Case file · Series 3, Episode 2
Blue Herrings
Barnaby's recuperating aunt suspects that deaths at her nursing home are more organised than natural causes suggest.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
A gentler, character-led case in which older residents prove sharper than their carers expect.
- Best for
- Nursing home · Family visit · Quiet suspicion
- Mood
- Classic
- 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
A gentler, character-led case in which older residents prove sharper than their carers expect.
Barnaby's recuperating aunt suspects that deaths at her nursing home are more organised than natural causes suggest.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The pattern of deaths is real, and its motive lies in control of money and the vulnerability of residents whose testimony is dismissed.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 3
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- Hugh Whitemore
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 22 January 2000
- Reported filming period
- June–July 1999
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Gavin Troy
- Pathologist
- No on-screen pathologist identified
- Principal setting
- Aspern Tallow
- Casebook tone
- Classic
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 3 broader filming areas and 1 exact on-screen site identity.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger1 episode credited to Hugh Whitemore
- Director ledger22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 11 of 144
- Story characterClassic · Nursing home · Family visit
- Location evidence1 exact screen-use match
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.
Mali Harries
Published cast record ↗Carolyn Pickles
Published cast record ↗Deborah Findlay
Published cast record ↗Angela Down
Published cast record ↗Mary Wimbush
Published cast record ↗The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
.jpg?width=720)
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
No on-screen pathologist identified
No on-screen pathologist identifiedNo police pathologist is identified on screen in the published credit check for this nursing-home case.
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
No on-screen pathologist identified
- Credit
- No on-screen pathologist identified
- Played by
- No credited performer recorded
No police pathologist is identified on screen in the published credit check for this nursing-home case.
Meet the Casebook pathologists →Spoiler-controlled deaths desk
Deaths recorded in this case
2 source rows represent 4 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Celia Armstrong
Murder · Poisoning
- Mrs. Mortimer/Muriel Harrop/Madge Fielding×3
Accidental, natural or other · Natural or unexplained
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
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
Old Amersham
Historic streets and period buildings repeatedly become Causton, village centres, shops and institutions.
Open location →
Bledlow
The church, village hall and Lions of Bledlow pub recur as the social centre of several fictional villages.
Open location →
Wallingford
One of the principal doubles for Causton, with its Corn Exchange, riverside and civic streets appearing repeatedly.
Open location →