Case file · Series 8, Episode 5
Second Sight
A man used in experiments intended to test clairvoyance is found dead after a fight with his brother-in-law.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The case lets scientific certainty and village prophecy compete while family testimony remains unreliable on both sides.
- Best for
- Clairvoyance · Scientific experiment · Family feud
- 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 case lets scientific certainty and village prophecy compete while family testimony remains unreliable on both sides.
A man used in experiments intended to test clairvoyance is found dead after a fight with his brother-in-law.
John Ransom is thrown out of the Midsomer Mere pub after fighting with his brother-in-law and is later found dead on the green. His brother Max had used him as a subject in experiments designed to establish whether John possessed second sight.
Barnaby and Scott discover another family with a reputation for foreseeing events, including Little Mal Kirby's celebrated warning about a runaway lorry. The inquiry asks what was predicted, what was arranged and who benefited when the village confused the two.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The supposed visions mix coincidence, observation and deliberate manipulation. An older family grievance supplies the motive once Barnaby separates genuine warnings from events staged to fulfil them.
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 5
- Written by
- Tony Etchells
- Directed by
- Richard Holthouse
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 23 January 2005
- Reported filming period
- October–November 2004
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Dan Scott
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Mere
- 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 ledger2 episodes credited to Tony Etchells
- Director ledger16 episodes directed by Richard Holthouse
- Release positionCase 40 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Clairvoyance · Scientific experiment
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
Braziers Park at Ipsden represents Lower Midsomer Mere House.
The Six Bells at Warborough appears as the local pub in Midsomer Mere.
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.
Owen Teale
Published cast record ↗Joe Anderson
Published cast record ↗Will Keen
Published cast record ↗Alexandra Moen
Published cast record ↗Wanda Ventham
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
- John Ransom
Murder · Gunshot
- Dr. Gregory Ransom
Murder · Blunt force
- Max Ransom
Murder · Blunt force
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Braziers Park
Used as: The country house becomes Lower Midsomer Mere House.
Holy Trinity Church
Used as: The church represents Midsomer Mere Church.
Worminghall Village Hall
Used as: The hall is dressed as Midsomer Mere School.
The Six Bells
Used as: The pub appears as the local in Midsomer Mere.
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
Cookham Dean
The parish church appears in Habeas Corpus, while the wider Cookham area has supplied other village businesses.
Open location →
Long Crendon
Manor houses, the old courthouse, village streets and pubs have supplied country houses, bookshops and competing villages.
Open location →Warborough
Its broad green, cottages and Six Bells pub have portrayed several villages and supplied recurring community scenes.
Open location →