Case file · Series 5, Episode 2 · Season 5, Episode 2
A Worm in the Bud
An apparent suicide in Setwale Wood points instead to a land dispute, two observant children and a concealed family story.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
Children's evidence overturns the first reading of the death and gives the investigation an unusually clear moral centre.
- Best for
- Woodland · Land dispute · Family secret
- Mood
- Dark
- 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
Children's evidence overturns the first reading of the death and gives the investigation an unusually clear moral centre.
Susan Bartlett is discovered in Setwale Wood with evidence suggesting suicide. Two children say they saw the body earlier than the official timeline allows, convincing Barnaby and Troy that the scene was arranged.
The wood is already at the centre of litigation between the Bartlett and Harrington families over development. When James Harrington is also killed, the inquiry expands into old beliefs about the woodland, private relationships and a family truth that would alter more than the court case.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The staged suicide and later murder protect a secret about the children and the two households; the development dispute is real but not the whole motive.
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 Midsomer Worthy 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 5
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- Michael Russell
- Directed by
- David Tucker
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 23 June 2002
- Reported filming period
- September–October 2001
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Gavin Troy
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Worthy
- Casebook tone
- Dark
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 3 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits5 episodes credited to Michael Russell
- Director credits3 episodes directed by David Tucker
- Release positionCase 21 of 144
- Story characterDark · Woodland · Land dispute
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
Barnet Council Offices are used as Midsomer Court House for the opening confrontation over Setwale Wood.
Balinger Common, in the Little Missenden area, supplies the playground where Caroline and James Harrington meet.
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 Worm in the Bud cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Jane Wymark
Rosie Cavaliero
Chris Walker
Janie Dee
Emily Joyce
Adam Kotz
Clarista Hoult
Charlie Hicks
Gillian Barge
Jeffry Wickham
Andy Capie
Paul Venables
Wendy Craig
Ian Hogg
Jeremy Peters
Ian Driver
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
- Susan Bartlett (farmer's wife)
Murder · Drowning
Performer check- Susan Bartlett: not listed in the current published cast recordNo Susan Bartlett performer appears in the current published cast record. The body-count ledger’s descriptor is retained with corrected possessive grammar.
- James Harrington
Murder · Drowning
Performer check- James Harrington: Adam Kotz
- Victoria Bartlett
Murder · Gunshot
Performer check- Victoria Bartlett: Wendy Craig
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killers
Victoria Bartlett · Hannah HarringtonVictoria drugged and drowned Susan Bartlett, staged the scene and message as a suicide, then drugged and drowned James Harrington after he blackmailed her. Hannah later shot Victoria after learning that she had killed James. Jonah Bloxham's attempt to frame Simon and Victoria's non-fatal attack on Jonah are kept distinct from the three deaths.
Verified motive
Victoria killed Susan so Simon could marry someone capable of producing a Bartlett heir and preserve the family's 500-year tenure, then killed James when he discovered the truth and demanded money. Hannah shot Victoria in revenge for James's murder.
Source: episode transcript ↗Verified important clue
Archive case 21 · checked 16 September 2026The impossible timing of Susan Bartlett's suicide emailThe message was sent from Susan's laptop after her body had already lain in Setwale Wood for at least six hours, proving that the apparent suicide note and drowning scene were constructed rather than evidence that Susan took her own life.
Clue source: episode transcript ↗Verified decisive clue
Archive case 21 · checked 17 September 2026The late suicide email and concentrated valerian in both victimsThe children place Susan dead at least six hours before the email was sent from her laptop, proving that the suicide message and drowning scene were staged. Concentrated valerian in both Susan and James then links their deaths, while Victoria's admission resolves those two drownings and Hannah's later shooting remains a separate act.
Decisive-clue source: episode transcript ↗Verified red herring
Archive case 21 · checked 17 September 2026Susan Bartlett's apparent suicideHer depression, infertility and a farewell email make the drowning look self-inflicted, and the initial timing appears to fit. The children saw Susan's body hours earlier and the email was sent after she was already dead, exposing a staged scene and Victoria Bartlett's murder.
Red-herring source: episode transcript ↗Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 21 · checked 16 September 2026- deathSusan Bartlett is drugged and drowned
Victoria gives Susan a concentrated dose of valerian and drowns her while constructing an apparent suicide.
- discoverySusan is found in Setwale Wood
Her body is recovered from a pond, but the children's earlier sighting and the timed message expose the staged account.
- deathJames Harrington is drowned
Victoria drugs and drowns James after he discovers what she did and blackmails her.
- discoveryThe second poisoning is identified
Valerian in James's whisky and in both bodies connects his death to Susan's.
- deathHannah shoots Victoria
Hannah kills Victoria in retaliation after learning that Victoria murdered James.
- discoveryThe separate responsibilities are established
The resolution distinguishes Victoria's two planned drownings, Hannah's revenge and Jonah Bloxham's unrelated frame-up.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Barnet Council Offices
Used as: The civic offices become Midsomer Court House for the Setwale Wood dispute.
Balinger Common
Used as: The common supplies the playground where Caroline and James Harrington meet.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.The Golden Ball
Used as: The pub appears as the local in fictional Midsomer Worthy.
Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas
Places connected to this file
Bledlow
The church, village hall and Lions of Bledlow pub recur as the social centre of several fictional villages.
Open location →Little Missenden
A recurring village double whose streets, church, manor and Red Lion helped establish the look of Badger's Drift and later communities.
Open location →