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0:30

Inspector Barnaby? Harry Darnley,

0:32

CEO here. We'll have to lock

0:34

down the airfield until further notice. Why? We

0:37

believe Mr. King was murdered. You're

0:41

listening to Midsummer Murders Mayhem,

0:43

the official podcast for the

0:45

hit global television series Midsummer

0:48

Murders. I'm your host,

0:50

Nicki Chapman. In this

0:52

podcast I get to examine the

0:54

Midsummer Murders television series in audio

0:56

form. One

0:58

nail-biting episode at a time.

1:05

Spoiler alert, we leave

1:07

no stone unturned, no

1:09

evidence unchecked, no suspect

1:11

unquestioned. So, if

1:13

you haven't seen the episode in question, I suggest

1:16

you do it right now. In this

1:18

episode of Midsummer Murders Mayhem, we're

1:20

heading to the skies in The

1:22

Flying Club. When a

1:25

body is discovered in a reservoir

1:27

after being dropped out of a

1:29

plane, Barnaby and Nelson find the

1:31

world of stunt pilots and military

1:33

heroes hides many dark secrets. Are

1:37

campaigners against the local airfield

1:39

behind Bernard King's murder or

1:41

does it link back to a tragic story

1:43

from World War Two? With

1:45

the help of cast,

1:48

crew and devoted superfans,

1:50

I'll be covering some of

1:52

the most important scenes, discussing

1:54

the most intriguing characters and

1:57

seeing who can spot those

1:59

cameo scenes. Helping

2:01

me this week is award-winning

2:04

Scottish comedian, actor,

2:06

presenter and most importantly

2:08

die-hard Midsummer Murders enthusiast

2:10

Ashleigh Story. Sikes the

2:12

Dog played by Sikes

2:15

the Dog does a

2:17

phenomenal acting job. You should get

2:19

whatever the BAFTA equivalent for

2:21

the dog is. A whifter. We'll

2:24

hear from the late Dame June

2:26

Rosemary Whitfield who played the World

2:28

War II flying ace Molly Darnley.

2:31

Most of the male pilots were

2:33

in fighter-abomber command but the

2:36

ATA had to deliver the planes

2:38

from the factories to the airfield

2:40

so we women flyers were in

2:42

much demand. Anne will

2:44

be joined by expert on the

2:47

dead, mortician Carla Valentine. I

2:49

suppose one of the things that wasn't so

2:52

realistic I guess was when Kate was actually

2:54

filling out her notes and her dad came

2:56

in and said, oh you know, I would

2:58

have had a help at a plus. We'll

3:01

finish things off with a round of our

3:03

superfan face-off quiz hosted by Ashleigh and featuring

3:05

contestants from around the globe. What

3:07

running event is Stephanie King in

3:10

training for? Oh, and

3:12

bong, is it Tough Mudder? No,

3:14

that would be a waffle. It's Tough Mudder.

3:18

No. Also,

3:23

be sure to stick around for

3:25

the end where we tie up

3:27

any of those loose ends, wrap

3:29

everything up and now's exactly who

3:32

committed the murderous crimes and

3:34

how Barnaby solved them. I

3:39

love, love, love this episode

3:41

The Flying Club. So Ashleigh,

3:43

are you a flying fan?

3:46

I love an aider plane. I love the

3:48

compactness of a seat. I love to feel

3:50

squished in. I never put my seat back

3:52

way because I think that's rude. I don't

3:54

know where you stand on that but I

3:56

never recline my seat because I think let

3:59

the people behind. have their space and then I

4:01

get mad at the people in front of me for declining.

4:04

Oh I've went off on a

4:06

tangent. To answer your question yes

4:08

I'm a fan of flying Nikki

4:10

thank you for asking. Well there we

4:12

go we've learned so much about you so what

4:14

I've learned is I'd like to be sat behind

4:16

you on a plane and not in front because

4:18

I know you'll never put your suit back because

4:20

you're so so lovely but there

4:22

we go. One thing you do get with

4:25

this episode is this was

4:27

an expensive episode. There's a

4:29

lot of extras there's a lot of

4:31

fighter planes vintage planes a lot of

4:34

beautiful aerial shots. This episode is I

4:36

think one of my favorite because we

4:38

don't actually get to see Sarah

4:41

at all but we do get to

4:43

see Barnaby and Sykes on their

4:45

own probably for the

4:47

last time because Sarah's gone away

4:50

the baby is imminent and

4:52

they're making the most of those last

4:54

few days of peace. John

4:56

Barnaby and Sykes are living the

4:58

bachelor life together and it's very

5:01

cute indeed. You know what this is don't

5:03

you? This is

5:05

going to be the end of life as we

5:07

know it no more peace and quiet for us

5:09

when the baby arrives. How many

5:11

of these things do you have? You

5:15

do not you lie down. That's

5:17

so cute when he just throws in

5:19

the dog biscuit. Can we give some

5:21

props to Sykes the dog because dog

5:23

performers aren't always the best but Sykes

5:25

the dog played by Sykes the dog

5:28

does a phenomenal acting job. We get

5:30

expression we get longing we see frustration

5:32

in a dog's face. I didn't know

5:34

that was something that you could see

5:37

in a dog's face and you see

5:39

literal frustration. You should get whatever the

5:41

barter equivalent for a dog is. A

5:44

Woofter you should get a Woofter. A

5:46

Woofter and when the dog is watching

5:48

the box set they get

5:51

interrupted. Sykes looks so disappointed.

5:53

You've got to watch it if you

5:55

haven't seen this episode watch it

5:57

for Sykes alone. He's gonna get a Woofter.

6:00

He is. Oh, psyched. Right, so

6:02

we've had the murder in the Stroke

6:04

Pond reservoir where the body has fallen.

6:07

Barnaby is joined by Charlie Nelson in

6:10

this episode. I think this is Charlie's

6:12

first season and

6:14

they are working together to work

6:17

out what's been going on in this airfield,

6:20

which again is owned by posh

6:22

people who are struggling with their

6:25

money. A thing very common in

6:27

the Midsomer murder sort of

6:29

folklore. It's very rich people

6:31

who need money. Yes,

6:34

definitely. And as they arrive, there

6:36

are two stunt pilots going through

6:38

their paces aren't there? There's Alex

6:40

Darnley and Gavin Hopkirk

6:42

both. Am I allowed to say

6:44

this quite easy on the eyes? It's a

6:46

handsome cast, okay. I'll say it if you don't want

6:49

to. It's a handsome cast. Yeah.

6:51

And we find out that Alex is an

6:53

RAF pilot as well because he's got his

6:55

uniform still on, which I'm sure you're probably

6:57

not allowed to do, but we'll just skim

6:59

over that one, shouldn't we? And

7:02

his whole family are based

7:04

in aviation. We find

7:06

out that his grandfather was a World

7:08

War Two flying ace and

7:10

his father Perry having a business

7:13

partner with Bernard who has been

7:15

murdered within the first couple of minutes of

7:17

the show. Yes. And as for your uniform query,

7:19

when I worked at Greggs the Bakery, I

7:21

wasn't allowed to wear my tabard out of work.

7:23

So I'm assuming that is against the rules,

7:25

just based off my own experience. Yeah, I

7:27

can probably wear your tabard out in a

7:30

bag. So

7:32

we find out that Bernard has

7:34

a very, very beautiful widow called Stephanie

7:37

who loves running. She works at a

7:39

sort of like a health spa. And

7:42

the very first time that Barnaby goes

7:44

round to chat to her, she's moving

7:46

the bottles around as he's chatting

7:48

to her. And you're thinking, well, that must

7:51

be part of the plot. Why does she

7:53

keep moving these bottles and making sure they're in a

7:55

straight line? I'm just going to throw that one out there.

7:58

Yeah. And Barnaby has studied a second. That's

8:01

part of his benefit as

8:03

a detective is that he understands the human

8:05

mind and he does make

8:07

reference and say that he thinks that

8:10

there's some sort of obsessive compulsive need

8:12

for her to keep things

8:14

in place and he sees that that compulsion might

8:16

be part of her psychological

8:18

build-up. Yes. She also

8:21

reveals that an argument took place between

8:23

Perry and Bernard that both run

8:25

the airfield before the murder but

8:28

apart from that she doesn't

8:30

get involved with the flying at all.

