Case file · Series 15, Episode 4 · Season 15, Episode 4
Death and the Divas
A horror-film festival reunites two estranged acting sisters as real deaths begin to imitate the films of one of them.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The episode gleefully borrows vampire imagery while using old film careers to measure rivalry, memory and family loyalty.
- Best for
- Horror films · Acting sisters · Film festival
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI John Barnaby with DS Ben Jones
- 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
The episode gleefully borrows vampire imagery while using old film careers to measure rivalry, memory and family loyalty.
Journalist Eve Lomax is killed while researching a book about 1960s horror actress Stella Harris, with wounds that make the death resemble a vampire attack. Stella's more famous sister, Diana Davenport, then returns to Midsomer Langley after a forty-year family rift.
Further murders reproduce imagery from Stella's screen roles while the village hosts a festival devoted to her films. Barnaby and Jones examine the sisters' careers, their estrangement and people who have turned the family's history into entertainment.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The film-inspired deaths are not random homage: they retell the sisters' private history. Barnaby identifies who is using Stella's screen mythology to settle a family grievance.
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 Langley 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 John Barnaby and DS Ben Jones 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 15
- Episode number
- Episode 4
- Written by
- Rachel Cuperman and Sally Griffiths
- Directed by
- Nick Laughland
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 2 January 2013
- Reported filming period
- April–May 2012
- Detective
- DCI John Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr Kate Wilding · Tamzin Malleson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Langley
- 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 1 broader filming area and 4 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits2 episodes credited to Rachel Cuperman and Sally Griffiths
- Director credits9 episodes directed by Nick Laughland
- Release positionCase 93 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Horror films · Acting sisters
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
Sinéad Cusack and Harriet Walter play estranged sisters Stella Harris and Diana Davenport.
Littlewick Green supplies Stella's cottage and the green used for the outdoor horror-film festival.
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 the Divas cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Fiona Dolman
Harriet Walter
Samuel Anderson
Anna Wilson-Jones
Pearce Quigley
Henry Goodman
David Bark-Jones
Sinéad Cusack
Caroline Munro
Alexander Owen
John Carson
Rhiannon Harper-Rafferty
Thomasin Rand
Georgina Beedle
Laura Girling
Alice Sykes
Joseph Beattie
Pandora Clifford
Sasha Waddell
The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
Neil Dudgeon
John Barnaby · Detective Chief InspectorAn English actor whose television work before Causton included Piece of Cake, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, Messiah and the sitcom Life of Riley. He also appeared in Midsomer Murders years earlier as a different character in Garden of Death.
- Messiah
- Life of Riley
- The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
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
Tamzin Malleson
Dr Kate Wilding · Police pathologistAn English actor whose best-known television work includes Dangerfield, Teachers, the medical drama Bodies and Unforgotten. She has also appeared in Poirot, Marcella and A Touch of Frost.
- Teachers
- Bodies
- Unforgotten
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 Kate Wilding
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Tamzin Malleson
Bullard's assured, no-nonsense successor combines forensic authority with a more informal chemistry around the John Barnaby team.
Meet the Casebook pathologists →Spoiler-controlled deaths desk
Deaths recorded in this case
3 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Eve Lomax
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Eve Lomax: Sasha Waddell
- Cy Davenport
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Cy Davenport: Henry Goodman
- Colin Yule
Murder · Suffocation
Performer check- Colin Yule: Pearce Quigley
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killer
Emma HarrisEmma killed Eve Lomax, Cy Davenport and Colin Yule to suppress the truth that Diana Davenport was her birth mother and to avenge Stella Harris's lost acting career. She staged an attempt on herself to divert suspicion and later tried to kill Diana in the crypt before Stella intervened.
Verified motive
Emma acted from devotion to adoptive mother Stella and hatred of Diana, who had surrendered Emma at birth and taken the film role after which Stella's career collapsed. She recreated Stella's horror films while removing people connected to the old secret, then chose the film Diana had taken as the pattern for Diana's intended death.
Verified important clue
Archive case 93 · checked 17 September 2026The photograph revealing Diana as Emma's biological motherThe image preserves the family secret Eve intended to publish and Colin inherited with her book. Emma's attempt to destroy it connects both writers' deaths to the truth she feared would displace Stella as her mother.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 93 · checked 25 September 2026The dated publicity photograph and Emma's attempt to destroy itThe photograph from February 1970 preserves the concealed family relationship behind Eve's planned book. Emma's need to destroy it after Eve and Colin discover that Diana is her birth mother links the two writers' deaths to the secret she was protecting; the film-themed scenes are staging, not separate offenders.
Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 93 · checked 16 September 2026- discoveryA concealed family history drives the case
Diana Davenport is Emma's birth mother, while Stella Harris raised Emma after losing the film role that made Diana famous.
- deathEve Lomax is killed
Emma starts recreating Stella's horror films while removing people connected with the old secret.
- deathCy Davenport is killed
Emma continues the film-patterned sequence and closes another route to the truth about Diana.
- deathColin Yule is killed
A third death extends the pattern and the effort to protect Emma's account of her family.
- discoveryEmma stages an attack on herself
The staged incident is intended to divert suspicion while the horror-film references identify the structure of the crimes.
- discoveryThe crypt attack is stopped
Emma tries to kill Diana using the film role Diana took from Stella, but Stella intervenes and the full motive is exposed.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
St Mary's Church
Used as: The church represents the parish church in Midsomer Langley.
Portland Place
Used as: The cottage becomes Stella Harris's home.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Littlewick Green village green
Used as: The green hosts the fictional Stella Harris Film Festival tent and screening.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Village farm
Used as: The farm appears as Warden Organics.
Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas