Case file · Series 19, Episode 4
Red in Tooth & Claw
A summer pet show is disrupted when a local estate agent is found dead in a marquee surrounded by prize rabbits.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The show ring offers classic Midsomer spectacle while ownership, breeding and property give almost everybody something to guard.
- Best for
- Pet show · Prize animals · Estate agency
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI John Barnaby with DS Jamie Winter
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
The show ring offers classic Midsomer spectacle while ownership, breeding and property give almost everybody something to guard.
A summer pet show is disrupted when a local estate agent is found dead in a marquee surrounded by prize rabbits.
Bellville's annual pet show brings breeders, owners and campaigners into one competitive marquee. Estate agent Seb Huntington is found murdered among live rabbits, making his property dealings and his connection to the show immediate lines of inquiry.
Barnaby and Winter test theories involving animal-rights activism, a missing prize animal and personal resentments among exhibitors. The cheerful event masks conflicts about inheritance, control and the value assigned to both animals and land.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The pet-show disputes provide several plausible motives, but the solution depends on family control and a concealed relationship rather than animal activism alone.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 19
- Episode number
- Episode 4
- Written by
- Lisa Holdsworth
- Directed by
- Steve Hughes
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 18 January 2017
- Reported filming period
- August–September 2016
- Detective
- DCI John Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Jamie Winter
- Pathologist
- Dr Kam Karimore · Manjinder Virk
- Principal setting
- Bellville
- 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 1 exact on-screen site identity.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger4 episodes credited to Lisa Holdsworth
- Director ledger1 episode directed by Steve Hughes
- Release positionCase 114 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Pet show · Prize animals
- Location evidence1 exact screen-use match
Little Orchard at Long Crendon appears as the offices of Eden Moss Estate Agents.
The published filming reference identifies the agency but not a dependable real-world match for the pet-show marquee, so the Casebook leaves that site open.
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.
Amit Shah
Published cast record ↗Aisling Loftus
Published cast record ↗Susan Hampshire
Published cast record ↗Steve Pemberton
Published cast record ↗Michael Obiora
Published cast record ↗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
Manjinder Virk
Dr Kam Karimore · Police pathologistA British actor, writer and director known for The Arbor, Britz and Trigger Point. Her filmmaking work includes the award-winning short Out of Darkness, which she wrote and directed.
- The Arbor
- Trigger Point
- Out of Darkness
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 Kam Karimore
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Manjinder Virk
Exceptionally capable and forthright, Kam works across the transition from Charlie Nelson to Jamie Winter.
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
- Seb Huntington
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
- Cleo Langton
Murder · Suffocation
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
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