MIDSOMER MURDERS
SHOT AT DAWN
Detailed Synopsis
The family of Tommy Hicks, a soldier shot dead for cowardice in World War One, celebrate when his name is finally added to the war memorial at Midsomer Parva. But their joy is not shared by the upper crust Hammonds. Animosity between the families dates back to the Somme when Duggie Hammond pulled the trigger that killed Tommy.
Duggie's grandson Johnny is organising a wartime re-enactment by the Midsomer Yeomanry, under the critical eye of his wheelchair-bound father Henry, a retired colonel. Tommy Hicks' grandson is Dave - village mayor, shady property developer and social climber - who's desperate to get revenge on the Hammonds. Meanwhile, his son Will is doing nude drawings - and more - with Johnny's daughter Sophie.
After an evening's drinking, petty thief Mickey Ryan and his pals kidnap Henry and 'try' him for cowardice, shooting him with blanks. Henry's not intimidated, but when the men leave he is shot dead and his wheelchair crashes into a milk van. The Hicks alibi each other, but later Dave's wife Judy accuses him of having an affair.
The detectives get no further at Hammond Hall, apart from discovering that Johnny prefers men, his wife Bella is on medication, daughter Kate is a lesbian and Sophie is sleeping with the enemy. Later in the gym, Dave asks Johnny to sell him land at North Meadow, while Sophie and Will tell their families they are getting married. And Barnaby discovers the service revolver used to kill Henry belonged to Duggie.
Elderly villager Biddy Dixon tells Barnaby about rumours that Duggie and Tommy were half-brothers - and Duggie promised to look after all his family. Dave Hicks and Bella Hammond meet up for sex - a relationship they've shared for 25 years.
Mickey and Dave's disabled father Lionel stop a bomb in a model car from blowing up the war memorial, but there are more explosions when the truth comes out about Bella and Dave. Then, as Johnny leaves to see a solicitor about his father's will, he is killed by a line of bullets from a machine gun.
Barnaby extracts a stunning revelation from Bella as forensics show the gunshots and bomb were all activated by remote control. Mickey is an electronics expert but has alibis. Solicitor Martin Chadwick admits that a secret codicil to Duggie's will left North Meadow to the Hicks family - but only after Bella's death.
As Barnaby and Jones race to save Bella from becoming the next victim, can they discover how closely entwined the feuding families really are - and which one of them is a killer?