marvelous.Indeed Season eighteen (18) of "Midsomer Murders" is some fine entertainment.

I have all the Midsomer Murder Mysteries and so far have enjoyed them. In Set #18 is the following (found on amazon.com).* Small Mercies (Episode 71): In a model village located in Little Worthy, a man's body is found tied to the ground a la Gulliver in the land of Lilliput.* The Creeper (Episode 72): Has "The Creeper", a cat burglar selectively stealing from homes in the Midsomer villages moved on to murder?* The Great & the Good (Episode 73): Schoolteacher Connie Bishop fears she is killing the men of Badger's Drift while sleep-walking.It won't be issued out until September, but when it does come out I look forward to seeing it!

Have the whole series up to 24. John Nettles was the best. Love him. I still buy because the stories are excellent but wish John was still in the series. Your not too old !!

Great British murder mystery series. Great acting by all.

I bought this series as a gift. The person to whom I gave the gift was very pleased and found no problems in the quality of the contents. I have no comment on the series itself but I do know Midsomer Murders has a large following.

You can't go wrong with this series. Lot's of twists and turns with a generous amount of humour thrown into the mix.