Midsomer Murders (TV Series) The Made-to-Measure Murders (2010) User Reviews

convoluted

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 10 May 2013]

Though I always enjoy John Nettles and whomever his current partner is, I have to admit that "The Made-to-Measure Murders" is an unholy mess, excuse the pun.

The story simply falls apart. A woman whose husband died two years earlier can't seem to get over it and is most anxious to go to confession. Then she is murdered. Barnaby and Jones investigate, attempting to find out what she was upset about. There is something mysterious about her husband's death by heart attack; her son and brother-in-law, who with her run a tailor's shop in the village, are questioned. Later, there is another murder.

The action takes place in one of the Midsomer villages, this one owned by one man, Milton, and most of the inhabitants are dependent upon this man for their jobs and land. It is a very church-oriented village, as Milton seems to drop strong hints that church is a way to stay on his good side.

The whole story makes no sense. The denouement has nothing to do with anything. What a disappointment. I hope all the later episodes aren't as bad as this one.

Good...but more Christian bashing

[vitoscotti · 6/10 · 20 February 2020]

I liked it until it got hard and heavy making all Christians as looney birds. It's getting old, and is common in Brit detective mysteries. Interesting that they won't go after certain religions, only Christians. I liked the story if that could be put aside. Look for Sonya Cassidy as Beatrice. Still a worthwhile series. Vito S 2-21-20

A decent storyline and performances (but an anti-Christian agenda)

[safenoe · 6/10 · 11 August 2016]

The Made-to-Measure Murders starts of with a degree of intrigue with a sudden death in a Midsomer village garden, and then it jumps two years to the present.

One of the recognizable actors is Nicholas Jones, who I remember as one of the QCs in Kavanagh QC, which was a fine legal drama. In Made-to- Measure Murders Nicholas plays a priest who takes confession in the Church of England, who meets a grizzly fate.

Unfortunately there was an overt anti-Christian agenda in the script, and that spoiled this episode. This isn't the first time a Midsomer episode has taken shots at Christianity, but I guess that's freedom of speech for you.

Good Mystery but Christians used in bad light

[ctyankee1 · 20 February 2013]

This mystery was good but Christians are used in a bad light in most of the all the seasons.

They show a protestant minister praying with a woman that feels guilty about her husbands death. According to the story the minister just started hearing confessions like the Catholic priest but not in a confessional.

This minister does the Sign of the Cross wrong and I don't know why this was in put in the story because only Catholics do the Sign of the Cross as far as I know. Then the Minister tells the lady her sins are forgiven which is not true. You can tell your sins to a Priest a Minister, a neighbor etc none have the power to forgive sins, you may feel better but only Jesus can forgive sin.

Then they show the city residents going to church like stories in Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. It is insulting to see people in the episode, that are liars, cheaters adulterers going to church. Barnaby makes a stupid comment about religious people.

A rich man that owns the town and a lot of land kind of requires the people that live on the land that he owns and may work for him go to church. He treats criminals with kit gloves in the guise of compassion and treats women like servants.

A couple of people get killed and it looks like the relatives did it.

The ending is a surprise but not for me. The writers of this series plus Inspector Morse and Lewis all have the same themes in the story Christians are bad, they are hypocrites and all go to church.

Scripture is misused by the characters to make the Christians hypocrites and mean while they do the things they condemn others for doing. This is not the majority of Christians I know.

In Midsomer Murders CULTS are in a lot of the series are portrayed as free loving people 90% of the time. Tolerant, funny, innocent, artistic etc, not like those people who go to church and believe that God is Spirit a masculine Spirit and not a tree or a rock.

The story lines are interesting but so predictable when it comes to religion and churches in a lot of these season and episodes.

Personally I like Doc Martin it is not a murder mystery but lots of humor and BBC influence. I like Midsomer Murder I hope they get off their bias against Christians and religious figures.

