Case file · Series 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. This is not a complete content advisory.
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 ranger vanishes after encountering strange lights at a UFO hotspot, leading the investigation towards a nearby RAF base.
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.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- 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 ledger6 episodes credited to Paul Logue
- Director ledger23 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
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.
Pip Torrens
Published cast record ↗Steve Toussaint
Published cast record ↗Michelle Collins
Published cast record ↗Alison Steadman
Published cast record ↗Tanya Fear
Published cast record ↗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 source rows represent 4 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Felicity Ward
Murder · Drowning
- Ali
Murder · Strangulation or hanging
- Carter Faulkner
Murder · Other recorded death
- Eric Tonev
Murder · Other recorded death · historical or before the main case
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.
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.