Case file · Series 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. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
The programme marks case 100 by taking Barnaby abroad without abandoning a properly tangled Midsomer family business.
The hundredth case links a poisoned biscuit, a Badger's Drift company and a murder inquiry in Copenhagen.
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.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- 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 and Copenhagen
- 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 ledger6 episodes credited to Paul Logue
- Director ledger7 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
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.
Ann Eleonora Jørgensen
Published cast record ↗Birgitte Hjort Sørensen
Published cast record ↗Joanna Scanlan
Published cast record ↗Sanjeev Bhaskar
Published cast record ↗Caroline Goodall
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
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 source rows represent 4 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Eric Calder
Murder · Poisoning
- Julian Calder
Murder · Suffocation
- Atticus Bradley
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
- Ernest Bradley
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
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.
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