Overall, a very successful episode of the last season with the great Tom Barnaby

[znatokdetectiva · 7/10 · 6 March 2020]

"The Made-to-Measure Murder" isn't one of the best episodes, or even the best episode of season 13, but it's still pretty good and interesting to me. Of course, I expected much more from him, for I was deceived by the name, which I thought hinted at the perfect murder. However, in General, the plot is interesting and thoughtful. I liked the game Maureen Beattie and Richard Cordery, but as bad as I would not have treated him, I can not admit that James Wilby plays perfectly, this is one of his most colorful roles, although somewhat vile. The scenes with coats, Tom, and Joyce are among the funniest in the series, and I like the chemistry between John Nettles and Jane Wymark in this series. Overall, a great episode, one of the most successful in the last season with Tom Barnaby, although not the most successful. This is not his fault - it's just that there are more exciting series, personally I prefer "the Silent Land", "Blood on Saddle" and "the Noble Art". All in all, another good work by Peter Smith. 10/10, but not brilliant.

A grand, but not exceptional episode.

[garysilva · 8/10 · 30 July 2019]

Though by no means a classic, it is not nearly as bad as some of the reviews state. Unfortunately many of the reviews get some of the facts very wrong. There is a reason that people are getting murdered because of a letter. Most importantly Barnaby doesn't "skip" prosecuting an older case since there simply was no provable crime. All in all a good episode well acted with incredible atmosphere.

This is a fine entry in the series

[SamPamBam · 9/10 · 24 October 2020]

Sure, as in many episodes the entry is weak...yet, look at the pure dark garbage available as an alternative. Only those with a bright outgoing outlook on life apparently can appreciate the efforts of the Midsomer Production Team...they have archived for us to watch on days when netflix is streaming shows about satan and 11 year old girls twerking. Grab a coffee, kick back and relax and enjoy some first class entertainment. Rock on, John Nettles!

Pardon, your bias is showing

[cybermercenary · 5/10 · 14 April 2016]

I have been binge-watching Midsomer, and concur with a previous reviewer's observations- religious people in general are consistently depicted as neurotics.

Chesterton's Father Brown once observed that it was easy to spot someone pretending to be a churchman because the imposter would spout melodramatic fire-and-brimstone things that no real believer actually goes around saying. Midsomer's Christians are like this - they deliver preposterous lines and histrionic behaviors that make me suspect that the writers are not acquainted with many real-life believers on which they could base believable characters.

In this episode, Jones comments on a discrepancy in the reports of two sets of church-going witnesses.

Barnaby's reply is: "That's religion for you, Jones. Brings out the irrational in people."

Seriously? A seasoned detective hears two conflicting accounts of events, and instead of concluding that one party is misrepresenting the facts, concludes instead that the witnesses are irrational because they are religious?

It suggests that the writer's determination to have Barnaby express his contempt for religion is so firm that he was willing to sacrifice Barnaby's normally keen powers of deduction.

Full of holes

[james_89 · 1/10 · 1 August 2010]

This story makes no sense, seriously. The motive for murder doesn't work The killer actually has no logical reason to kill anyone, other than a letter that identifies no one in particular.

We are supposed to believe the killer followed an ambiguous letter about murdering everyone who saw it. But he didn't murder everyone who saw it. Just two. Why?

Also we are supposed to believe a woman is filled with anxiety about a letter which is none of her business on any level.

This is cheaply made, badly acted and directed and the script is an embarrassment.

James Wilby should have been put to better use in a better episode.

What has happened to this once wonderful show?

Inaccuracies

[ksandness · 3/10 · 22 April 2018]

I agree with some of the other reviewers in that this is one of the worst Midsomer Murders episodes ever. The motivations are weak and unbelievable.

But I'm going to pick out the inaccurate portrayals of church affairs. In an early part of the episode, the vicar is portrayed as declaiming what sounds like a hellfire and brimstone passage about sin. Actually, this is the confession of sins from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and it is to be said by the whole congregation, not harangued at the congregation by the vicar. The congregation recites the confession of sins, and the vicar pronounces absolution.

The vicar is portrayed as being high church, which is why he hears confession, but a high church clergyman (or any Church of England clergyman) would be referred to as a "priest" and would be addressed as "Father" if high church, as "Father Moreland," not "Reverend Moreland."

If scriptwriters are going to include the Church of England or any other institution in their plots, they should learn about it first.

