Case file · Series 12, Episode 6
The Creeper
A celebrated cat burglar raids Midsomer while a writer planning to expose the Chettham family is smothered on their estate.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The theft mystery and murder inquiry overlap without becoming the same puzzle, giving Barnaby two kinds of secrecy to untangle.
- Best for
- Cat burglar · Country estate · Family secrets
- Mood
- Classic
- 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 theft mystery and murder inquiry overlap without becoming the same puzzle, giving Barnaby two kinds of secrecy to untangle.
A celebrated cat burglar raids Midsomer while a writer planning to expose the Chettham family is smothered on their estate.
The elusive Creeper carries out two daring burglaries in one night. On the Chettham estate, writer David Roper is then found smothered; he had been preparing a book that threatened to disclose damaging episodes in the family's past.
A second person who knew the Chetthams is shot in woodland, raising the stakes beyond stolen valuables. Barnaby and Jones must identify the burglar while also determining who fears publication enough to kill.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The burglaries provide access and confusion, while the murders protect a Chettham family history intended for Roper's book. Barnaby separates the thief's aims from the killer's.
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 6
- Written by
- Andrew Payne
- Directed by
- Renny Rye
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 27 September 2009 27 January 2010
- Reported filming period
- February–March 2009
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Chettham Park
- 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 0 broader filming areas and 2 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger11 episodes credited to Andrew Payne
- Director ledger23 episodes directed by Renny Rye
- Release positionCase 72 of 144
- Story characterClassic · Cat burglar · Country estate
- Location evidence2 exact screen-use matches
Polesden Lacey in Surrey supplies the principal country-house setting.
The Creeper's identity and the family murders intersect, but the episode treats motive and opportunity as separate questions.
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.
Rik Mayall
David Roper is part of the wealthy social circle unsettled by a burglar known as the Creeper. Mayall's performance brings abrasive comic energy to a case already full of status anxiety and family friction.
Open actor profile →.jpg?width=720)
Jenny Agutter
Lady Isobel Chettham is a poised member of the landed family targeted by the Creeper. Agutter gives the household an effortless sense of history while the investigation exposes its more immediate pressures.
Open actor profile →Julian Wadham
Published cast record ↗Nickolas Grace
Published cast record ↗George Costigan
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
- David Roper
Murder · Poisoning
- Dr. Sylvia Goring
Murder · Gunshot
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Polesden Lacey
Used as: The National Trust house becomes Chettham Park House.
Albury Park
Used as: The estate appears as a Scottish Highlands manor in the closing sequence.
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
No real-place link is published here until it can be tied to a specific, sourced screen use.