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Sep 16, 2001 · Dark Autumn is a 2001 crime drama mystery episode of Midsomer Murders, starring John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby. It involves a series of murders of promiscuous villagers in Midsomer, and features Celia Imrie and Robert Glenister as suspects.
- (977)
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Jeremy Silberston
- 2001-09-16
- Overview
- Synopsis
- Plot, Part 1
- Plot, Part 2
- Plot, Part 3
- Plot, Part 4
- Plot, Denouement
- Cast
- Galleries
Dark Autumn is the fifth episode of the fourth series of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders and originally aired on 16th September 2001.
When Dave Cutler, the local postman, is found with his throat slit, Barnaby and Troy are on the case. Cutler it seems had slept with most of the woman in the village so between spurned lovers and irate husbands, there are any number of suspects. They are assisted by the local police in the form of the very attractive WPC Jay Nash, to whom Troy take...
In the early morning, Holly Reid is delivering papers. A car drives up and the postman, Dave Cutler, gets out to deliver mail. At the Yeatman's home, Dave puts his hand inside Mary Yeatman's robe. Mary says, "No Dave, don't be stupid." Jazz Music can be heard playing somewhere. Dave says morning to Holly.
MURDER 1: Someone lurks with a curved knife (a billhook). Dave continues on his rounds. The murderer comes across Dave and swipes the curved knife at him. The knife drips blood. Holly finds letters strewn across the ground and a bloody postman on the ground. She screams. The sun rises on an idyllic countryside as Owen August is hiking. He hears a police siren and sees a police car drive past. Debbie Shortlands picks up her mail and hears the police siren.
WPC Jay Nash tells Mr. Yeatman the road is closed. DS Troy greets DCI Barnaby. Troy says the dead man's name is David Cutler, a local postman who lived in the village. Time of death was just before dawn this morning. Cause of death, an incised wound to the throat. He was almost decapitated.
Debbie Shortlands says goodbye to her husband. Keith Shortlands. Keith says, "I'll try and make it back tonight, love. But I can't promise. It depends upon the second client." Debbie says, "See you when I see you, then." Keith says, "Yes. Be good. I'll ring you from the hotel."
Troy continues, "We're still looking for a murder weapon." His mother was next of kin. She lives in a nursing home. The local community officer is WPC Jay Nash. Troy wonder why he was killed? "A village postie? The best you'd get are a couple of giros. Then you'd have to cash 'em." Troy introduces Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby to Jay. Troy says, "I meant to ask, what do you do for entertainment round here?" Jay replies, "There's two pubs and the fish and chips van calls by once a week. What more could you want?"
Simon Reason walks up to Barbara Judd at the Plough, "You seen the postman this morning, Barbara?" Barbara says, "Not yet, no." Simon says, "No, neither have I. And I'm expecting a cheque. He's probably still in someone else's bloody bed."
MURDER 2: Debbie continues walking in the dark. She is nervous. She hears the music playing. She trips and drops all of her papers. Then her head is jerked back and throat cut.
In the morning, Barnaby and Troy set up in the dance hall. Simon Reason calls Debbie about his paperwork. There is no answer. Barnaby and Troy go to interview the Yeatman's. Simon goes to Debbie's house. She doesn't answer. He looks through the window and calls through the mail slot.
Mike Yeatman tells the detectives that he warned Dave to stay away from his wife, but he wouldn't listen. So Mike gave him a "good hiding" at the Plough. Dave didn't bother his wife again after that. Barnaby asks if Mike killed Dave, but he says no. Mike says, "No. I didn't need to. I forgave Mary for what she did. And she's behaved herself since. But he must have been at it elsewhere. That's why someone killed him." Mary Yeatman denies that she saw Dave when he delivered the morning mail.
Abe Jessel is out walking his dog. Simon complains at the Plough that he couldn't get ahold of Debbie over the phone so he went round to her house. He says the bloody curtains were drawn and she wouldn't answer the door. Simon says he needs that paperwork. The tax man's all set to pay him a visit and he has already received one warning. John Field asks if he can put Simon's name down for the Aunt Sally match and Simon says yes.
Abe finds the bloody papers on the green blowing around. He brings the papers to Barnaby. Abe says he hasn't been in the dance hall for over 30 years. It used to be called the 'Rex'. Abe lived over in Badger's Drift in those days and rode a bike to get there. He used to come there every Saturday night. There were some good looking girls there in those days.
Troy carries in traffic cones to Jay's house. He asks Jay if she has any idea who Dave Cutler was carrying on with before he died? She says, "It's only gossip." Troy says, "That'll do."
MURDER 3: At 1:30 am, on a park bench, Louise tells Simon she is going to end their relationship. Simon gets a phone call from someone claiming to be the police. He goes to his shop and looks around but doesn't see anyone. The dance music starts to play. Simon looks up and sees a desk falling. On him. And doesn't move out of the way.
Abe Jessel shows Barnaby and Troy his billhooks. He used to have 3 and now only has two. He thinks August took one. When interviewed, Owen August says that Ade Jessel is a fool. "Why on earth would I want to steal tools from him?" Owen is a hill walker and goes six or seven a day. Owen says he had no reason to kill Dave Cutler. Troy interrupts and says there has been another death.
At Simon Reason's shop, Dr. Bullard tells the detectives it was no accident that killed Simon. The desks may have been stacked like kid's building blocks, but the one that fell is heavy, solid oak. It wouldn't have toppled on its own. And the door was forced? Also, the killer left a scarf and lipstick. There is a record on the record player. The record player was switched on when the officers arrived. Barnaby says, "These records. Last time I saw this machine they were all 78s. So where did that 45 come from?"