The idea is interesting, it's realization bad again

[enkiddu-725-703632 · 2/10 · 28 July 2010]

A very poor episode. There are many improbabilities here, but, unlike The Sword of Guillaume, the plot is very boring and seems never-ending! My most important observation is about the motives for the murders. A letter??? Just simply a letter? I could've understood if that letter seriously compromised anyone, but, honestly, just a loving letter in which the name of the person is not even mentioned! There are at least three flaws 1) Was the murderer going to kill the whole village for that letter? And why was he so specific? At least two other people held this letter in their hands and could possibly know its contents - why didn't he kill them? What's the point of killing only the possessors? That sounds very implausible. 2) How could that letter compromise the murderer? There could have been an explanation - he was afraid that he's wife might learn about it. But what difference does it make for him in particular? He's not dependent on his wife, on the contrary, he is the big boss and he treats her as a servant! So, he had nothing to be afraid of. Even if that letter goes to public (which is doubtful by itself) he would lose nothing, 'cause even his name is not mentioned there. 3) Joyce Barnaby seems to have a perfect memory! She used to work as spy, I'm sure! Being for the first time in a unknown place among unknown people, she fixed everything in her head, every detail, every movement, every object! She has a computer instead of the head! If you ask me what I did a week ago, where I was, who wore what and what was lying where, I will be unable to answer any of this questions! I won't even be able to tell, what my colleagues at work wore today! But Joyce Barnaby remembers every detail, like her forgetful husband, who usually remembers something highly important within the final minutes of the film. Anyway, even without these three big mistakes the plot is very ordinary, there's nothing special in the episode, it's very conservative and conventional. I didn't enjoy it much, and the final scene disappointed me greatly. Very poor. I'm displeased.

Weak Midsomer Murders episode.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 15 September 2010]

Midsomer Murders: The Made-to-Measure Murders starts in the village of Milton Cross as tailor Gerald Woodley (Nigel Williams) suffers a heart attack & dies while gardening, Gerald leaves behind his wife Sonia (Maureen Beattie) & son Luke (Karl Davies) who inherit the family shop. Jumpr forward two years & it's the second anniversary of Gerald's death, his widow Sonia is very anxious & very worried, Luke feels his mother is still grieving while other's suspect there may be something else to her current state. Sonia talks to Reverend Moreland (Nicholas Jones) & admits she wants to confess something later that night but Sonia never gets the chance as she is found murdered the next day, DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) & DS Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) are on the case...

Episode 2 from season 13 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by Peter Smith & is certainly one of the weaker episodes that I can remember, as a series Midsomer Murders really does seem to be running out of steam & maybe it's no surprise that John Nettles has decided to call it a day as season thirteen will be his last as he quits the show. The other comments (at the time of writing) have made some good points, why was Sonia Woodley so upset, nervous & anxious about a love letter that had absolutely nothing to do with her? Is an affair such a grievous crime in the 21st century? Would anyone really be that shocked to learn of an affair? Would anyone really be bothered if they were exposed as having an affair? The killer seems to think it's some massive sin & that they had to pray in a candlelit crypt, so if having an affair is such a sin (why have one in the first place anyway?) what is slicing someone's throat with a pair of shears? Is that not a sin? Is being found out having an affair worth murdering two people for? The motives are sloppy & there's not enough reasoning behind them. At 90 odd minutes long there's plenty of talk & exposition, the story is average at best & a fairly weak revelation don't help. There are much better episode you can watch.

We have seen it before as Barnaby is supposed to be some great guy but why is it OK for him to overlook a crime (in this case a possible case of manslaughter) because it conflicts with his moral sensibilities? Basically by overlooking Gerald's death as a possible murder Barnaby is saying it's OK in certain moral circumstances? There are two murders in this one, neither are that memorable though. The acting is fine, this is the first Midsomer Murders episode in a while not to feature WPC Gail Stephens.

The Made-to-Measure Murders isn't anything that great, in fact it's fairly weak even by this show's declining standards. There was a time when I used to look forward to new episodes of Midsomer Murders & enjoy watching older ones, not anymore unfortunately.

I've never been sure about this one.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 7 April 2020]

There is definitely something about this episode that feels a bit odd, just a bit off, and I don't just mean Jones's hairstyle, which looks inspired by Morse from 1989. I find the storyline a little absurd, I also find most of the characters a little drab.

Edward is a very bizarre character, Milton Cross is arguably like a Mirror image of Stepford, and he seems relentless in his crusade to have the perfect village with everyone in line, very odd. James Wilby does a good job with the material he had.

