Case file · Series 6, Episode 2 · Season 6, Episode 2
Death and Dreams
An elaborate apparent suicide leads Barnaby towards a psychiatric clinic, a marching band and a dangerously closed family world.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
A disturbing late-Troy case that pushes the series closer to psychological horror.
- Best for
- Psychology · Marching band · Staged death
- 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
A disturbing late-Troy case that pushes the series closer to psychological horror.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The deaths are carefully staged by people whose shared fantasy and family isolation have erased ordinary moral limits.
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 6
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- Peter J. Hammond
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 10 January 2003
- Reported filming period
- June–July 2002
- 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 1 exact on-screen site identity.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits10 episodes credited to Peter J. Hammond
- Director credits22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 25 of 144
- Story characterDark · Psychology · Marching band
- 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
Death and Dreams cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Jane Wymark
Laura Howard
Perdita Weeks
Jan Ravens
June Watson
Paul Brennen
Jonty Stephens
Isla Blair
Mark Richards
Stuart Bunce
Philip Fox
Anna Maguire
Jon Rake
John Branwell
Susan Porrett
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
4 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Martin Wroth
Murder · Poisoning
Performer check- Martin Wroth: not listed in the current published cast recordNo Martin Wroth performer appears in the current published cast record. Sarah Wroath is a different character, so no identity is inferred.
- Tony Parish
Murder · Poisoning
Performer check- Tony Parish: Stuart Bunce
- Gordon Leesmith
Murder · Strangulation or hanging
Performer check- Gordon Leesmith: Philip Fox
- Dr. Moore's husband (historical)
Murder · Fall · historical or before the main case
Performer check- Dr. Moore’s husband: not listed in the current published cast recordNo separate performer for Dr. Moore’s historical husband appears in the current published cast record; Guy Moore is a different character.
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killers
Hannah Moore · Guy Moore · Ettie MooreThe three Moore siblings acted together in the murders of Martin Wroth, Tony Parish and Gordon Leesmith, using drugs and elaborate staged scenes to protect their exclusive family bond with their mother. Hannah and Guy had also pushed their father from a cliff years earlier; Dean Hunniset tried to prevent further killings and is not listed as a killer.
Verified motive
The siblings treated anyone who might claim or separate their mother as a threat to their exclusive family: Martin and Tony represented romantic or institutional intrusion, while Gordon was killed after refusing them drugs and becoming able to expose their theft.
Verified important clue
Archive case 25 · checked 16 September 2026The borrowed game cup beside Martin WrothThe cup Hannah took while babysitting is found beside Martin with traces of the same drug used in the staged killings, connecting the Moore siblings' private games to the first present-day victim without implicating Dean Hunniset.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 25 · checked 17 September 2026Hannah's borrowed game cup beside Martin WrothThe cup Hannah borrowed while babysitting is found beside Martin with traces of the drug used in the staged killings, placing the Moore siblings' private game at the first murder. Dean's attempt to stop them and Ettie's account of their father's death then expose the three-sibling scheme without treating Dean as a killer.
Verified red herring
Archive case 25 · checked 17 September 2026Dean Hunniset as the rope-climbing killerDean's history, conflict with Martin, night-time climbing, disappearance and cache of stolen ropes make him the inquiry's number-one suspect. He stole the ropes to prevent another staged killing and tried to intervene after Tony's death; the Moore siblings committed the murders.
Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 25 · checked 16 September 2026- deathThe Moore children's father dies
Hannah and Guy push their father from a cliff years before the present investigation.
- discoveryThe earlier family death is reconstructed
The resolution exposes the siblings' first shared killing and their possessive bond with their mother.
- deathMartin Wroth is killed
The Moore siblings kill Martin after treating his relationship with their mother as an intrusion.
- discoveryMartin's staged scene begins the case
His death introduces the elaborate tableaux and drug use that recur across the inquiry.
- deathTony Parish is killed
The siblings kill Tony as another threat to their exclusive family unit.
- discoveryTony is found suspended
The staged body and rope imagery link the second present death to Martin's.
- deathGordon Leesmith is killed
The siblings kill Gordon after he refuses them drugs and can expose the pharmacy theft.
- discoveryAll three siblings are identified
The resolution assigns the present murders to Hannah, Guy and Ettie while keeping Dean's attempt to stop them separate.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Chestnut Farmhouse
Used as: The farmhouse represents Martin Wroath's home in Midsomer Worthy.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas
