Case file · Series 13, Episode 2
The Made-to-Measure Murders
A tailor's widow is killed with shears in a village where one benefactor controls homes, jobs and public memory.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The neatness of tailoring contrasts with a village whose social fabric has been cut to one powerful man's measurements.
- Best for
- Tailoring · Memorial · Village benefactor
- Mood
- Dark
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Ben Jones
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
The neatness of tailoring contrasts with a village whose social fabric has been cut to one powerful man's measurements.
A tailor's widow is killed with shears in a village where one benefactor controls homes, jobs and public memory.
Milton Cross depends heavily on Edward Milton, whose estate owns much of the village and supports its businesses. During a commemoration two years after her abusive husband Gerald died, tailor Sonia Woodley is murdered in the churchyard with dressmaking shears.
Sonia had passed a letter to the vicar, but the handwriting is not hers; when he is also killed, Barnaby and Jones examine the Woodley family, the Milton estate and the cost of challenging a benefactor's preferred version of village life.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The forged letter points to a secret involving Gerald's death and the power Edward Milton exercised over the village. Barnaby follows authorship rather than appearance to identify the killer.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 13
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- Andrew Payne
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 12 May 2010
- Reported filming period
- June–July 2009
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Milton Cross
- 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 4 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger11 episodes credited to Andrew Payne
- Director ledger22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 75 of 144
- Story characterDark · Tailoring · Memorial
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
Munden Estate in Hertfordshire represents the home of dominant landowner Edward Milton.
Chinnor supplies a home and the shopfront used for Woodley & Woodley tailors.
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.
James Wilby
Published cast record ↗Gwyneth Strong
Published cast record ↗Karl Davies
Published cast record ↗Maureen Beattie
Published cast record ↗Nicholas Jones
Published cast record ↗The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
.jpg?width=720)
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
Jason Hughes
Ben Jones · Police Constable · Detective Sergeant · InspectorA Welsh actor who first became widely known as Warren Jones in the BBC drama This Life. His later television work includes Marcella and The Pact, alongside substantial theatre work at venues including the Donmar Warehouse and Royal Court.
- This Life
- Marcella
- The Pact
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
2 source rows represent 2 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Hugh Dalgleish
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
- Jenny Russel
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Village shop
Used as: The shopfront becomes Woodley & Woodley tailors.
St Mary the Virgin Church
Used as: The church represents Milton Cross's Catholic church.
Village pub
Used as: The pub exterior becomes the local in Milton Cross.
Munden Estate
Used as: The estate represents Edward Milton's home.
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.