Case file · Series 9, Episode 4 · Season 9, Episode 4
Down Among the Dead Men
A council clerk is shot through his kitchen window, and his blackmail archive sends Barnaby and Joyce to the coast.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
A rare Devon excursion broadens a village blackmail case into a story of shipwreck treasure and carefully concealed identity.
- Best for
- Blackmail · Seaside trail · Hidden identity
- Mood
- Dark
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DC 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
A rare Devon excursion broadens a village blackmail case into a story of shipwreck treasure and carefully concealed identity.
Council employee Martin Barrett is shot while entertaining a mystery visitor. Barnaby and Jones discover a store of compromising photographs and conclude that Barrett had turned his access to local lives into an organised blackmail business.
The trail takes Barnaby and Joyce to Fennacombe Bay, where marine history, a fishing family and the wreck of the Harlequin complicate the list of blackmail victims. The killer remains visible throughout but is protected by the assumptions attached to an apparently ordinary role.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
Barrett's archive reveals many motives but also hides the visitor's identity in plain sight. Barnaby's coastal inquiry exposes the relationship between the blackmail, a family secret and the old wreck story.
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 and Fennacombe Bay 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 DC 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 9
- Episode number
- Episode 4
- Written by
- Douglas Watkinson
- Directed by
- Renny Rye
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 12 March 2006
- Reported filming period
- August–September 2005
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DC Ben Jones
- 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 1 broader filming area and 4 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits7 episodes credited to Douglas Watkinson
- Director credits23 episodes directed by Renny Rye
- Release positionCase 47 of 144
- Story characterDark · Blackmail · Seaside trail
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
Beer and Branscombe in Devon provide the fishmonger's, jetty and coastal picnic settings.
A bridge at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is used when Barnaby and Jones inspect the tracks below.
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
Down Among the Dead Men 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
Christine Kavanagh
Polly Hemingway
Julia McKenzie
Paul Freeman
Frank Mills
Grant Masters
Dermot Crowley
Derek Hutchinson
Rebecca Lamb
Sam Kelly
Duncan Clyde
Charlotte Emmerson
Rob Edwards
Arthur Kohn
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
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
1 person dies in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Martin Barrett
Murder · Gunshot
Performer check- Martin Barrett: Grant Masters
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killer
Peter HatchardPeter shot Martin Barrett in revenge for informing on their people-smuggling operation, then planted the weapon at the Florians' cottage. The Florians' wreck-smuggling scheme and the attacks on Sir John Waverley are separate crimes rather than further murder attributions.
Verified motive
Peter killed Martin in retaliation for informing the authorities about Peter's people-smuggling operation, then planted the weapon to direct suspicion towards the Florians.
Verified important clue
Archive case 47 · checked 16 September 2026The matching lead shot in Peter Hatchard's rabbitsForensic comparison finds the shot in two rabbits Peter supplied is exactly the same mixture that killed Martin Barrett, linking Peter's ammunition to the shooting after his denials and separating that murder from the Florians' own crimes.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 47 · checked 17 September 2026The matching lead shot in Peter Hatchard's rabbitsForensic comparison finds that the shot in two rabbits Peter supplied has exactly the same mixture as the ammunition that killed Martin. The match defeats Peter's denials and planted-gun frame, identifying him as the shooter while preserving the Florians' wreck-smuggling and other attacks as separate crimes.
Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 47 · checked 16 September 2026- deathMartin Barrett is shot
Peter shoots Martin through his kitchen window after the former trafficker's return threatens to revive their shared criminal past.
- discoveryMartin's blackmail archive broadens the inquiry
The photographs expose many local secrets and possible motives without identifying the physical killer.
- discoveryThe trail reaches Fennacombe Bay
A receipt and the Florians' coastal history show that Martin visited Peter's fish stall despite Peter's denial.
- discoveryThe weapon is found at the Florians' cottage
Peter plants the gun to divert suspicion towards the family and their separate wreck-smuggling scheme.
- discoveryThe old trafficking case supplies the motive
Records show that Martin informed on Peter's people-smuggling operation, leading to Peter's imprisonment in Hong Kong.
- discoveryBallistics identify Peter
The shot in Peter's rabbits matches the ammunition that killed Martin, exposing the shooting and the planted weapon.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Fishing hut and boat jetty
Used as: The hut becomes the Hatchards' Fennacombe Bay fishmonger's and the jetty starts the boat pursuit.
Branscombe beach
Used as: The bay hosts Tom and Joyce Barnaby's seaside picnic.
The Plough
Used as: The pub appears as the local in Midsomer Worthy.
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre bridge
Used as: The bridge is used when Barnaby and Jones inspect the tracks below.
Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas
