Midsomer Murders (TV Series) Written in the Stars (2012) User Reviews

Astronomy, astrology and murder!

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 26 September 2012]

Midsomer is known for its astronomical murder rate so perhaps it is appropriate that somebody should start bumping off a group of local astronomers. First to go is Jeremy Harper; struck on the head by a large meteorite during a total solar eclipse. It isn't long before out of this world theories are suggested by the locals; was he the victim of the 'curse of Moonstone Ridge' or did astrologer Mystic Mags really see is imminent demise when she wrote his star chart?! There are plenty of more earthly theories for Barnaby and Jones to explore though; was the killing something to do with a threat to the observatory's funding, was it a father protecting his daughter's honour or was it somehow connected to the death of a woman at a party many years before? This being Midsomer the death toll rises as the killer uses items stolen from the local museum and a pattern starts to appear. Away from the case Barnaby is encouraged by his wife to take up yoga and Mystic Mags makes a prediction about Jones' love life!

This was typical Midsomer Murders; as bonkers as the line up of guest characters… and I'm sure fans of the series wouldn't have it any other way! There were a decent number of murders each using a different yet inventive method which fitted in with the astronomical theme. Likewise there were plenty of suspects to choose from with a similar array of motives. After the fuss last year when it emerged that one of the series creators had deliberately kept the cast 'white only' it was inevitable that non-white actors would be cast fairly soon… and to be honest their presence did not make the show feel any less British and if it wasn't for the public fuss I doubt I'd have thought twice about them being there; both characters fitted into the story without it feeling like they had been shoehorned in for reasons of political correctness; of course it helped that Ace Bhatti and Soraya Radford did good jobs as father and daughter Harry and Gagan Dutta. The rest of the cast were pretty good too; most notably Maureen Lipman as Mystic Mags; a character it would have been easy to make too much of a caricature of a batty astrologer. It wasn't without flaws, at one point I'm sure I heard a character saying he was observing a transit of Venus on the night of one of the murders… any astronomer would know they take place in day time! Still I watch this for a decent whodunit and a few laughs so the odd mistake doesn't matter.

Mystic Mags Magic or Stardust?

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 15 May 2017]

A fair attempt at creating a spiritual and astrological episode, a similar feel to 'Things that go bump in the Night.'

It's certainly a watchable episode, but it's slightly forgettable when compared to some of the show's richer episodes, but the story is above average, the killings are innovative, but the main problem has to be the characters, with the exception of Maureen Lipman, they're all a bit forgettable.

Neil Dudgeon and Jason Hughes make a great combination, they work well off one another. Jason Hughes is much missed from the show. Sykes steals so many scenes.

I'm a life long fan of Maureen Lipman, she's appeared in two of my favourite shows, Midsomer Murders and Doctor Who, and it's fair to say that as an actress she's been given poor parts in both. Mystic Mags was almost a caricature, you expect characters to be big and bold, perhaps just a little too over the top.

The episode looks beautiful, it's very professionally shot, it both looks and sounds wonderfully atmospheric, with an excellent accompanying music. Some lighter moments throughout, particularly from the late great Kenny Ireland, and that moment where Jones tells Barnaby Uranus is fourteen times bigger then the Earth. It's not the best ending to be honest.

A fairly good watch, but you'll forget all about it pretty soon. 7/10

A total eclipse

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 17 September 2016]

This is one of those Midsomer Murders that is a little hard to follow because one's attention tends to wander.

It's a total eclipse of the sun, and Jeremy Harper and other astronomers watch it outside. Harper is found dead by head trauma from a meteorite.

The police in the form of Barnaby and Jones are brought in. Harper had fought with Laurence Janson, who headed the university observatory and planned to extend it onto Moonstone Ridge, the place where they watched the eclipse. Also, his wife Catrina is involved with Janson, though Harper doesn't know that.

The local astrologer, Mags Dorner, had told Jeremy that disaster was coming. She informs Barnaby that Moonstone Ridge has been cursed since Catrina Harper's sister Mary died there years earlier.

Then there are other murders. Meanwhile the newspaper is playing it up, and Mags, who works for the paper, is in her glory.

Mags runs around showing people their charts. Barnaby, however, is convinced that she's hiding something. He's determined to find out what it is.

Astrology can be fun but this episode made it kind of boring. Plus the episode seemed to mix astrology, astronomy, and psychics together. Barnaby and Jones are becoming more cohesive as a team, which is nice.

Interesting study of the stars and planets

[ctyankee1 · 16 September 2013]

The mystery is good but I did not like the story to much. It was supposed to be about stars and planet but it was mostly about occult stuff like horoscopes, predicting someone's future through the stars planets, meditation and yoga.

These are all things I do not believe in and 99 percent of the story is around these topics.

The story has opposing characters that study the planets and stars in a scientific way. Their project gets money funded in this area and the people have different ideas on the way the money should be used but they keep it a secret from each other.

The good thing about these Midsomer Murders is that they are not like American stories of murder like drugs, stealing etc. Their mystery is better not simple like a CSI or whatever. They usually are involved in finger prints not DNA.

There are several violent murders in this episode. They all seem to pan out with horoscope predictions which it seems the writer is trying to convince people the predictions are valid or the predictor may be the killer.

In the end the cops catch the murderer. British mystery series are good but don't make much sense on the role the police play. The detectives don't carry guns, They chase a killer that killed many people like in this story, and he calmly goes off with them.

In some series the police give tea to the ones they are questioning and seem to give alibis to criminals when trying to get the truth from them like in Wycliffe.

So unbelievable!

One highlight for me

[Ricpurlgirl · 6/10 · 29 October 2022]

There was one highlight for me and that was an obscure Breaking Bad reference to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle formulated by the German physicist and Nobel laureate Werner Heisenberg in 1927.

