Case file · Series 13, Episode 3
Blood on the Saddle
A Wild West fair turns real when the performer on a dunking stall is shot amid a dispute over valuable land.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
Six-shooters and frontier theatrics give an old English property quarrel a cheerfully extravagant disguise.
- Best for
- Wild West show · Land dispute · Family rivalry
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Ben Jones
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
Six-shooters and frontier theatrics give an old English property quarrel a cheerfully extravagant disguise.
A Wild West fair turns real when the performer on a dunking stall is shot amid a dispute over valuable land.
The Wild West Society brings staged gunfights and frontier attractions to Ford Florey. Amid the show's constant gunfire, Faye Lennox—the 'witch' on a dunking stall—is shot with a real bullet.
Barnaby and Jones investigate a contested area of land, the Burbage and Fincher families and people willing to use the fair's theatrical violence as cover. Each new incident echoes the western theme while the motive remains rooted in English inheritance.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The fair provides weapons, disguises and noise, but the killings protect a claim to the disputed land. Barnaby traces the family history behind that claim.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 13
- Episode number
- Episode 3
- Written by
- David Lawrence
- Directed by
- Richard Holthouse
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 27 July 2010 8 September 2010
- Reported filming period
- September–October 2009
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Ford Florey
- 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 ledger5 episodes credited to David Lawrence
- Director ledger16 episodes directed by Richard Holthouse
- Release positionCase 76 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Wild West show · Land dispute
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
The Eight Bells in Long Crendon supplies the exterior, paired with the Jolly Woodman interior.
Long Crendon also provides the optician's exterior and local parish archives.
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.
David Rintoul
Published cast record ↗Kenneth Cranham
Published cast record ↗Pip Torrens
Published cast record ↗Caroline Langrishe
Published cast record ↗Daniel Ryan
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
Jason Hughes
Ben Jones · Police Constable · Detective Sergeant · InspectorA Welsh actor who first became widely known as Warren Jones in the BBC drama This Life. His later television work includes Marcella and The Pact, alongside substantial theatre work at venues including the Donmar Warehouse and Royal Court.
- This Life
- Marcella
- The Pact
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
4 source rows represent 4 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Faye Lennox
Murder · Gunshot
- Jack Fincher
Murder · Animal attack
- Leo Fincher
Murder · Gunshot
- Fergal Jenner
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
The Eight Bells
Used as: The pub exterior became the fictional Florey Arms.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.The Jolly Woodman
Used as: The pub interior is paired with the Eight Bells exterior to create the Florey Arms.
Village house and archive
Used as: Two buildings supply Adam Burbage's optician exterior and the parish archives.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Stocker's Farm
Used as: The farm represents the Lennox family property.
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
Great Haseley
Its village hall, church, pub and cottages repeatedly become community venues across different Midsomer villages.
Open location →Long Crendon
Manor houses, the old courthouse, village streets and pubs have supplied country houses, bookshops and competing villages.
Open location →