Case file · Series 10, Episode 2 · Season 10, Episode 2
The Animal Within
An Australian niece arrives to visit a wealthy uncle and learns that his friends have already been told she died in a plane crash.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The case turns a circle of apparently devoted friends into rival narrators of one man's estate.
- Best for
- Conflicting wills · River death · False report
- Mood
- Classic
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Ben Jones
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. Check the linked provider advisory for further viewing information.
Why it matters
The case turns a circle of apparently devoted friends into rival narrators of one man's estate.
Faith Alexander travels from Australia to surprise her uncle, photographer Rex Masters, only to discover that Rex has reported her death in an aircraft disaster. Before she can demand an explanation, Rex is found in the river beside his house at Bellville Lock.
The inquiry uncovers a remarkable collection of wills, each apparently leaving the whole estate to a different friend. Barnaby and Jones must decide which promises Rex meant, which were performances, and why a living niece was removed from the story before her plane had even landed.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The contradictory wills are deliberate provocations rather than simple legal confusion. Rex's treatment of the people around him—and an older family grievance—gives the killer both motive and opportunity.
Spoiler-safe viewing companion
Three questions to carry into the episode
Use these spoiler-safe prompts to notice the setting, the investigation and the details that may matter.
- Place
How does Bellville shape what people say openly, delay, or leave unsaid?
- Theme
Which details seem to carry more than one meaning, and what might be a red herring?
- Teamwork
Compare how DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Ben Jones gather information: who watches the room, and who presses the conversation forward?
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 10
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- David Hoskins
- Directed by
- Renny Rye
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 19 January 2007
- Reported filming period
- June–July 2006
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Bellville
- Casebook tone
- Classic
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 2 broader filming areas and 3 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits9 episodes credited to David Hoskins
- Director credits23 episodes directed by Renny Rye
- Release positionCase 53 of 144
- Story characterClassic · Conflicting wills · River death
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
Hambleden Lock and its lock keeper's cottage create Rex Masters's waterside home and the principal crime-scene setting.
Village houses supply the Carnack home, Jeremy Thacker's cottage and the Mama Lucy Museum.
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
The Animal Within cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Jane Wymark
Adam Farr
Samuel West
Linda Bassett
David Troughton
Richard Johnson
William Hope
Emily Woof
Lisa Eichhorn
Freda Dowie
John Cater
Helen Masters
Malcolm Stoddard
Roger Bingham
Maggie Holland
Mae Wright
The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
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
3 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Rex Masters
Murder · Drowning
Performer check- Rex Masters: Richard Johnson
- Miles King/Eileen Carnack×2
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Miles King: David Troughton
- Eileen Carnack: Linda Bassett
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killer
Jeremy ThackerJeremy drowned Rex Masters to stop photographs of his mother reaching the press, then killed Miles King when Miles pursued the evidence. Eileen Carnack died in the same attack as Miles and is treated as Jeremy's third victim rather than part of the inheritance dispute.
Verified motive
Jeremy killed Rex to stop humiliating photographs of his mother being published and protect her reputation. He killed Miles when Miles pursued the photographs and evidence of Jeremy's guilt; Eileen died in the same attack rather than from a separate inheritance motive.
Verified important clue
Archive case 53 · checked 16 September 2026Rex Masters's photographs of Lucinda ThackerThe images are the material Rex threatened to sell to the tabloids, replacing the inheritance theory with Jeremy's motive to protect his mother's reputation; the false alibi he offered Janet then serves his own movements as well as hers.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 53 · checked 17 September 2026Rex Masters's photographs of Lucinda ThackerThe images are what Rex threatened to sell to the tabloids, replacing the inheritance theory with Jeremy's motive to protect his mother's reputation. The false alibi he supplied for Janet then collapses against his own movements, exposing Rex's murder and the later joint attack on Miles and Eileen.
Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 53 · checked 16 September 2026- deathRex Masters is drowned
Jeremy kills Rex to stop photographs of Jeremy's mother reaching the press.
- discoveryThe inheritance dispute supplies a false route
The family will and competing claims initially make Rex's death appear tied to the estate.
- discoveryThe photographs reveal Jeremy's motive
The inquiry traces the compromising images and the reputational threat Jeremy was trying to suppress.
- deathMiles King and Eileen Carnack are killed
Jeremy kills Miles as Miles pursues the evidence, and Eileen dies in the same attack.
- discoveryThe false alibi collapses
Jan and Jeremy's account no longer fits the movement and evidence linking him to the deaths.
- discoveryJeremy confesses to the sequence
His account connects Rex and Miles to the photographs while keeping Eileen's death in the joint attack separate from the inheritance theory.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Hambleden Lock
Used as: The lock and river create Bellville Lock, where Rex Masters is found.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Hambleden Lock keeper's cottage
Used as: The waterside cottage represents Rex Masters's home.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
Village houses
Used as: Several properties become Eileen Carnack's home, Jeremy Thacker's cottage and the Mama Lucy Museum.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas
Places connected to this file
Hambleden
Its church, shop, mill and village streets appear in early cases, while much of Wild Harvest was filmed here.
Open location →Littlewick Green
Its green, Cricketers pub, church and village hall support episodes involving cricket, film, insects and scarecrows.
Open location →