Louise August tells Barnaby that she and Simon Reason had been having a bit of a fling. She also had a brief relationship with David Cutler. She found him romantic. Simon was more or less a rebound thing. Louise says she was with Simon late last night. On the green and he received a call on his mobile. He said it was the police, they wanted to talk to him. When? There and then. At his showroom at 1:30 in the morning. Louise says that she and Owen don't sleep together. He knows about her relationships.
On the way to interview Owen, Barnaby says, "Why does everyone in this village seem to be at it?" Owen tells the detectives that he was at home and in bed when his wife returned last night. Owen admits that he likes to listen while his wife is having sex. She knows he likes to listen. Owen plays a tape of his wife having sex. Troy tries not to giggle in the background.
Troy tells Barnaby that Dr Bullard rang about the scarf and lipstick. He's run some tests. The scarf's a cheap item, could've been bought anywhere. The lipstick's old. Dr. Bullard reckons it's the kind of thing you could come across at a jumble sale or in a junk shop. Barnaby shows the lipstick and scarf to Louise and she says that they are tarty and cheap. "Ghastly. As for this piece of tat, it's ancient - look at the colour. Hardly anybody wears ice-pink lipstick these days. That went out with compacts and tea dances. Where did you find them? So they don't belong to you? No they certainly do not belong to me. I'm sorry. Even in the old days no woman in her right mind would buy this sort of junk. Actually, it's the sort of thing men might buy for a woman. Except they'd be getting it wrong."
MURDER 4:
Outside, Owen August is walking. He hears jazz music and turns around. He recognizes the person behind him. The murderer takes away his walking stick and beats Owen with it.
Barnaby and Troy arrive with Jay. Jay says the murder happened less than half an hour ago. And there is a pen stuck to a tree. There are tire prints all the way along the track. Then there's a place where a car's tried to reverse on the grass. Abe says he saw Owen walking and then saw a car further along the track. The car seemed to be following Owen.
At the Plough, John Field is on the phone talking to "Tammie." He asks to see her. Barbara asks what's the matter? John says she has found someone else. He needs to go to London to try and talk to her. Barbara says, "Oh, no. You can't go. I'm scared. And I need you here. I need you."
Louise says the pen may have belonged to Owen as he did collect things. She says he was a foolish man most of the time. And there wasn't a great deal of love between them. But he was still her husband. Louise starts to cry.
At the Shortlands home, Keith says he has another job and is moving to Dorset. He can't live there any more after what happened to Debbie. Keith tells them some of Debbie's customers were difficult. Some were tight-fisted and didn't like paying, and another one wanted her to work on a typewriter. An ancient one. "She told him to forget it. He even gave her a present, would you believe? A dress. Debbie said it must have come out of the ark. Pure fifties." Keith doesn't know who the man was but he wanted Debbie to type a book.
Jay turns off the music. John pulls out the billhook and comes after Jay. They struggle. Jay gets away and runs into a room and locks the door. John starts pounding the door with the billhook. Jay smashes a chair as John thrusts the billhook through the door and it falls to the floor. Barnaby and Troy rush into the room and Troy tackles John.
Barnaby and Troy interview John. "We've been reading this manuscript of yours. Dark Autumn. It's almost biographical. It's about your mother. It's all set in the same period. The early fifties. How old would your mother have been then? Twenty, twenty-one." John says, "She was beautiful." Troy says, "How would you know? You weren't born then." John says, "I've got photographs." John says he wanted to write about her. How she lived in those days, how she looked. He tried to get a publisher to read it. That's why he moved there. But the publisher refused. His mother was forty when she kill herself. She was ill and was no longer beautiful. She worked as a hostess in a dance hall as she had to support him somehow.
Barnaby asks "Why did you kill David Cutler?" John says, "He preyed on women." Barnaby says, "And Debbie? What had she done wrong? Wouldn't she play the game? Wouldn't she accept the part you'd chosen for her? (flashback: Keith saying "He even gave her a present, would you believe? A dress! Debbie said it must have come out of the ark. Pure '50s). And Simon Reason?" John says, "He was an adulterer. Who needs them? And I wanted one of his desks." Troy says, "But he sold it to Owen August." Barnaby says, "The man who rejected your manuscript, was that Owen August, too?" John says, "He could have helped me. But he couldn't be bothered. I wasn't important enough for him. He rejected everything I believed in. Everything I loved." Barnaby says, "So why attempt to kill Jay Nash? Was that yet another rejection?" John says, "I wanted her to take Tammie's place. Until I saw her with you." He looks at Troy. Barnaby asks, "What was your mother's name?" John says, "She...she used a professional name when she was working. She became ill and she lost her looks because of me." He starts to cry. Barnaby says, "But you were only eight at the time." John says, "It doesn't matter. She lost her looks and she died because of me." Barnaby says, "What was her name, John?" John says, "Tammie."
Troy asks, "Can I give you a lift, Sir?" Barnaby says, "No, thanks. Joyce is driving out here. She'll pick me up. What's that?" referring to the book that Troy bought for Jay. Troy says, "I suppose I may as well dump it." It is a book of poems by Lord Byron. Troy says, "Jay had this tatty old book in her house. So I thought I'd buy her a new one. She'd marked that page in particular. Must have been her favourite." Barnaby reads it, "So we'll go no more a roving, so late into the night, though the heart be still as loving, and the moon be still as bright..." Barnaby recalls that one of the bouquets of flowers at Dave Cutler's funeral had a note on it with the same verse...So We'll Go No More A Roving.
•John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby
•Daniel Casey as Sgt Gavin Troy
•Jane Wymark as Joyce Barnaby
•Fleur Bennett as Debbie Shortlands
•Adam Blackwood as Keith Shortlands
•Prue Clarke as Mary Yeatman
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