Case file · Series 4, Episode 6
Tainted Fruit
A wealthy young woman's hostility leaves Barnaby with a crowded suspect list when she is killed using stolen barbiturates.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The victim has offended almost everyone, but the case is less about popularity than the power to control land, work and private lives.
- Best for
- Country estate · Blackmail · Privilege
- Mood
- Dark
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Gavin Troy
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
The victim has offended almost everyone, but the case is less about popularity than the power to control land, work and private lives.
A wealthy young woman's hostility leaves Barnaby with a crowded suspect list when she is killed using stolen barbiturates.
Melissa Townsend is found dead after an injection of barbiturates stolen from the local veterinary surgery. Her conduct towards tenants, employees and neighbours has produced threats, grievances and a large number of plausible motives.
A fatal apparent accident and another barbiturate killing on a tennis court force Barnaby and Troy to test stories involving blackmail, privilege and intimate betrayal. The Townsend estate connects the social conflicts, but not always in the way Melissa's enemies assume.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The murders silence people who can expose overlapping relationships and blackmail; Melissa's many enemies obscure the smaller circle with the most to lose.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 4
- Episode number
- Episode 6
- Written by
- Peter J. Hammond
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 23 September 2001
- Reported filming period
- May–June 2001
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Gavin Troy
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Malham
- Casebook tone
- Dark
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 3 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 19 of 144
- Story characterDark · Country estate · Blackmail
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
Newington House near Wallingford stands in for the Townsends' imposing Midsomer Malham home.
St John the Baptist at Little Marlow represents the parish church; Long Crendon's Church House supplies the village shop.
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.
Lucy Punch
Published cast record ↗Ellie Haddington
Published cast record ↗Claire Price
Published cast record ↗Adrian Rawlins
Published cast record ↗Benjamin Whitrow
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
Daniel Casey
Gavin Troy · Detective Sergeant · later InspectorAn English stage and television actor also known for Our Friends in the North, Steel River Blues, EastEnders and Emmerdale. He later returned to the Midsomer world to play Tom Barnaby in the first professional stage adaptation.
- Our Friends in the North
- Steel River Blues
- Midsomer Murders on stage
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
- Melissa Townsend
Murder · Poisoning
- Adam Keyne
Murder · Fall
- Raif Kenning
Murder · Poisoning
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Church House
Used as: The historic building is used as Midsomer Malham's village shop.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
St John the Baptist Church
Used as: The church represents the parish church in fictional Midsomer Malham.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
Newington House
Used as: The house stands in for the Townsend family's manor.
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
Long Crendon
Manor houses, the old courthouse, village streets and pubs have supplied country houses, bookshops and competing villages.
Open location →Little Marlow
The village green, church, pub and houses have portrayed Morton Fendle and other compact Midsomer communities.
Open location →Wallingford
One of the principal doubles for Causton, with its Corn Exchange, riverside and civic streets appearing repeatedly.
Open location →