We have recently been checking out some old episodes we hadn't seen. I was surprised to see the name Alan Plater as the screenwriter. Could it be the same playwright identified in my mind with 1960s gritty, working class dramas set 'up north'? After all, this was Midsomer territory! It didn't take long before my question was answered. Immediately, we were Introduced to a farcical group of characters straight out of a socialist's idea of a typical aristocratic family living in a large Gothic mansion. Alan Plater must have relished the idea of writing a murder mystery where he could bump-off a few upper class twits! Before long, we had the inevitable contrasting hamlet where the people lived in dire poverty. What a laugh! Mattresses in the road, old washing machines dumped outside the houses, rubbish everywhere. And a museum, believe it or not, devoted to the memory of some forgotten socialist. That sets the scene for the plot to unfold. Very boring!