Case file · Series 18, Episode 2 · Season 18, Episode 2
The Incident at Cooper Hill
A ranger vanishes after encountering strange lights at a UFO hotspot, leading the investigation towards a nearby RAF base.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
Alien folklore gives the case its glow, but the real secrecy belongs to military research and relationships maintained on the ground.
- Best for
- UFO sightings · RAF base · Secret research
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI John Barnaby with DS Charlie Nelson
- 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
Alien folklore gives the case its glow, but the real secrecy belongs to military research and relationships maintained on the ground.
A forest ranger is stopped by unexplained lights above Cooper Hill and disappears from her vehicle. Visiting UFO enthusiasts regard the incident as confirmation of extraterrestrial activity, but the discovery of her body forces Barnaby and Nelson to test a more human explanation.
The trail reaches RAF Cooper Hill, where covert aerial-surveillance work and personal links between base personnel and villagers have been concealed for more than twenty years. The strange lights are only one part of a history shaped by affairs, betrayal and institutional secrecy.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The apparent close encounter is bound to secret surveillance work and relationships dating back decades, giving the killer both a technical cover story and an old grievance.
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 18
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- Paul Logue
- Directed by
- Renny Rye
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 13 January 2016
- Reported filming period
- April–May 2015
- Detective
- DCI John Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Charlie Nelson
- Pathologist
- Dr Kam Karimore · Manjinder Virk
- Principal setting
- Cooper Hill
- 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 0 broader filming areas and 5 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits6 episodes credited to Paul Logue
- Director credits23 episodes directed by Renny Rye
- Release positionCase 106 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · UFO sightings · RAF base
- Location evidence5 exact screen-use matches
RAF Benson appears as fictional RAF Cooper Hill; the former RAF Daws Hill site supplies the bunker.
The Crown Inn at Benson appears as the village pub, and its garden is used for the Tonev garage.
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 Incident at Cooper Hill cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Fiona Dolman
Pip Torrens
Alison Steadman
Steve Evets
Lee Armstrong
Steve Toussaint
Tanya Fear
Sian Webber
Michelle Collins
Steve Oram
Belinda McGinley
Jennie Dale
Sheena Bhattessa
Alister Austin
The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
Neil Dudgeon
John Barnaby · Detective Chief InspectorAn English actor whose television work before Causton included Piece of Cake, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, Messiah and the sitcom Life of Riley. He also appeared in Midsomer Murders years earlier as a different character in Garden of Death.
- Messiah
- Life of Riley
- The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
Gwilym Lee
Charlie Nelson · Detective SergeantA British actor whose screen career includes Jamestown, The Great and Top End Wedding. International audiences may know him best as Queen guitarist Brian May in the film Bohemian Rhapsody.
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- The Great
- Jamestown
Manjinder Virk
Dr Kam Karimore · Police pathologistA British actor, writer and director known for The Arbor, Britz and Trigger Point. Her filmmaking work includes the award-winning short Out of Darkness, which she wrote and directed.
- The Arbor
- Trigger Point
- Out of Darkness
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 Kam Karimore
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Manjinder Virk
Exceptionally capable and forthright, Kam works across the transition from Charlie Nelson to Jamie Winter.
Meet the Casebook pathologists →Spoiler-controlled deaths desk
Deaths recorded in this case
4 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Felicity Ford
Murder · Drowning
Performer check- Felicity Ford: Belinda McGinleyThe earlier synopsis-derived ledger printed Felicity Ward; the published cast record supports Felicity Ford, used here.
- Sgt. Yasmin Ali
Murder · Strangulation or hanging
Performer check- Sgt. Yasmin Ali: Sheena BhattessaThe earlier ledger used only the surname Ali; the published cast record supplies the rank and given name.
- Carter Faulkner
Murder · Other recorded death
Performer check- Carter Faulkner: Steve Evets
- Eric Tonev
Murder · Other recorded death · historical or before the main case
Performer check- Eric Tonev: not listed in the current published cast recordNo Eric Tonev performer appears in the current published cast record; Abigail and Nathan Tonev are different characters.
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killers
Abigail Tonev · Nathan TonevAbigail killed her husband Eric Tonev with a rock after he tried to leave her. Their son Nathan later killed Felicity Ford to protect that secret, killed Sgt. Yasmin Ali while moving Eric's body and killed Carter Faulkner because he witnessed the resin disposal; Nathan's attempted murder-suicide with Abigail was stopped.
Verified motive
Abigail killed Eric when he tried to leave her, then concealed his body. Years later Nathan killed Felicity to stop her reporting the grave and protect his mother, killed Yasmin when she encountered him moving Eric's body and killed Carter because he witnessed the resin disposal; his final plan was to reunite the family in death rather than face their exposure.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 106 · checked 25 September 2026Eric Tonev's grave and Nathan's childhood memoryThe recovered body breaks the story that Eric ran away, and Nathan remembers Abigail returning bloodied on the night Eric meant to leave her. Felicity found the grave, so Nathan killed her to protect his mother, then killed Ali during the body's move and Faulkner when he saw the resin disposal. Abigail's older killing is distinct.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
RAF Benson
Used as: The active station appears as fictional RAF Cooper Hill.
The Crown Inn
Used as: The inn appears under the same name in Cooper Hill.
The Crown garden
Used as: The pub garden is redressed as the Tonev family's garage.
Former RAF Daws Hill
Used as: The former military site supplies the story's secret bunker.
St Mark's Hospital
Used as: The real hospital appears as the hospital used during the investigation.
Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
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.