8:32

That's not her world. Please, I want to

8:34

help. Ask me questions. Do

8:38

you fly Mrs. King? No. I've

8:41

never even been up with Bernie. Three feet

8:44

off the ground and I feel sick. I'm afraid

8:46

I have to ask where you were last night.

8:49

I was at home, alone. Weren't

8:52

you worried when your husband didn't come home? Well,

8:55

I'm training for the Causton Marathon. I

8:59

run to him from work. I get

9:01

very tired and last night I was

9:04

out like light. I assumed that Bernie

9:06

had come and gone without waking me. He

9:09

does that sometimes. Your husband,

9:12

did he have any enemies? Bernard,

9:14

no. Disputes, conflicts with anyone recently?

9:16

Well, Bernard and Perry are always

9:18

arguing. He came over a few

9:21

nights ago and things got a

9:23

bit heated. What did he want? Bernard

9:26

doesn't bother me with the business. Can I just say,

9:28

if my husband came in late, I

9:31

would hear him before the front door

9:33

had been closed, clonking around, putting on

9:35

every single light and then

9:37

likewise, if I was fast asleep

9:39

and he was getting up before me to

9:42

leave, every light would be on, every drawer

9:44

would be opened and every cupboard would be

9:46

slammed. So Bernard, couldn't be too bad a

9:48

husband if he didn't wake her up. Just

9:51

because he was late on his feet does not

9:53

mean he was a good husband, Nicky. And she

9:55

obviously is a very deep sleeper because she's training

9:57

to Be a marathon runner.

10:00

But we know Barnaby would as seen through

10:02

that. although he doesn't give too much away.

10:04

Doll face. The one thing when he sells

10:06

go to the airfield. We get to see

10:09

one of the legends of British acting, Bernard

10:11

Quibbles, who plays a Ducky the Great Uncle.

10:14

Of attracts his gavin. Yes, that's right. It's

10:16

a common seem that when we talk of

10:18

a bed so remark does that relate talk

10:20

about the com. He is Nicky and this

10:23

one has. An all star cast.

10:25

This episode as said, nominal.

10:27

I think and I don't use as

10:30

Tam lately. National says Rcs Baronet Club

10:32

Adams as a national treasure I think

10:34

you would be Mexico. Honestly I grew

10:36

up with Bernard prevent an eighth know

10:38

alone se we've also got to mention

10:40

tune with Field yeah and I just

10:42

like say before the go into all

10:44

of the other topic Tesla stuff has

10:46

been and it's a really fun weird

10:48

episode just fire and tabs of connections

10:50

because if you'd adults or her side

10:52

and you'll know Bernard club and from

10:55

those are his that better cabins please

10:57

don't a nobles granddad. But Donna Noble

10:59

mom is also and this episodes

11:01

as case month so with quit

11:04

the whole Noble family and Jordan

11:06

played Bernard best friend and an

11:08

episode of Doctor His Soul or

11:10

didn't a huge movie and fun

11:13

time happen in and less episodes

11:15

the is some exciting we love

11:17

is and in actual fact he

11:20

plays doggy the great uncle of

11:22

Gavin and he throws moly. Under

11:25

the Boss straight away as a

11:27

prime. Suspect to new so

11:29

far from us. Law son

11:31

are flaws. son. I could

11:34

fly a jumbo jet sideways

11:36

through those doors. Open

11:39

you have an awesome you. The murderer

11:41

is so do you want a motor

11:44

up? You go up or down the

11:46

hall. Molly's Darnley Oh be easy the

11:48

murder around here. that so dug

11:50

a point in the same guy molly

11:53

darnley played by june wet sealed and

11:55

it's a big mess city surrendering has

11:57

sister's death when he was a little

12:00

his sister worked with June

12:02

Whitfield's character Molly and

12:04

passed away and he blames Molly for

12:06

his sister's death and internets

12:09

kind of festered this feeling and built

12:11

into I think she just

12:13

becomes the butt of all of his

12:15

woes. Everything is Molly darnly fault now

12:18

because of this one incident

12:20

that happened to his sister in a

12:22

native plane accident when he was a

12:24

kid. He has absolute hatred for her

12:26

but also the actual

12:28

murder weapon is found in his

12:30

toadbag but Barnaby straight away thinks

12:32

it's planted. He doesn't put him

12:34

under suspicion he actually gives him

12:37

the benefit of the doubt straight

12:39

away. Well I think he should

12:41

Nicky because I don't think neither Bernard Cribbins

12:43

nor June Whitfield could take somebody out with

12:45

a wrench then carry them into an airplane.

