Case file · Series 7, Episode 1
The Green Man
The collapse of a canal tunnel uncovers human remains and disturbs the solitary life of a local woodsman.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
A melancholy mystery and Gavin Troy's final regular case.
- Best for
- Canal · Buried past · Troy farewell
- 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
A melancholy mystery and Gavin Troy's final regular case.
The collapse of a canal tunnel uncovers human remains and disturbs the solitary life of a local woodsman.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
A decades-old death and a new campaign of intimidation converge around the tunnel and its vulnerable witness.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 7
- Episode number
- Episode 1
- Written by
- Michael Russell
- Directed by
- Sarah Hellings
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 2 November 2003
- Reported filming period
- May–June 2003
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Gavin Troy
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Worthy
- 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 0 broader filming areas and 1 exact on-screen site identity.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger5 episodes credited to Michael Russell
- Director ledger13 episodes directed by Sarah Hellings
- Release positionCase 29 of 144
- Story characterDark · Canal · Buried past
- Location evidence1 exact screen-use match
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.
Henry Cavill
Simon Mayfield is a young villager connected to the tensions surrounding woodland, development and the return of a troubled local man. It is an early screen appearance from Cavill, made before his international leading roles.
Open actor profile →.jpg?width=720)
David Bradley
Tom is a solitary man associated with the woods and the old local stories surrounding them. Bradley gives the role a guarded humanity that keeps the character from becoming merely an eccentric clue.
Open actor profile →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
4 source rows represent 4 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Eric Edwards (historical)
Murder · Other recorded death · historical or before the main case
- Simon Mayfield
Murder · Gunshot
- Stephen Curtis
Murder · Gunshot
- Lillian Webster
Murder · Gunshot
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Sapperton Canal Tunnel
Used as: The disused canal tunnel becomes the Midsomer Canal tunnel uncovered during the restoration project.
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.