Case file · Series 6, Episode 4 · Season 6, Episode 4
A Tale of Two Hamlets
A film promotion explodes into murder while two rival villages and one extended family compete to control their shared history.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The episode turns a centuries-old village feud into both local folklore and a profitable family entertainment business.
- Best for
- Village rivalry · Film history · Family business
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Gavin Troy
- 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
The episode turns a centuries-old village feud into both local folklore and a profitable family entertainment business.
Actor Larry Smith enters a summer house during the launch of a sequel to his cult film The House of Satan, and the building explodes. His Upper Warden relatives immediately blame Lower Warden, whose competing claim to local history has become part of the publicity spectacle.
The director's death on an exercise bike brings the investigation inside the Smythe-Webster family and its businesses. Barnaby and Troy sift through affairs, blackmail and ownership while deciding which parts of the two villages' famous feud are history and which have been manufactured.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The deaths protect financial and family arrangements around the film legacy; the historic village rivalry offers a dramatic cover for much more recent deception.
Spoiler-safe viewing companion
Three questions to carry into the episode
Use these spoiler-safe prompts to notice the setting, the investigation and the details that may matter.
- Place
How does Upper and Lower Warden shape what people say openly, delay, or leave unsaid?
- Theme
Which details seem to carry more than one meaning, and what might be a red herring?
- Teamwork
Compare how DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Gavin Troy gather information: who watches the room, and who presses the conversation forward?
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 6
- Episode number
- Episode 4
- Written by
- Alan Plater
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 24 January 2003
- Reported filming period
- September–October 2002
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Gavin Troy
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Upper and Lower Warden
- 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 2 broader filming areas and 4 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits1 episode credited to Alan Plater
- Director credits22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 27 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Village rivalry · Film history
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
Brill Windmill appears as museum curator Sarah Proudie's Lower Warden home.
The Eight Bells at Long Crendon becomes the pub where Danny works; Watlington supplies Lower Warden streets and the Ellis Bell Museum exterior.
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 Tale of Two Hamlets cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Anne Reid
Reid plays Sarah Proudie in A Tale of Two Hamlets, a case concerned with a feuding family and its public image. The role is part of the show's rich tradition of casting accomplished television character actors.
Open actor profile →Jane Wymark
Jonathan Hyde
Beth Goddard
Phoebe Nicholls
Jo Stone-Fewings
Tim Preece
Ronald Pickup
Leo Bill
Rebecca Johnson
Alex Lowe
Katy Murphy
Jack Chissick
Danielle Tilley
Christopher Good
Charlie Beall
The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
John Nettles
Tom Barnaby · Detective Chief InspectorAn English actor, author and narrator who was already a household name as Jersey detective Jim Bergerac. After Bergerac he spent five seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later returned to television drama in Poldark.
- Bergerac
- Poldark
- Royal Shakespeare Company
Daniel Casey
Gavin Troy · Detective Sergeant · later InspectorAn English stage and television actor also known for Our Friends in the North, Steel River Blues, EastEnders and Emmerdale. He later returned to the Midsomer world to play Tom Barnaby in the first professional stage adaptation.
- Our Friends in the North
- Steel River Blues
- Midsomer Murders on stage
Barry Jackson
Dr George Bullard · Police pathologistAn English stage and screen character actor whose career lasted more than five decades. His credits ranged from the landmark television play Cathy Come Home to Doctor Who, Barry Lyndon and many familiar British television dramas.
- Cathy Come Home
- Doctor Who
- Barry Lyndon
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 George Bullard
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Barry Jackson
Causton's long-serving pathologist is professionally unflappable, quietly witty and an old friend of Tom Barnaby.
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
- Larry Smith
Murder · Explosion
Performer check- Larry Smith: Charlie Beall
- Frank Webster
Murder · Electrocution
Performer check- Frank Webster: Jonathan Hyde
- Danny Pinchel
Murder · Drowning
Performer check- Danny Pinchel: Jo Stone-FewingsThe body-count ledger prints ‘Pinchall’; the published cast record supports ‘Pinchel’, used here.
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killers
Philip Harrison · Danny PinchelDanny planned the explosion that killed Larry Smith and signalled Philip to trigger it. Philip later electrocuted Frank Webster when he would not pay them, then killed Danny after learning that Danny was a Smythe-Webster heir and had intended to leave Philip carrying the blame. The joint first killing and Philip's two later murders remain distinct.
Verified motive
Danny and Philip killed Larry as retaliation against the Smythe-Websters' wealth and contempt for Lower Warden, expecting Frank to pay them afterwards. Philip killed Frank when he refused payment, then killed Danny after learning Danny was an heir who intended to leave him carrying the blame.
Verified important clue
Archive case 27 · checked 16 September 2026Elsie Pinchel's diaryThe diary found on Danny records hidden parentage and shows that both Danny and Philip are Smythe-Webster heirs, exposing the family connection behind Danny's leverage and Philip's final murder while preserving their joint responsibility for Larry's death.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 27 · checked 17 September 2026Elsie Pinchel's diary on Danny's bodyThe diary records the hidden parentage that makes both Danny and Philip Smythe-Webster heirs, revealing why Philip turns on his co-conspirator. Philip's admission then separates Danny's planning and mobile signal from Philip's detonation and later killings instead of assigning every act to one offender.
Verified red herring
Archive case 27 · checked 17 September 2026Darren's explosives access and dramatic confessionDarren films the event, has a grievance over the movie job and handles explosives through the Territorial Army, then arrives saying he has come to confess. His admission concerns only the inter-village ritual of letting Barnaby's tyres down; Danny planned Larry's death and signalled Philip, who triggered the bomb and committed the later murders.
Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 27 · checked 16 September 2026- deathLarry Smith dies in the explosion
Danny plans the summerhouse bombing and signals Philip, who triggers the blast by remote control.
- discoveryThe summerhouse becomes a crime scene
The explosion kills Larry during the village event and immediately establishes a deliberately triggered attack.
- deathFrank Webster is electrocuted
Philip kills Frank after Frank refuses to pay for Larry's murder.
- discoveryFrank's death extends the family pattern
The second Smythe-Webster death focuses the inquiry on the villages' resentments and the promised payment.
- deathDanny Pinchel is killed
Philip kills Danny after discovering that Danny is an heir and intended to leave him carrying the blame.
- discoveryJoint and separate responsibility is resolved
The final account separates Danny's planning of Larry's death from Philip's trigger action and two later murders.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Brill Windmill
Used as: The windmill becomes Sarah Proudie's home in Lower Warden.
The Eight Bells
Used as: The pub represents Upper Warden's local, where Danny works.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Lewknor Primary School
Used as: The school becomes Upper Warden School and the police incident headquarters.
Foxwarren Park
Used as: The estate stands in for the Smythe-Webster family home.
Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas
Places connected to this file
Long Crendon
Manor houses, the old courthouse, village streets and pubs have supplied country houses, bookshops and competing villages.
Open location →
Watlington
The church, market hall, library and High Street shops have appeared as civic and village locations in several eras.
Open location →