12:48

I know that I'm not being a

12:50

nitpicker here but I don't think he's

12:53

as capable. Not even in Midsummer Murders.

12:56

Nelson uncovers that Finchmere Airfield is facing

12:58

a legal battle over noise levels and

13:00

they notice a gentleman called Eddie Rayner

13:02

who doesn't want to answer any questions

13:04

and at first they think he's a

13:06

plane spotter. He's sitting there on the

13:08

back of his truck he's got

13:10

an open truck and he's there writing down the

13:12

numbers of all the planes so they just think

13:15

he's a little bit of a plane fanatic but

13:17

in actual fact he's not. He's

13:19

taking down the noise levels of

13:21

every single plane and what we

13:24

also find out that his daughter

13:26

Jessie who is in love with

13:29

one of the very attractive boys

13:31

Alex she works at the airfield

13:33

which he is trying to close

13:36

down so there's conflict there straight

13:38

away. Yes but there's already a

13:40

bit of conflict on that airfield because

13:43

Jessie Rayner is engaged to Alex

13:45

Darnley who is the grandson of Molly

13:48

Darnley but her best friend

13:50

Gavin Hopkirk who's also a

13:52

pilot a flyboy is in love with

13:54

her and it's supposed to be secret

13:56

but it's so blatantly obvious that everybody

13:59

is very aware of the fact that

14:01

this man is in love with his best

14:03

friend who is engaged to his best friend.

14:05

Kissy lips all round. Kissy lips all right.

14:10

So the investigation continues and you've

14:12

got all these shots of fantastic

14:14

planes and aerial shows and all

14:16

of this going on. There's a

14:18

wonderful piece in there where Eddie

14:20

Raynor goes at night and

14:22

he notices two people or one

14:24

certainly one man in black suspiciously

14:27

going round the plane and it

14:29

is sort of midnight. There's no light at

14:31

all and he is 30 foot away and

14:34

he's there with his binoculars like his eyes

14:36

aren't good enough to see what's going on.

14:38

He literally is just the other side of

14:40

the fence and the man or the woman

14:43

in black doesn't see him watching them. It's

14:45

very distracting business being a criminal. Nicky, maybe

14:47

they don't have good spatial awareness. They're pilots

14:49

of course have good spatial awareness. I don't

14:52

know. I can't say you're a bandit to

14:54

put over that plot hole on a foot.

14:56

It's quite good. It did make me smart.

14:58

I was like you don't need Eddie, you

15:00

don't need the binoculars mate. You're 30 foot away

15:02

and if they turn around they'll see you because

15:05

you're sitting on top of your truck as well

15:07

with your binoculars round and neck.

15:10

But we do find out that smuggling

15:12

is going on but we don't quite

15:14

understand how or why. Poor

15:16

poor Eddie Raynor goes into a field to

15:19

meet somebody. His phone rings, he goes to

15:21

meet them, he's in the middle of these

15:23

crops and a plane comes down flying so

15:25

low, hits him on the head and

15:28

takes him out. But what we do

15:30

know is when he was there he

15:32

had books in his hand with all

15:34

the numbers and the times that the

15:37

local planes were flying. So he is

15:39

murdered and taken out in a rather

15:41

nasty way but he has the

15:43

evidence in his hands. It

15:45

was a good nod to North by Northwest

15:47

and that scene, that Hitchcockian classic when we

15:50

see him getting chased down by the plane.

15:52

But I'm just going to say if you're

15:54

going to take somebody out to hide evidence,

15:56

take the evidence with you. Yes, Probably

15:58

a good shout. Yeah so it

16:00

just leave it. Yeah, I. Think he

16:02

was chased by a small

16:04

place. Could fly this brilliant?

