Case file · Series 10, Episode 1
Dance with the Dead
A young man is found dead in a vintage car at a disused airfield while his girlfriend remains conspicuously absent.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
A wartime-dance setting gives Jones's first case as a detective sergeant an unusually melancholy rhythm.
- Best for
- Disused airfield · Dance school · Missing woman
- Mood
- Dark
- 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
A wartime-dance setting gives Jones's first case as a detective sergeant an unusually melancholy rhythm.
A young man is found dead in a vintage car at a disused airfield while his girlfriend remains conspicuously absent.
Simon Bright is discovered inside a vintage car at Cooper's Cross airfield, apparently the victim of a suicide pact. Laura Sharp, the girlfriend who should have been beside him, cannot be found, and a note seems to offer the detectives a finished explanation rather too quickly.
Barnaby and the newly promoted DS Ben Jones trace the couple through Elaine Trim's dance classes, a forthcoming 1940s fête and competing versions of Simon's private life. A second attack makes clear that the airfield tableau was arranged for an audience rather than left as an honest farewell.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The apparent pact is staged. Barnaby separates Laura's disappearance from the scene in the car and follows jealousy, family pressure and the dance school's relationships to the person controlling the story.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 10
- Episode number
- Episode 1
- Written by
- Peter J. Hammond
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 12 November 2006
- Reported filming period
- May–June 2006
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Morton Fendle
- 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 ledger10 episodes credited to Peter J. Hammond
- Director ledger22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 52 of 144
- Story characterDark · Disused airfield · Dance school
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
This is Ben Jones's first case after his promotion to detective sergeant.
Frieth Village Hall supplies an exterior, while Nettlebed Village Hall provides interiors for Elaine Trim's school and the wartime fête.
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.
Danny Webb
Published cast record ↗Harriet Thorpe
Published cast record ↗Lizzy Watts
Published cast record ↗Felicity Dean
Published cast record ↗Georgine Anderson
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
3 source rows represent 3 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Simon Bright
Murder · Poisoning
- Laura Sharpe
Murder · Blunt force
- Tony Kirby
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Dorchester Post Office
Used as: The village post office appears as Morton Fendle Post Office.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Frieth Village Hall
Used as: The hall exterior represents Elaine Trim's dance school.
Nettlebed Village Hall
Used as: The hall supplies the dance-school interiors and the 1940s fête venue.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.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