Midsomer Murder II- the Fall of Troy

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I was quite taken with him at first, then I realized he couldn't act. Rumor is (was) Barnaby didn't like him, the feeling was mutual.

BTW he's still a spear carrier, though a hit in the boonies

Thanks. It is odd that the writers never really tried to do anything with him. A few comment about his drooling over you lasses during interrogations, but no real relationship with Barnaby.

Is it ever explained why he has a wedding ring on his right hand?

You don't wear wedding rings on your right hand.

MSM has gone on way too long. At least the new guy was good looking and personable. Barnaby is like an old grouchy cat that hates people but reluctantly puts up with them.

I think season 7 is the best season of all. By the arrival of the new guy in season 9, it's all downhill....

R4, actually in several countries men do wear their wedding rings on their right hand. It is not uncommon to see this in Bavaria. I have been told that it is primarily a Catholic tradition.

However, to make you happy, why he wears a plain gold band on his right ring finger. Happy now?

Season 8 was a bit grim, not charming. All the characters in the towns were miserable...no one to root for.

Now I've watched the first episode of season 9, and Troy is gone without comment (so far).

I stopped watching because Barney 2 is nasty and mean spirited. I was sick of #1 but #2 is, seriously.

He's not married

Ugh, just finished season 7 and I could not disagree more. Sargent Scott is a void. The plots get increasingly bizarre and incomprehensible. They have too many characters and too many red herrings to hide the fact that the basic murder is not really plausible. And, a little Cully goes a very long way. To give the actress credit, the writers seem to have thrown the character out the window and have the character do whatever they need for that particular script. New boyfriend? New Job? Whatever.

R7, Do you mean Scott is gone? Troy left at the end of season #6.

R6

He wears a ring, because he wears a ring. It isn't unusual for British men who choose to wear rings to wear them an any finger, married or not.

In the UK there is no tradition of wearing a wedding ring on the right hand.

R12, OK, but to be clear, the confusion is that it is not a ring with a crest or a stone in it. It is a plain gold band. The kind of ring that is almost exclusively used as a wedding band.

Another question. In one episode the local pub had two bars. One for working men and one for everyone else. Is this normal?

R13 In the UK you can wear a plain gold band without it being a wedding ring. Most men's rings are plain. A crest or a stone is pretentious or chavvy.

Local pubs nearly always have two bars - they used to be called the saloon bar, which was posher and which women might go into, and the public bar where working clothes, working men and darts games were the norm. These days it's usually a public bar and a restarant.

Opps, Scott..Troy. Mix up. Sorry.

r15, thanks. I am about to start 8. I will prepare myself for grim.

Some of the humor returns with the third detective who follows Troy and Scott. Just finished watching John Nettles (Barneby) final season on the show.

It is interesting that out of the 6 episodes in season 7, two episodes had gay characters. It is also interesting that in both cases the gay couples are killed off in the first quarter of the episode.

Opps, I goofed up on the names...

Thanks R14. In the USA it will be interpreted as a wedding ring. Particularly since Gay men often wear their wedding rings on their right hand. I don't know if this practice is dying out, or if gay men are still doing it in protest of the fact that we do not have full marriage equality.

And, no, I did not think that Sargent Scott might be gay.

OK, what is with MM and their fascination with ancient naked male asses. This is perhaps the third episode where some 80 year old gets naked. It is like the porn version of Waiting for God.

Thanks all. I just started season 9 and there seems to be an attempt to go back to the original as an earlier poster said. I had mentioned that the earlier seasons seemed to have the same two people on horseback in the background of every episode. Episode 1 of season 9 starts with a clear shot of the people on horseback whom we haven't seen for two seasons. The Rainbirds return in the next episode. It seems that someone was aware that the show lost its way in seasons 7 & 8.

To the poster who said that the English paint their homes all the time, after a posted about the changing wall colors of the Barnaby's wall, the next three episodes were all about Mrs. Barnaby redecorating.

Question, Barnaby and his Sargent do a lot of breaking and entering. In the real word, would evidence found in such a manner be allowed in court?

Just a belated reply - I love the episodes with Sgt Scott. To me he's a more interesting and complicated character and less of a caricature than Troy was (no disrespect to Daniel Casey's portrayal) The relationship with Barnaby develops and I found the interaction fun to watch and think John Hopkins is great in the part. How people cannot see the humor in a lot of the episodes, I don't understand.

It is very weird to start reading a thread and realizing that it was a thread I started over two years ago.

Do they ever have minorities on this show? I can't recall ever seeing a black person or even an Asian on it.

Season 9 Episode 2 "Dead Letters" has to be the stupidest episode written. They bring back Elizabeth Spriggs and Richard Cant from the first episode in Season 1. Barnaby keeps looking at them and saying "Don't I remember you from somewhere." Finally the writers explain it, but it has no bearing on the plot.

At least it's better than Rosemary & Thyme where everytime two landscapers show up there's a murder. You think the British police would have called those two in for questioning by now.

New Tricks is still my favorite.

Possibly the dullest TV show ever made.

