Case file · Series 16, Episode 5 · Season 16, Episode 5
The Killings of Copenhagen
The hundredth case links a poisoned biscuit, a Badger's Drift company and a murder inquiry in Copenhagen.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The programme marks case 100 by taking Barnaby abroad without abandoning a properly tangled Midsomer family business.
- Best for
- 100th episode · Denmark · International case
- Archive category
- Landmark
- 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
The programme marks case 100 by taking Barnaby abroad without abandoning a properly tangled Midsomer family business.
Calder's Biscuits chairman Eric Calder is murdered during a trip to Copenhagen after eating biscuits poisoned with strychnine. Because the package was sent from Badger's Drift, Barnaby and Nelson join Danish detectives Birgitte Poulsen and Anna Degn to trace a case that moves between the Calder factory and Copenhagen.
The investigation reaches into the company's ownership, a valuable family recipe and connections formed long before the present business trip. The two police teams compare evidence across countries while the Calder family and its associates offer carefully edited accounts of who profited from the brand's success.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The poisoned gift connects the Calder fortune to the disputed origins of its signature recipe. Barnaby and the Copenhagen team uncover an older act of exploitation whose consequences cross both the family and the business.
Spoiler-safe viewing companion
Three questions to carry into the episode
Use these spoiler-safe prompts to notice the setting, the investigation and the details that may matter.
- Place
How does Badger's Drift and Copenhagen shape what people say openly, delay, or leave unsaid?
- Theme
Which details seem to carry more than one meaning, and what might be a red herring?
- Teamwork
Compare how DCI John Barnaby and DS Charlie Nelson gather information: who watches the room, and who presses the conversation forward?
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 16
- Episode number
- Episode 5
- Written by
- Paul Logue
- Directed by
- Alex Pillai
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 12 February 2014
- Reported filming period
- September–October 2013
- Detective
- DCI John Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Charlie Nelson
- Pathologist
- Dr Kate Wilding · Tamzin Malleson
- Principal setting
- Badger's Drift
- Casebook tone
- Landmark
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 8 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits6 episodes credited to Paul Logue
- Director credits7 episodes directed by Alex Pillai
- Release positionCase 100 of 144
- Story characterLandmark · 100th episode · Denmark
- Location evidence8 exact screen-use matches
This is the programme's 100th released feature-length episode and its first investigation filmed substantially outside the United Kingdom.
The episode includes the first appearance of John and Sarah Barnaby's daughter, Betty.
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 Killings of Copenhagen cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Fiona Dolman
Ann Eleonora Jørgensen
Poppy Drayton
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen
Joanna Scanlan
Adrian Lukis
Sanjeev Bhaskar
Richard Cordery
Nicholas Jones
Caroline Goodall
Jonathan Barnwell
Nicolaj Kopernikus
Julie Agnete Vang
Marcus Hutton
Marie Askehave
Thomas Thoroe
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
Tamzin Malleson
Dr Kate Wilding · Police pathologistAn English actor whose best-known television work includes Dangerfield, Teachers, the medical drama Bodies and Unforgotten. She has also appeared in Poirot, Marcella and A Touch of Frost.
- Teachers
- Bodies
- Unforgotten
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 Kate Wilding
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Tamzin Malleson
Bullard's assured, no-nonsense successor combines forensic authority with a more informal chemistry around the John Barnaby team.
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
- Eric Calder
Murder · Poisoning
Performer check- Eric Calder: Marcus Hutton
- Julian Calder
Murder · Suffocation
Performer check- Julian Calder: Adrian Lukis
- Atticus Bradley
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Atticus Bradley: Richard Cordery
- Ernest Bradley
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Ernest Bradley: Nicholas JonesThe episode synopsis names Ernest Bradley; the published cast record spells the credited character ‘Earnest Bradley’. The differing source forms are retained and disclosed.
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Verified killer
Clara TroutClara poisoned Eric Calder, killed Julian Calder and stabbed Ernest and Atticus Bradley after learning how the Calder business had taken credit for her mother Agnes's recipe. Her attempted killing of Armand Stone in the factory ovens was stopped; Agnes's earlier death after a long illness remains separate.
Verified motive
Clara wanted public recognition and retribution for her mother Agnes, whose Golden Clusters recipe had been taken while others received the acclaim. She killed the Calders and targeted Armand as beneficiaries of that theft, then killed the Bradleys because they treated Agnes's legacy as something they could sell back to her for money.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 100 · checked 25 September 2026The torn recipe pages in Eric Calder's keepsake bookThe missing pages point to Agnes Trout's original Golden Clusters recipe and the deal that transferred credit to the Calder business. That connection exposes Clara's grievance and links the Calder and Bradley killings to her campaign for her mother's recognition, while Agnes's death and Armand's interrupted oven attack remain distinct.
Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 100 · checked 16 September 2026- deathAgnes Trout dies after a long illness
Agnes's earlier natural death remains separate, while the theft of her Golden Clusters recipe supplies the grievance behind the present case.
- deathEric Calder is poisoned
Clara begins her retribution against the family that benefited from her mother's work.
- deathJulian Calder is killed
Clara kills a second Calder as she pursues recognition for Agnes and punishment for the appropriation.
- deathThe Bradley brothers are killed
Clara stabs Ernest and Atticus after they try to sell Agnes's recipe book and memories back to her.
- discoveryThe missing recipe identifies the motive
Agnes's notebook and factory history show that the signature product was her creation rather than Armand Stone's.
- discoveryArmand is saved from the ovens
Clara's attempt to kill the final beneficiary of the stolen credit is stopped at the factory.
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
The Maltings
Used as: The building's exterior becomes Calder's Biscuit Factory.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Kempton Park Steam Museum
Used as: The industrial interior supplies the inside of Calder's biscuit bakery.
Foxwarren Park
Used as: The country house appears as the Calder family home.
Palace Hotel
Used as: The hotel appears as itself in the Copenhagen opening sequence.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Amalienborg
Used as: The palace square appears as itself during the Danish investigation.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Nyhavn
Used as: The canal and waterfront appear as themselves in the location filming.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Politigården
Used as: Copenhagen Police Headquarters is used as the Danish police station.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Nivå Kirke
Used as: The church appears under the fictional identity Klausted Church.
Sources support the listed site uses; they do not establish every filming location in an episode.
Wider filming areas