For non-watchers of Breaking Bad that show follows Walter White, a school chemistry teacher who, after being diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer, turns to a life of crime and partners with a former student, Jesse Pinkman to produce and distribute crystal meth to secure his family's financial future before he dies, while navigating the dangers of the criminal underworld.

The cover name White adopts is Heisenberg.

Other than that, the story is pretty pedestrian but a reasonable time-killer.

Strong season so far

[vitoscotti · 9/10 · 10 July 2022]

Midsomer Mysteries has the knack of using a niche subject and centering a fascinating story around it. Here it was astronomy. Season 15 has been a pleasant surprise from weak season 14. I found the story absolutely riveting. To top it off the episode featured some of MM most beautiful starlets as a bonus. Neil Dudgeon episodes will never be as good as John Nettles. But, this episode was a treat to watch.

Ooops

[alienfogg · 8/10 · 18 June 2020]

Chemist daughter left her handbag behind but it's on the desk in the next scene

I'm a huge fan of Midsomer Murders, but there was no one to root for this time...

[Franklie · 3/10 · 10 October 2014]

I'm a huge fan of Midsomer Murders, but there was no one to root for this time. I wouldn't have cared if almost all of them had been victims. (Sadly, the one character I did kind of like was one of the ones that biffed it.)

I watch and re-watch MM, but I doubt I'll choose this episode again. As usual, the cinematography is fantastic and the main characters are fantastic, but the personalities given to most of the other characters made them and their relationships too unbelievable and unlikeable to care about. I got bored.

Also, I could have done w/o the vocab descending into the sewer. The high-road vocab has always been one of the awesome aspects of MM.

Anyway, if you're a real fan, this is worth watching. If you're a new-comer to the series, hopefully you don't start here. Most of the episodes are entertaining, intelligent, educational, and fun and worth your time. You should watch from the beginning of the series. Hopefully they'll keep making more.

Season 15 jumps the shark

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 10 March 2017]

When in its prime (a vast majority of Seasons 1-9), 'Midsomer Murders' was a great show and one that is watched and re-watched frequently. Seasons 10-13 became more uneven, with three of the show's worst episodes coming from Seasons 11 and 13, but there were a few solid episodes and "Blood Wedding" and especially "Master Class" were gems.

After John Nettles retired and Neil Dudgeon and the new character of John Barnaby took over, 'Midsomer Murders' just hasn't been the same, if anybody's read my reviews for the Season 14 episodes the reasons are detailed in those. After being pleasantly surprised by the previous two Season 15 episodes "The Dark Rider" and "Murder of Innocence", while not a 'Midsomer Murders' low-point "Written in the Stars" is a disappointment.

Starting with the strengths, as always, the production values in "Written in the Stars" cannot be faulted as usual. It's beautifully and atmospherically shot with suitably picturesque scenery. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the haunting theme tune is one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre.

The acting is good enough, with Neil Dudgeon and Jason Hughes acquitting themselves well and working more as a cohesive team than in most of their episodes. Barnaby isn't as arrogant or as disdainful, and Jones not as much as a dolt, Barnaby's treatment of Jones being nowhere near as much a turn off as in some of their previous episodes. Adorable and amusing Sykes steals scenes as ever. The murders are pretty inventive and atmospheric.

However, "Written in the Stars" had an intriguing concept with a unique premise but just doesn't grip, with an outlandish and convoluted story that fails to make sense. The final solution suffers from a too clichéd motive, not that surprising a killer's identity and for being pretty far fetched. The characters are not that engaging and lack colour (in personality). This is including bland Kate and condescendingly charmless Sarah (who for Barnaby's wife has very little chemistry with him).

Scripting is routine at best often and both takes itself too seriously and feels dumbed down. The pacing can lack energy.

In conclusion, pretty lacklustre but watchable episode. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Another possibility of a good plot wasted.

[dsmoscowrent · 3/10 · 1 April 2013]

It is quite understandable that every good show tends to a decline with time since the authors start running out of ideas. Something similar happens to those who create MM films. It obviously becomes more and more difficult to invent new motives for killings. Standard motives like hate, love, greed or revenge can't satisfy any more since they have been employed in MM plenty of times, so the authors of the script put very much effort to exercise in their fantasy to invent something unusual and surprise the audience. But this time they exceeded any-one's expectations. A bunch of amateur astronomer's killed in a brutal way in order to keep in secret the information about a newly discovered planet. I presume that such a twisted plot belongs to a science fiction movie than to a good MM episode. Starting watching the film you expect to find some intrigue based on sinister divination, grim future-telling or mysterious incantations, instead you will have to deal with a plumber and an alcoholic who consider themselves great scientists and get killed in succession because of some distant planet. The total disappointment that you will experience after watching this episode has certainly been written in the stars long ago.

Daft

[atrickyone · 3/10 · 20 September 2021]

A sillier than usual episode, as it turned out. Dull motive, no foreshadowing of the culprit, wooden stereotypical characters. Example of a red herring: the culprit has to have had extraordinary athletic skills in field sports, and presto, one suspect has the precise ones required in the murderer. But he's the next victim. Oops. Because the eventual culprit lacks all those skills, but let's all ignore that. Oh well, it's inferior drama so such a stupid plotting blunder is just about par for the course. Overall a stinker.

Claptrap

[xmasdaybaby1966 · 5/10 · 1 January 2021]

The previous episode murder of innocence had been one of the best since Neil Dudgeon took over. This is probably the worst. It really dragged on and, despite being the shortest episode to date, felt longer than the early episodes that lasted almost 15 minutes longer.