16:07

that is precision work. Seems

16:09

to be easy to find impact let

16:11

necessarily have led tracers. On the wheel and.

16:13

Maybe even damage to the same itself. Shall we

16:15

talk about the Darnley family? Because.

16:18

I think that they are important

16:20

piece of the puzzle be taught

16:22

that morning and was told to

16:24

the Alex a grandson but we

16:26

haven't talked to be petty and

16:29

Miranda Alex's Peterson's Miranda wins most

16:31

Scathing Mother award Doesn't say. Horse

16:33

Horse Horse yes she said a

16:35

harsh and I think Perry's gets

16:37

wishlist awarded with is. Not only

16:39

was he sort of verbally abused

16:41

by his father, he's also said

16:43

as he abused by his current

16:45

wife see as not having a

16:47

good time and terms of people

16:50

being time. Tim soul see as

16:52

a better than annoyance so I

16:54

can see why it's difficult to

16:56

be nice to old. Petty can

16:58

see the citizen isn't the greatest

17:00

guy but he has issues with

17:02

has dad and know. He has

17:04

issues with has son and it's

17:06

sort of that exodus effect of

17:08

fathers and sons of flying too

17:10

close to the sun as a

17:12

bag seem say this episode. Meanwhile,

17:14

Through. This whole case Barnaby support a

17:17

quiet night and bought tapes patents or

17:19

by the thing from a of Tone

17:21

and stay with her and are loads

17:23

or Charlie I'm Charlene keep keep popping

17:25

known to Barnaby's for some respite from

17:27

their own patents So there's as against

17:29

him Say this episode of people being

17:31

very annoyed by their parents whale Barnaby

17:33

weeks to become a paid at all

17:35

he wants his the him and thanks

17:37

to have an evening in on their

17:40

own so that to watch a box

17:42

that. he est have a glass

17:44

of wine i said love when sean

17:46

set state has dinner as a steak

17:48

and chips and i think because i'm

17:50

i'm weird like less i counted he

17:52

had sex chips on his plate which

17:54

i don't think it's and chips are

17:56

speaking sets for perhaps and we saw

17:58

him cook sykes dinner as well and Sykes

18:00

bowls on the table next to John's perhaps Sykes

18:03

had a few of those chips. Would you let

18:05

your dog eat on the table next to you

18:07

as if it was a grown-up? Yes of course

18:09

I would because she's just a little sausage baby

18:11

I sit around my knee while I eat. Oh

18:13

so cute and then when they come round he

18:15

puts the bowl on the floor doesn't it as

18:17

if they know Sykes doesn't sit at the table

18:19

with me having his supper. You can't do that

18:22

with the company over. So we

18:24

have all the locals the community come

18:26

out to the local airfield to see

18:28

the show which again in

18:30

the summer months is a big thing

18:32

throughout the UK certainly in England there's

18:34

huge flying shows going on and there'll

18:37

be stands and face painting and all

18:39

sorts of things going on and certainly

18:41

that's what they're doing because they want

18:43

to generate some money. What we don't

18:46

realize is behind the scenes a deal

18:48

is being broken to actually

18:50

sell the airfield for factories to

18:52

be built on it. Yeah

18:54

the Darnleys are hoping to sell

18:57

the airfield now that the business

18:59

partner is dead but his wife

19:02

Stephanie is she going to sell is she not going

19:04

to sell she's kind of finding

19:06

herself again Barnaby points out after

19:09

her husband's death she's no longer running

19:11

the madisons she's no longer making the

19:14

police officers take off their shoes before

19:16

they come in the house she's starting

19:18

to revert back to her

19:20

old sense of being before she got

19:22

married. How was Stephanie in her OCD?

19:25

Well I'm not sure it's actually her problem really

19:27

I think it might have been Bernard's and she

19:29

just sort of became a clone

19:32

of him but now she's carefully

19:34

picking her way back to her former self

19:36

she's given up the running and

19:38

she's asserting herself with the Darnleys by refusing

19:40

to sell the airfield. Out of

19:43

the grieving process? Yes. So

19:45

we're at the air show and

19:47

a bet has been made between the two

19:49

fly boys an awful bit I can't believe

19:51

we were worried about hurting their feelings when

19:53

now I remember that they did this. Yes.

