Case file · Series 8, Episode 6
Hidden Depths
A solicitor falls from his roof, a neighbour disappears and missing client money leads to a murder by medieval catapult.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The catapult tableau and wine-cellar climax make this one of Midsomer's most cheerfully excessive pieces of machinery.
- Best for
- Missing money · Wine fraud · Medieval catapult
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Dan Scott
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
The catapult tableau and wine-cellar climax make this one of Midsomer's most cheerfully excessive pieces of machinery.
A solicitor falls from his roof, a neighbour disappears and missing client money leads to a murder by medieval catapult.
Solicitor Nick Turner apparently takes his own life by walking from his roof on the same day neighbour Jack Wilmot disappears. Barnaby and Scott learn that a large sum is missing from a client account and that Turner's professional rivals have reasons to watch the fallout closely.
An elaborate killing involving a working model of a medieval catapult broadens the case, while wine investment offers another route for money to vanish behind specialist language. The detectives eventually find themselves locked inside a neglected cellar with the fraud's physical evidence.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The apparent suicide, missing neighbour and investment scheme are parts of one financial deception. The theatrical killings punish and silence people according to their place in it.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 8
- Episode number
- Episode 6
- Written by
- David Hoskins
- Directed by
- Sarah Hellings
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 13 March 2005
- Reported filming period
- November–December 2004
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Dan Scott
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Magna
- 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 ledger9 episodes credited to David Hoskins
- Director ledger13 episodes directed by Sarah Hellings
- Release positionCase 41 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Missing money · Wine fraud
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
A former bank building in Beaconsfield represents the Causton branch of the Shires Bank.
A cottage in Little Milton is used as the office of Morgan's Estate Agents.
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.
Nancy Carroll
Published cast record ↗Oliver Ford Davies
Published cast record ↗Robert Daws
Published cast record ↗Sara Kestelman
Published cast record ↗Matthew Flynn
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
John Hopkins
Dan Scott · Detective SergeantAn English actor with extensive stage, screen and voice work. His credits include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Poldark and Alice in Wonderland, as well as prominent game performances in Horizon, Hitman and Assassin's Creed.
- Royal Shakespeare Company
- Poldark
- Horizon game series
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
- Jack Wilmot
Murder · Crushing
- Otton Benham
Murder · Poisoning
- Mike Spicer
Murder · Drowning
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Former bank building
Used as: The building becomes the Causton branch of the Shires Bank.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.The Crown Inn
Used as: The pub represents Midsomer Magna's village local.
Village cottage
Used as: The cottage becomes Morgan's Estate Agents.
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