Case file · Series 12, Episode 5
Small Mercies
A man is found bound like Gulliver in a model village, beginning a case about families distorted by secrecy and scale.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The miniature setting produces an unforgettable opening image and a neat visual metaphor for people arranging other lives.
- Best for
- Model village · Gulliver tableau · Family links
- 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 miniature setting produces an unforgettable opening image and a neat visual metaphor for people arranging other lives.
A man is found bound like Gulliver in a model village, beginning a case about families distorted by secrecy and scale.
Model maker Bob Moss begins his morning inspection of the Little Worthy attraction and discovers Richard Tanner stabbed and tied down among the tiny buildings like Gulliver. Elderly owners Harriet and Hilary Compton preside over a village already closing for the season.
Further deaths lead Barnaby and Jones through the attraction's staff, local families and relationships hidden across generations. The model village is both a crime scene and a carefully controlled version of a community whose real connections refuse to stay miniature.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The Gulliver display reflects a killer attempting to control a family narrative. Barnaby uncovers concealed parentage and the generational link binding the victims together.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 12
- Episode number
- Episode 5
- Written by
- Peter J. Hammond
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 20 September 2009 28 October 2009
- Reported filming period
- November–December 2008
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Little Worthy
- 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 4 broader filming areas and 4 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger10 episodes credited to Peter J. Hammond
- Director ledger22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 71 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Model village · Gulliver tableau
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
Olivia Colman appears as Bernice, one of the residents drawn into the Little Worthy inquiry.
The Manor House in Little Missenden represents the home of the sisters who own the model village.
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.
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Margaret Tyzack
Published cast record ↗Caroline Blakiston
Published cast record ↗Abigail Thaw
Published cast record ↗Jesse Birdsall
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
4 source rows represent 4 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Richard Tanner
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
- Christa Palfrey
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
- Harriet Compton
Murder · Blunt force
- Mary (former Guardian of Bernice)
Accidental, natural or other · Other recorded death · historical or before the main case
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
The White Hart Hotel
Used as: The exterior appears as Little Worthy's hotel.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.The Pigeons Tea Room
Used as: The building becomes the Butterball Tea Room.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
The Manor House
Used as: The house represents the Compton family home.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
Village shop
Used as: A shopfront supplies the model village gift shop.
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
Beaconsfield
Old-town architecture, churches and nearby estates have supplied homes, police buildings and village streets throughout the run.
Open location →Dorchester-on-Thames
The abbey, museum, hotels and village streets provide a recurring mixture of grandeur and intimacy.
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 →Wallingford
One of the principal doubles for Causton, with its Corn Exchange, riverside and civic streets appearing repeatedly.
Open location →