19:56

Alex and Gavin have made a bet it's

19:58

a great one it's one of my faves. But whoever

20:00

gets the highest up in this competition will

20:03

win the hand of the fair maiden, Jessie,

20:06

which she's not involved in this. She's

20:08

not part of this bet. She's not

20:11

consented to this bet. But the boys,

20:13

boys will be boys, and they say

20:15

whoever gets highest up on this plane

20:17

and likes swap planes just for the

20:19

sake of fairness. Yeah. I think Alex's

20:21

plane is a better plane because he's

20:24

a posh boy. So

20:26

he said, I can fly better than

20:28

you even in your rubbish plane. So

20:30

let's swap planes and then I'll reach for

20:33

the stars higher than you can. Ah,

20:36

quote S Club 7. Yeah, thank

20:38

you for that. Having put the band together,

20:40

that makes me feel very good indeed. So

20:43

off they go, this huge, incredible flying

20:45

display that they do in front of

20:48

hundreds and hundreds of people, not thousands,

20:50

but hundreds and hundreds of people. And

20:53

then just as the crescendo comes and they're going

20:55

higher and higher into the air and they're talking

20:57

to each other, we

20:59

realize one of them and it's

21:01

Alex is in trouble, real

21:04

serious trouble. And Gavin's going eject,

21:06

eject. And Alex is going no, no,

21:08

like Mayday, Mayday. And it actually gets

21:10

quite, I didn't like watching this bit.

21:12

I actually was on the edge of

21:14

my seat thinking what is going to

21:16

happen? Because the last thing we wanted

21:18

was another death on our hands. The

21:21

good news is he

21:23

manages to bring the plane down

21:25

just without any injury to himself.

21:27

Jesse looks distraught. They all run towards

21:30

him. He literally jumps

21:32

out, top gun style, out of

21:34

the plane, goes straight to the

21:36

engine, has a look and the

21:38

fuel line has been cut. So

21:41

he'd run out of fuel. It has been

21:43

cut and it's very dangerous

21:45

indeed to put a fuel line of a plane.

21:48

I will say to our listeners when you watch

21:50

this episode, take a little close look at some

21:52

of the flying scenes because the guys at Midsomer

21:54

have attempted a little bit of CGI and there's

21:56

a fun moment where they've kind of photoshopped them

21:58

in the cockpits. It's very

22:00

wonky looking. They made me laugh so

22:03

loud. Not quite Tom Cruise

22:05

in Top Gun Maverick, is it? I think

22:07

in Top Gun they actually literally had to

22:09

make the actors fly in jet planes just

22:11

so that they could get the authenticity of

22:13

that shot. And I don't think

22:16

we're going to be doing that out in

22:18

Midsomer. I don't think we can put those

22:20

poor actors through that in those old rickety

22:22

RAF planes. But they fly, they land, the

22:24

fuel line's been cut. Who's doing this, Nicky?

22:26

Who's trying to take out these flyboys? So

22:29

we heard that there was some smuggling

22:31

going on. We'll cut to the chase.

22:34

Barnaby and Nelson, they stake out the

22:36

airfields and they catch Alex and

22:39

Jesse smuggling in

22:41

some high-tech-nology when it

22:43

comes to flying. Not

22:45

drink, not drugs, not

22:47

cigarettes, but high-tech-nology. So

22:50

we do realise that Alex is going to

22:52

lose his founding with the RAF and the

22:54

military police come and they arrest him. But

22:57

what we do also find out is that he's not

22:59

a murderer. He is not a

23:01

murderer. He was just selling RAF tech

23:04

to a French soldier that he met when

23:06

he was overseas with the

23:08

help of Jesse. And we do

23:10

also have a moment where Gavin says to Jesse, this

23:12

is all for you, I love you. And she's

23:15

like, nah, you're just my best friend. Bye. Yeah,

23:17

even though she flirts with him the whole way

23:19

through the show. She's

23:21

friendly, Nicky. She's

23:23

just being surrenderly.

