Case file · Series 18, Episode 4 · Season 18, Episode 4
A Dying Art
The opening of a sculpture park is followed by murder, an explosive inheritance announcement and questions about who created its art.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
Ownership applies to almost everything in the case—the land, the sculptures, the artistic ideas and the future promised to a family.
- Best for
- Sculpture park · Inheritance · Plagiarism
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI John Barnaby with DS Charlie Nelson
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. Check the linked provider advisory for further viewing information.
Why it matters
Ownership applies to almost everything in the case—the land, the sculptures, the artistic ideas and the future promised to a family.
Brandon Monkford is murdered beside a centrepiece work on the opening night of the Angel's Rise sculpture park. His decision to disinherit his wife Alexandra and their children places the park and its unexpected beneficiary at the centre of the inquiry.
Tony Pitt's plans for the site provoke anger before he becomes the next victim. Barnaby and Nelson then uncover doubts about whether celebrated artist Lance Auden created the work carrying his name, adding intellectual theft to the disputes over land and money.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The murders grow from disputed inheritance and stolen artistic identity, with the park preserving evidence of who created—and who claimed—the work on display.
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 18
- Episode number
- Episode 4
- Written by
- Jeff Povey
- Directed by
- Matt Carter
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 3 February 2016
- Reported filming period
- July–August 2015
- Detective
- DCI John Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Charlie Nelson
- Pathologist
- Dr Kam Karimore · Manjinder Virk
- Principal setting
- Angel's Rise
- Casebook tone
- Eccentric
Check the credits, then follow the source trail for production and filming details. Counts below describe this archive’s records.
The fictional setting and the real filming sites are separate pieces of information. The location desk currently connects it to 1 broader filming area and 1 exact on-screen site identity.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits8 episodes credited to Jeff Povey
- Director credits8 episodes directed by Matt Carter
- Release positionCase 108 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Sculpture park · Inheritance
- Location evidence1 exact screen-use match
The local pub at Fingest appears as the pub in fictional Angel's Rise.
A Colstrope cottage is documented as another filming site, but the published reference does not assign it a reliable fictional identity.
Sources for the production file
Published episode chronology and credits ↗Official ITV programme page ↗Filming-location reference index ↗The chronology is the reference for the credits shown here. A programme homepage does not independently verify a filming date or every production detail. Where multiple transmission dates are listed, territory attribution needs checking. Story, teleplay and adaptation distinctions require the original credit wording; links to external synopses may reveal plot details.
Selected episode credits
A Dying Art cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Fiona Dolman
Adrian Scarborough
Saskia Reeves
Ramon Tikaram
David Bamber
Cara Horgan
Charlotte Beaumont
Cherie Lunghi
Michael Wildman
Denis Lill
John Hollingworth
David Gant
Jolyon Coy
Cat Simmons
The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
Neil Dudgeon
John Barnaby · Detective Chief InspectorAn English actor whose television work before Causton included Piece of Cake, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, Messiah and the sitcom Life of Riley. He also appeared in Midsomer Murders years earlier as a different character in Garden of Death.
- Messiah
- Life of Riley
- The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
Gwilym Lee
Charlie Nelson · Detective SergeantA British actor whose screen career includes Jamestown, The Great and Top End Wedding. International audiences may know him best as Queen guitarist Brian May in the film Bohemian Rhapsody.
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- The Great
- Jamestown
Manjinder Virk
Dr Kam Karimore · Police pathologistA British actor, writer and director known for The Arbor, Britz and Trigger Point. Her filmmaking work includes the award-winning short Out of Darkness, which she wrote and directed.
- The Arbor
- Trigger Point
- Out of Darkness
Portraits are used only where a reusable licence or public-domain release has been verified. Publicity stills and stock photographs are not copied into this independent guide.
Forensic desk
Dr Kam Karimore
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Manjinder Virk
Exceptionally capable and forthright, Kam works across the transition from Charlie Nelson to Jamie Winter.
Meet the Casebook pathologists →Spoiler-controlled deaths desk
Deaths recorded in this case
3 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Brandon Monkford
Murder · Other recorded death
Performer check- Brandon Monkford: David Gant
- Tony Pitt
Murder · Crushing
Performer check- Tony Pitt: Adrian Scarborough
- Lance Auden
Murder · Other recorded death
Performer check- Lance Auden: Ramon TikaramThe earlier synopsis-derived ledger printed Lance Orden; the published cast record supports Lance Auden, used here.
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killer
Summer PittSummer killed Brandon Monkford when he dismissed her claim that Lance Auden had stolen her designs, killed her husband Tony when he would not remove Lance from their lives, and killed Lance to protect their daughter Helena. Her attempt to burn Daniel Fargo with the stolen works was stopped; Brin Dunne destroyed a sculpture but was not the killer.
Verified motive
Summer acted from the erasure of her artistic identity after Lance stole her portfolio, including work honouring her mother, and received the recognition denied to her. She killed Brandon when he mocked her claim, Tony when he refused to remove Lance from their lives and Lance when she saw him repeating the same exploitation with Helena; destroying the stolen works was meant to erase his false legacy.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 108 · checked 25 September 2026Lance's portfolio of stolen death-scene designsNone of the works he sold appear in his portfolio, and the art college confirms he took another student's ideas. The drawings point to Summer, who explains how Lance stole her memorial sculpture and why she attacked Brandon, Tony and Lance. Her attempted attack on Daniel is interrupted; the sculpture's separate destruction does not identify the killer.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
The Chequers
Used as: The village pub appears as the pub in fictional Angel's Rise.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas