Case file · Series 10, Episode 6
Picture of Innocence
A feud between traditional and digital photographers becomes personal when a man is strangled and the evidence points towards Barnaby.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The normally unflappable Barnaby must investigate from the margins after carefully manufactured photographs remove him from the case.
- Best for
- Photography · Framed detective · Technology feud
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Ben Jones
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
The normally unflappable Barnaby must investigate from the margins after carefully manufactured photographs remove him from the case.
A feud between traditional and digital photographers becomes personal when a man is strangled and the evidence points towards Barnaby.
Traditional photographer Lionel Bell is found strangled with the cord from a light meter after a public quarrel between darkroom loyalists and digital converts. Photographic evidence appears to place Barnaby at the centre of the crime, and DI Martin Spellman is brought in to replace him.
Unable to accept the neat visual record, Barnaby works unofficially while Jones negotiates divided loyalties. Cameras, timestamps and manipulation become investigative evidence, but the emotional cause lies inside relationships that existed before the village chose sides over technology.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The images used against Barnaby have been engineered. By proving how the photographic record was manipulated, he uncovers a private campaign of revenge concealed inside the analogue-versus-digital feud.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 10
- Episode number
- Episode 6
- Written by
- Andrew Payne
- Directed by
- Richard Holthouse
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 3 June 2007
- Reported filming period
- November–December 2006
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Luxton Deeping
- 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 3 broader filming areas and 4 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger11 episodes credited to Andrew Payne
- Director ledger16 episodes directed by Richard Holthouse
- Release positionCase 57 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Photography · Framed detective
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
Great Haseley Village Hall provides the exhibition venue where the two photographic camps collide.
A Thame shop becomes Caspar Rose's photographic business, with other town buildings supplying Lionel Bell's home and the coffee bar.
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.
Adrian Scarborough
Published cast record ↗Richard Lintern
Published cast record ↗Liza Goddard
Published cast record ↗Montserrat Lombard
Published cast record ↗Andrew Tiernan
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
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
2 source rows represent 2 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Lionel Bell
Murder · Strangulation or hanging
- Steve Bright
Murder · Strangulation or hanging
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Great Haseley Village Hall
Used as: The hall becomes the venue for the village photography exhibition.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
Village house
Used as: The house represents digital photographer Steve Bright's home.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
High Street shopfront
Used as: The shop becomes Caspar Rose's photographic business.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.High Street house and tearoom
Used as: Nearby buildings supply Lionel Bell's home and the photographers' coffee bar.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.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
Places connected to this file
Great Haseley
Its village hall, church, pub and cottages repeatedly become community venues across different Midsomer villages.
Open location →Little Missenden
A recurring village double whose streets, church, manor and Red Lion helped establish the look of Badger's Drift and later communities.
Open location →Thame
A versatile Causton and village backdrop whose town hall, museum, shops and surrounding estates take many identities.
Open location →