Some amusing scenes, generally those involving Joyce.

It would have been better if some of the characters had been likeable.

Not a great episode, 5/10.

Strange Episode

[Schweizer85 · 4/10 · 9 April 2021]

I couldn't quite get my head around this one, the whole plot revolves around a letter, which we later find out is a letter detailing an affair but no one is named, is this in itself incriminating ?

What puzzles me is why Sonia was killed but not the other woman who she showed that day ? I also didn't buy the story that Joyce would remember fine details like the set of shears hanging on the wall and who was last out of the room.

Poorly executed and not really worth watching.

Disjointed and Convoluted

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 28 May 2016]

Others have done an adequate job of evaluating this episode. Generally speaking, the whole issue of some landowner being able to do what he does and gain control of so many women is quite preposterous. Once again, some fringe religious group is at the center of the action with clergy that are at best idiots or zealots. The series has dropped from the charming view of bucolic England to these far-fetched messes. Barnaby is self- centered and overly sure of himself to the point of ignoring basic police work. The conclusion so beyond the setup that it is laughable. I'm hoping for better because I have rooted for this series all along.

Something of an embarrassment

[TheLittleSongbird · 3/10 · 20 February 2017]

As has been said by me a number of times, 'Midsomer Murders' is one of my most watched and most re-watched shows. It is nowhere near as good now and the Tom Barnaby-era wasn't alien to average or less episodes, but when it was on form or at its best boy was it good.

'Midsomer Murders' has a number of classics and a larger number of solid episodes (with a few average ones, mostly in the show's middle period particularly Seasons 10-13), but once in a while the Tom Barnaby-era has mediocre episodes and even less. "The Made-to-Measure Murders", one of the worst Tom Barnaby episodes and one of the show's overall worst, is one of them.

"The Made-to-Measure Murders" has very little to recommend, but every 'Midsomer Murders' episode has at least one redeeming merit even the worst ones and the same is said for "The Made-to-Measure Murders" (even if the flaws far outweigh the good things). The production values as always are just great, the idyllic look of it contrasting very well with the story's grimness, and quaint and atmospheric photography, with a creepy look in the murder scenes, the murders being significantly less tame and fairly interesting. 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.

Barnaby and Jones have the occasional bit of humorous rapport and their chemistry as ever is spirited and charming. John Nettles and Jason Hughes come over well as usual, and the supporting cast do what they can with lacking material (though James Wilby's material is too weak for him to do a whole lot with it).

However, the script is shoddy and the characters pretty lifeless. Dooming "The Made-to-Measure Murders" completely is the story, an intriguing idea squandered by embarrassing execution. Pacing-wise it's a dull episode, but the episode also manages to be disjointed and ridiculously convoluted with the motives for the killings being both irrelevant and laughable (pretty much the equivalent of killing people for no reason) and a lot of things feeling woefully under-explained.

The letter and the death of Gerald ideas had potential but went nowhere and ended up head-scratch-worthy rather than intriguing. Even the murders are pretty ordinary, even with a suitably spooky location.

Overall, love 'Midsomer Murders' but this is something of an embarrassment. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Not a tailored made episode

[sherondalewis-20531 · 3/10 · 21 April 2022]

Ok, umm...look. Love Tom, Jones, Joyce. Their banter always delighted me. But, this episode, even after watching it a few times, STILL makes no sense.

So, let me get this straight: there is a man named Edward Milton who owns the village of Milton's Cross with some type of fear and a holier than thou attitude where the whole village works for him and is afraid of him (and goes to church like good people in said village) and he starts to kill over a letter some desperate, sad sack woman in the village wrote? Left in his pants pockets where the widow of the village tailor died 2years earlier, Sonya (the widow) finds this love letter, and has a guilty conscience because she thinks it is a sin, wants to confess what she has read and to not helping her wife beating husband of a fatal heart attack and her and the Vicar are murdered savagely? All for a letter? The owner of the village could have easily killed the woman who wrote the letter and threatened Sonya or, paying off her silence by giving her BIL the new lease to their tailor shop. The only characters I like in this episode are Bingham and man with his own tweed and not in the pockets of Milton, Woodley and his nephew and the Vicar. Everyone else I didn't care for. Personally, I wanted a couple of more people to die because they were annoying, like the fiancé (Beatrice) of the Jr. Woodley (Luke) and the woman who was the sad sack that wrote the letter, and her sorry kid. Anyone of these deaths would have been suffice. The way they got the murderer was meh, but, um..yea. Not a great episode.