23:26

Gavin should learn that when a

23:28

lady says, let's be best friends,

23:32

that's what she means. It's not a let's

23:34

be best friends and maybe one day be

23:36

lovers. He did bet his life flying for

23:38

her hand, didn't he? I

23:40

mean, that's quite a commitment, isn't it,

23:43

for someone to throw it back in your face and say, nah, we're just

23:45

friends. You nearly died up there, love,

23:47

but nah, we're just friends. So

23:50

we know that although Alex has done wrong, he is

23:52

off the hook. He's also made sure that Jesse doesn't

23:54

go down with him and he takes full blame for

23:57

it, but we've still got to find out. find

24:00

out who was the murderer. That's

24:02

right, who done that murder? And

24:04

it's not Molly, we find

24:07

that out, Barnaby goes and sits with her

24:09

and she explains Dougie's sister and Molly were

24:11

in love with the same guy and Dougie's

24:15

sister took to the skies during a storm

24:17

of her own accord. I think she was

24:19

quite sad, her heart was broken and she

24:21

took the plane out in a storm contrary

24:23

to orders and sadly passed

24:25

away. Now every time we talk about

24:27

Midsomer we talk about who was in

24:29

the episode and I know we've touched

24:31

on some of the appearances in this

24:33

but let me just quickly talk about

24:36

June Whitfield and how much

24:38

we love her because she's so

24:40

great. My favourite role obviously is

24:42

as the mum in Absolutely Fabulous.

24:44

She is hilarious as Eddie's

24:46

mum, Eddie Monson's mother but

24:49

she's a carry-on alum. She's been in

24:51

the carry-on films, she's just

24:54

this great presence that we all

24:56

feel very comforted by. She was

24:59

sort of like a generation's TV

25:01

nana and she's brilliant

25:03

in this episode. She's filling our

25:05

airfield. My airfield? Mine

25:07

and Bernard's. It's Henry's

25:09

airfield. It's where he

25:11

commanded the police who saved this

25:14

country. It's

25:16

where he met me. It's

25:19

where we were married. I

25:21

grew up with a series called Terry and James

25:24

and again you're absolutely right and when you watch

25:26

her she's not acting is she? It's

25:28

100% sincere. You

25:32

forget she's actually one of our

25:34

greatest actors. She's just June. She's

25:36

just June. I've

25:38

always talked about Perry Darnley,

25:40

Robert Batteries and loads of

25:42

stuff but for me the minute I saw

25:44

him I was like he's the posh man

25:47

from the Westlife video. Uptown girl. Yeah

25:50

he was one of the posh men

25:52

in the cafe. Wonderful. He's in Downton

25:55

Abbey as Sir Anthony Stralin

25:57

called Feet, Toast of London.

26:00

A big actor in loads of British stuff.

26:02

One of those faces that you kind of go,

26:04

how do I know him? I did a clicky

26:06

finger when I'm trying to remember who somebody is

26:08

and I'm like, but

26:11

he is one of those faces. Now, Alex

26:13

Darnley played by Ollie, this is just a

26:15

personal one. I have bartended at the Edinburgh

26:17

Fringe and I am 100% sure I have

26:20

served him a pint. Really? It clicked in

26:22

my head and it immediately appeared on screen.

26:24

And other than me selling him a pint

26:26

once, which I've convinced that I did. He's

26:29

also an actor known for several big

26:31

TV shows. He's then called The Midwife. He's

26:33

in The Spanish Princess, which I'm a big

26:35

fan of. And I know a lot of

26:38

people where he was the Duke of Buckingham

26:40

and called The Midwife. He's Matthew Aylward. He's

26:42

in Agatha Raisin in an episode of that.

26:44

I love Agatha Raisin and I feel like

26:46

we should start an Agatha Raisin podcast. I'm

26:48

just saying like, it's an option. Something we

26:51

could do. Gavin

26:53

Quickly, our other flyboy, handsome

26:55

Gavin, played by an actor

26:57

called Lex Hrapnall, which is

26:59

one of the best names I've ever seen in my

27:02

entire life. Featured in Captain

27:04

America, Medici, a town called Malice.

