Case file · Series 7, Episode 6
The Straw Woman
A revived pagan festival becomes a murder scene when a curate is trapped inside its burning straw effigy.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The episode's apparently supernatural fires are staged against a village already primed to interpret conflict as witchcraft.
- Best for
- Pagan festival · Witchcraft · Fire
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Dan Scott
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. This is not a complete content advisory.
Why it matters
The episode's apparently supernatural fires are staged against a village already primed to interpret conflict as witchcraft.
A revived pagan festival becomes a murder scene when a curate is trapped inside its burning straw effigy.
Midsomer Parva revives an old festival centred on burning a straw woman. The celebration becomes horrific when curate Alex Deakin is discovered inside the effigy and burns before the assembled villagers.
Further deaths appear to involve spontaneous human combustion, strengthening rumours about curses and local witchcraft. Barnaby and Scott trace the practical means behind the fires while examining religious conflict, a school campaign and relationships hidden by the spectacle.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
The combustion is engineered rather than supernatural; the festival imagery diverts attention from personal grievance and the effort to punish or protect members of the same circle.
Open the full research dossierProduction, cast, forensics, deaths and filming evidence
Credits, context and checked facts
The episode file
- TV series
- Series 7
- Episode number
- Episode 6
- Written by
- Jeff Dodds
- Directed by
- Sarah Hellings
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 29 February 2004
- Reported filming period
- November–December 2003
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Dan Scott
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Parva
- 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 1 broader filming area and 3 exact on-screen site identities.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer ledger1 episode credited to Jeff Dodds
- Director ledger13 episodes directed by Sarah Hellings
- Release positionCase 34 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Pagan festival · Witchcraft
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
Turville's green beside St Mary the Virgin Church hosts the straw-woman ceremony.
Ibstone School becomes Midsomer Parva School, while Turville School is used as the village hall.
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.
Jemima Rooper
Published cast record ↗Daniel Weyman
Published cast record ↗Martin Herdman
Published cast record ↗Maggie O'Neill
Published cast record ↗Keith Barron
Published cast record ↗The performers behind this case
Core cast
Actor profiles for the detective, investigating partner and pathologist credited to this episode.
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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
John Hopkins
Dan Scott · Detective SergeantAn English actor with extensive stage, screen and voice work. His credits include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Poldark and Alice in Wonderland, as well as prominent game performances in Horizon, Hitman and Assassin's Creed.
- Royal Shakespeare Company
- Poldark
- Horizon game series
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
3 source rows represent 3 people in the current ledger.
Break the seal: reveal the death ledger
- Alex Dakin (Curate)
Murder · Poisoning
- Reverend Jim Hale
Murder · Burning or heat
- Liz Francis
Murder · Burning or heat
Real place → fictional identity
What was filmed where?
Ibstone School
Used as: The school represents Midsomer Parva School.
Turville School
Used as: The school building is used as the village hall.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Village green beside St Mary the Virgin Church
Used as: The green hosts the fictional straw-woman festival and burning effigy.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.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