Case file · Series 20, Episode 2 · Season 20, Episode 2
Death of the Small Coppers
A butterfly collector is displayed like one of his specimens, drawing Barnaby into an exclusive society for exceptional minds.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The series hides anniversary references throughout a murder staged with extravagant precision.
- Best for
- Butterflies · High-IQ society · Anniversary clues
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI John Barnaby with DS Jamie Winter
- 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 series hides anniversary references throughout a murder staged with extravagant precision.
Butterfly collector Mahesh Sidana is found fixed to a wall like one of his specimens. His membership of the elite Circulus society brings Barnaby and Winter into a competitive circle whose intellectual tests, personal rivalries and international connections all appear relevant to the elaborate display.
Further attacks repeat the imagery of trapped insects. The detectives receive help from a familiar overseas police contact while working out why the killer has chosen both the victims and the precise anniversary-themed staging.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The society's apparent intellectual contests conceal a personal history; the insect displays transform that grievance into a carefully controlled pattern.
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 20
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- Chris Murray
- Directed by
- Paul Harrison
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 1 June 2018 17 March 2019
- Reported filming period
- April–May 2017
- Detective
- DCI John Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Jamie Winter
- Pathologist
- Dr Fleur Perkins · Annette Badland
- Principal setting
- Little Crosby
- 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 3 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits6 episodes credited to Chris Murray
- Director credits1 episode directed by Paul Harrison
- Release positionCase 118 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Butterflies · High-IQ society
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
The production placed twenty references to earlier cases through the episode to mark the programme's twentieth-anniversary series.
Penn School becomes Circulus School, while The Cricketers at Littlewick Green appears as Little Crosby's local pub.
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 of the Small Coppers cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Fiona Dolman
Ann Eleonora Jørgensen
Mark Benton
John Light
Ellie Haddington
Chance Perdomo
Niamh McGrady
Thusita Jayasundera
Peter Egan
Ella Kenion
Ray Fearon
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
Nick Hendrix
Jamie Winter · Detective SergeantAn English actor trained at the University of Exeter and RADA. His theatre work includes the National Theatre, Old Vic and West End, while his screen credits include Black Mirror, Marcella, The Crown, Legend and Suffragette.
- Black Mirror
- Marcella
- The Crown
Annette Badland
Dr Fleur Perkins · Police pathologistAn award-winning English actor with an extensive career in theatre, television, film and radio. Her many recognisable roles include Doctor Who, EastEnders, Outlander, Bergerac and pub landlady Mae in Ted Lasso.
- Ted Lasso
- Doctor Who
- EastEnders
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 Fleur Perkins
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Annette Badland
Fleur pairs forensic certainty with dry humour and a magnificently low tolerance for Midsomer nonsense.
Meet the Casebook pathologists →Spoiler-controlled deaths desk
Deaths recorded in this case
2 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Mahesh Sidana
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Mahesh Sidana: not listed in the current published cast recordNo Mahesh Sidana performer appears in the current published cast record; Anika Sidana is a different character.
- Grady Palmerston
Murder · Electrocution
Performer check- Grady Palmerston: Peter Egan
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killers
Grady Palmerston · Leo ScottGrady pushed Anders Nisson from the Øresund Bridge after Anders discovered Circulus's espionage and the other founders concealed it. Leo later killed Mahesh Sidana and Grady while trying to remove the people and secrets he believed stood between his father Carlton and Penny Kingdom; his crossbow threat to Jamie was interrupted.
Verified motive
Grady killed Anders after Anders uncovered Circulus's use as a front for exchanging intelligence, then coerced the other founders into concealment by threatening to implicate them. Leo's later murders had a different motive: grief and a fixation on restoring the family bond he had felt with his father and Penny. He killed Mahesh because the planned dismissal could make Penny leave, killed Grady over the article that could ruin her, and targeted Jamie as another perceived rival.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
The Cricketers
Used as: The pub appears as the local in fictional Little Crosby.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Penn School
Used as: The school becomes Circulus School for the high-IQ society story.
The Deanery
Used as: The house stands in for Mahesh Sidana's home.
Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas