Case file · Series 10, Episode 4
The Axeman Cometh
A veteran rock band reunites at the Midsomer Rocks festival before its singer is electrocuted in front of the crowd.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
Suzi Quatro fronts an affectionate rock-industry mystery with a spectacular public opening murder.
- Best for
- Rock festival · Band reunion · Stage electrocution
- 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
Suzi Quatro fronts an affectionate rock-industry mystery with a spectacular public opening murder.
A veteran rock band reunites at the Midsomer Rocks festival before its singer is electrocuted in front of the crowd.
Midsomer Rocks welcomes the re-formed Hired Gun, a band whose friendships have not aged as gracefully as its back catalogue. Singer Mimi Clifton is electrocuted on stage, turning a nostalgia booking into a murder inquiry witnessed by an entire festival crowd.
As other members are targeted, Barnaby and Jones reconstruct the band's original break-up, the disappearance of guitarist Ginger Foxton and the commercial interests surrounding the reunion. Jones also encounters medical examiner Simon Dixon for the first time.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The attacks are rooted in the band's unresolved history and in what really happened to the missing Ginger Foxton. The highly visible stage death disguises a plan driven by much older loyalties.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 10
- Episode number
- Episode 4
- Written by
- Michael Aitkens
- Directed by
- Renny Rye
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 2 February 2007
- Reported filming period
- August–September 2006
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Badger's Drift
- 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 2 broader filming areas and 2 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger9 episodes credited to Michael Aitkens
- Director ledger23 episodes directed by Renny Rye
- Release positionCase 55 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Rock festival · Band reunion
- Location evidence2 exact screen-use matches
Long Crendon Manor appears as the home called Badger's Hall; a neighbouring property supplies the Harcourt family home.
Chesham Market Square and a local pub provide the festival-town exteriors.
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.
Suzi Quatro
Published cast record ↗James Cosmo
Published cast record ↗Phil Davis
Published cast record ↗Michael Angelis
Published cast record ↗Sam Hazeldine
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
2 source rows represent 2 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Mimi Clifton
Murder · Electrocution
- Nicky Harding
Murder · Poisoning
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Long Crendon Manor
Used as: The property returns under the fictional identity Badger's Hall.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
Market Square
Used as: The square supplies the town exteriors around the Midsomer Rocks festival.
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
Chesham
The old town, church, market square and shops have doubled for Causton and several fictional villages.
Open location →Long Crendon
Manor houses, the old courthouse, village streets and pubs have supplied country houses, bookshops and competing villages.
Open location →