Case file · Series 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. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
Children's evidence overturns the first reading of the death and gives the investigation an unusually clear moral centre.
An apparent suicide in Setwale Wood points instead to a land dispute, two observant children and a concealed family story.
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.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- 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 ledger5 episodes credited to Michael Russell
- Director ledger3 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
Guest cast on file
Selected profiles and published cast-list entries. Database records are linked individually; this is not a full transcription or an independent check against the end credits.
Rosie Cavaliero
Published cast record ↗Wendy Craig
Published cast record ↗Chris Walker
Published cast record ↗Adam Kotz
Published cast record ↗Janie Dee
Published cast record ↗The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
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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 source rows represent 3 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Archie Bellingham
Murder · Blunt force
- Daniel Talbott
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
- Dudley Carew
Murder · Suffocation
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.
Building identities are cross-checked against the Casebook's published filming-location references. A named match describes the part used on screen, not the whole village and not necessarily an interior.
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 →