Good points: The Barnaby tweed, the banter between Joyce and Tom. Joyce wonderful memory.

Bad points: The Lord of the Manor is a douche, people who I thought should have died, didn't. Plot was kind of idiotic (a letter from a sad sack started this mess).

This episode is on the low scale of the other episodes (but slightly higher than Blood on the Saddle).

Rather bad.

[harrykivi · 3/10 · 21 November 2022]

The 13th season of "Midsomer Murders" is not of series' best. It started off fine with "The Sword of Guillame", but "The Made-to-Measure Murders" is sadly just not good.

Let' s start with the good aspects, shall we?

. The production values of this episode are fantastic as usual. The direction's solid and so is the music. The acting, while not great, is mostly fine. John Nettles and Jason Hughes are superb in the leads, but out of the decent guest stars Richard Cordery and James Wilby fare the best.

. The story has some interesting ideas in it (like the murder weapon and aspects surrounding Gerald's death), the scenes with Joyce offer charming humor and there are times when the dialogue is ok.

But...

. The script is unfortunately a boring mess with a very undercooked murder mystery. The characters are for the most part lifeless and the solution does not make much sense either.

Overall, a rather bad episode.

3/10 HK.

Soap Opera video

[gmagnus-03662 · 1/10 · 6 February 2018]

The first thing that struck me was the American TV Soap Opera look of the cinematography. The older programs are much more visually interesting. This looked to be done on the cheap.

The sound quality of dialog was better than usual. Voices were not hidden in a storm of gravelly footsteps and creaky floors but dialog was sparse, speech was slow. The background music and ambiance were often oddly missing.

The production was not what i expected after watching so many seasons. It didn't help in following the plot, presenting it rather like a graphic novel.

I could have missed this one.

Convoluted full of holes

[stephjones-35526 · 4/10 · 6 September 2020]

Why does the murderer murder some people that saw the note but not all? Why was the killer even fearful to begin with? He owned the village so why was he worried? Why do the writers insist on making all of Barnaby's side kicks stupid? Jones was an imbecile in this one. Don't get me wrong. I am a huge Midsomer fan but this episode is just bad.

Gone downhill. Fast

[dazza-80955 · 1/10 · 10 September 2022]

I used to really enjoy MM but it's gone right downhill since series 9. S12 and 13 gave been extremely poor and thus one is one one of the worst of all. Senseless and convoluted.

Barnaby is becoming more and more self centered often ignoring basic policing and letting people off. DS Jones us good but seems just a puppet. It's always Barnaby who has a moment if magic near the end and solves the case. His persona is annoying - wheezing through every sentence, gasping for air, heavy sighing with clenched lips and the Shakespearean diction. It really gets my goat how he speaks some words. Plus every time he comes home the first thing he does is either open a bottle of wine, have a glass of red or white or failing that than whiskey.

It's a shame because I really used to enjoy the first few series But a lot of the plots are more than ridiculous, full of holes and clichés as are the characters.

Do the producers know what a cottage in a quaint English village us worth - yet a lot of time cleaners, unemployed, bus drivers etc own these beautiful houses.

It doesn't work!

I've not seen the John Barnaby episodes but the reviews suggest I needn't bother. But my ol mum says there better so I'll give it a try anyway.

RIP Liz II.

Codswallop

[jeffrey-76695 · 3/10 · 5 November 2023]

I have liked this enduring series and that is why this particular epidode is so disappointing. I agree with most of the reviewers.

It was a laughingly ridiculous and awful caricature. The agenda was not remotely hidden from the very beginning. Did ANYONE not know it wwas going to be the church going businessman who was the dastardly bad character and culprit? Pfft! Even those people who would be inclined to enjoy the bashing in this episode should have cringed at this sophomoric, hyperbolic and fumbling bunch of codswallop.

Oh, the ending was, dare I say it, diabolical. The ending, I thought, was so over the top, I started laughing. It could have been satirical! If it was satire, I'd have given a much higher score.