WTF was going on with Mrs. Barnaby' s hair?

Since we're discussing Brit tv...are there going to be any new Doc Martins? I'm all caught up.

R25, I think there are now because there was quit a stink about it.

However, the original point was that the murders took place in these unrealistically quaint and perfect English villages. It wasn't supposed to be real life. That is why they could have slightly over the top characters such as Elizabeth Spriggs and Richard Cant.

I've never understood the enjoyment some people get from "Doc Martin." I've tried the show several times and Martin's behavior just grates on me.

I like British TV on PBS, but don't get this show.

The townies just so irritating and I cannot look at the incredibly fat restaurant owner.

Someone explain the appeal please.

Rosemary and Thyme I get... it's "Murder, She Wrote" for the English gardening set.

I can't get into Rosemary and Thyme either.

I think it is amazing the R&T was cancelled because of the weather in England. There simply were not enough sunny days to film a show that required so many outdoor scenes. They would always throw in one episode on the continent in order to squeak in a few more nice days, but it never really worked.

The weather must be depressing as hell R33. Not enough sunny days???

The third sargent is played by Jason Hughes, who played the gay guy on This Life. If that show is still on Youtube, it's definitely worth watching Season 1. But when he left the show, it all went down hill.

I can't watch Midsomer Murders without thinking I should be watching Hot Fuzz.

The mystery writing in Hot Fuzz is much more clever.

R35, Hughes was great in This Life. Unfortunately I never really liked him in MM when I still was watching it. The two previous sergeants were hunky and hot and Hughes isn't really. He's a nice dude but not the eye candy I wanted standing next to DCI. It seems he's gone from the show now and was replaced by Gwilym Lee who actually seems pretty nice. I guess I have to check out what's he like in MM.

BTW, This Life made Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln a star. He was so fucking hot in it, and I remember him having a full frontal in one episode. Or was it in Teachers? Must say I was surprised as hell to see him move to the US tv and the Walking Dead.

Jack Davenport was in it too? He's also a cutie.

Andrew Lincoln is nude in This Life. It's either episode 1 or 2 where he takes a shower with his girlfriend and you see him get out of the shower.

When Hughes left This Life, they replaced him with the Fergie character who I thought was the most creepy, unsexy person they could find. I wish they had replaced Hughes with a sexy roommate.

I always thought Scott wore the gold band on his right hand because his wife was dead...? Troy was my favourite.

I watched the first episode of season 16 with the new DS Gwilym Lee. He's such a little cutie, although not really that little because he's towering over DCI Barnaby. He could eat a hamburger or two, though.

It was funny when Barnaby's wife was trying to get information about the new DS from her husband asking:

"Girlfriend?... Boyfriend?"

The episode itself was your usual Midsomer stuff. British feel-good murder mystery. The series does have its own special feel to it that I sometimes appreciate and sometimes find quite unappealing.

It's on my local PBS station now and they always have birds calling at night on this show, which is just bizarre. They're not owls or nightingales or mockingbirds. They're birds like pheasants, peacocks and guinea fowl. My neighborhood has guinea fowl and they are dead asleep at night.

And if there were any peacocks, pheasants or guinea fowl out and about at night, they'd be eaten by all the screeching nighttime foxes you hear on the show.

R42, pheasants can make lot of noise at night time. They kept me awake a lot when I used to live in a place that had loads of them. I don't remember seeing them that much at daytime but come night and their bloody screeching began.

I've been been watching through season 14 now and it is just not the same without Tom Barnaby. He brought a nuanced warmth and comedic tone that is just not matched by the new Barnaby. Also, without Troy, there's nobody to play on.

The very first episode of this show with the queeny undertaker and his fabulous tea cart of death was everything.

It sucked after that.

New Sargent (#5) coming on board for next series. Which is a shame because the banter between G. Lee and the new pathologist was entertaining.

Watching a gay episode now. It's about a rugby team. There was even a gay kiss!

Does NO ONE in this thread know how to spell "sergeant?" I've seen it misspelled in half a dozen posts.

Troy really was the best seargent. He really had a nice quirkiness comedic effect. His driving was unparalleled.

I give up.

[quote] At least it's better than Rosemary & Thyme where everytime two landscapers show up there's a murder. You think the British police would have called those two in for questioning by now. New Tricks is still my favorite.

You leave Rosemary and Laura alone! I love them. It is a delicious comfort show. Very rewatchable.

But yes New Tricks has really grown on me and it is a real favorite now. I just must be getting old cause I prefer shows with these oldsters. Much more interesting and funnier.

I thought Sargent Scott was gorgeous. I would have pulled his pants down and sucked him off right in the middle of Midsomer Worthy! Give the old town gossips something to munch on!

Alas, his replacement, acting Sg Jones looked like microwaved shite in comparison. I miss Tom but glad to see the back of the feckless Cully and frau Joyce!

Anyone still watching this?

Yes and they are up to season 21 now, with new Sergeant Winter. It's good, settled in to its own rhythm. I loved and miss Cully and Joyce; I don't hate fraus and thought their lives were charming.