27:06

Again, big shows,

27:08

big films, big name. One

27:11

credit that we haven't given Bernard Cribbins

27:13

and that's as a pop star. Because

27:16

he was in the charts back in

27:18

the day with a single called Right

27:20

Said Fred and Hole in the Ground. Yep.

27:22

Anyone of a certain age will know

27:25

exactly what I'm talking about. As I

27:27

was a child growing up, I can

27:29

remember my grandparents playing Bernard Cribbins. Obviously,

27:31

you know, a phenomenal actor, but playing

27:33

Right Said Fred and Hole in the

27:35

Ground. And he made the charts. And

27:38

if you're watching some light entertainment shows,

27:40

I'm guessing it would have been in

27:42

the 60s, but I remember it definitely

27:44

in the 70s when my parents used

27:46

to get out their vinyl playing those

27:48

records. That's amazing. We love this show.

27:51

Of all the episodes that we talk

27:53

about, this one is definitely, definitely

27:55

worth revisiting The Flying Club. Some

28:02

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Company and affiliates Northbrook, Illinois. In Midsummer Murders

29:03

Mayhem, we're fortunate enough to have a massive

29:05

archive so we get to hear from some

29:07

of the people who made the show what

29:09

it is. This

29:12

time we're hearing from the late

29:14

Dame June Rosemary Whitfield who played

29:16

the World War 2 flying ace

29:18

Molly Darnley. June was

29:21

a staple character on the British television

29:23

scene for many years up to her

29:25

death in 2018. Born

29:28

in London in 1925, she started her

29:31

career at the BBC in 1953 for the radio comedy Take

29:36

It From Here, then appeared

29:38

in many roles including the

29:41

carry-on films and, amongst others,

29:44

Absolutely Fabulous. And

29:46

Dame June is herself Absolutely

29:49

Fabulous. My name

29:51

is June Whitfield and I play

29:53

Molly Darnley who is the head

29:55

of the family. And

29:58

she has a son called Perry Ann. and

30:00

a grandson called Alex. And

30:03

Alex and Gavin are two

30:05

flyers who are rather envious

30:08

of each other. They have

30:10

competitions about who can fly

30:12

a bit far better than

30:15

that kind of thing. I

30:18

am still flying, which may be hard

30:20

to believe. I say

30:22

anything, you know, if you pass the medical, you

30:25

can continue to fly. It's

30:27

all about being in the air

30:31

transport box, literally,

30:33

during the war. Most

30:35

of the male pilots were in fighter

30:37

or bomber command, but

30:39

the ATA had to deliver the

30:41

planes from the factories to the

30:44

airfield. So we women flyers were

30:46

in much demand. Me,

30:48

what a juicy role to sink

30:50

her teeth into. And also,

30:52

what an opportunity. It must have

30:54

been quite the spectacle. It

30:56

was such a privilege to

30:59

be there, to watch these

31:01

fit fires chasing each other around

31:03

the sky, looping

31:06

the loop, amazing. Going so

31:08

close together, you thought, oh, it's

31:10

going to be a crash. And

31:13

then they'd miss each other. Just,

31:15

you know, the hospital

31:18

in the forces. I

31:20

mean, I was there during the war, but

31:22

I don't think I'd want to

31:24

know just as fast that

31:27

this was a revelation. Absolutely. Absolutely.

31:31

That was the legendary Dame

31:33

June Whitfield on portraying pilot

31:36

Molly Darnley in The Frying Club.

31:41

We have an exciting guest

31:43

with us this week. It's

31:45

Carla Valentine, expert on the

31:47

dead and author of Murder

31:49

Is an Easy, The Forensics

31:51

of Agatha Christie. Now,

31:53

Carla, in each episode, we have you

31:55

looking at the onscreen pathologists and

31:58

in The Frying Club, it's Kate... Wilding.

32:01

What do you think of her portrayal in the show?

32:04

Dr Kate Wilding I thought was a really interesting

32:06

one. So she's very much what

32:08

I would expect to see as a

32:10

female pathologist. Obviously she visits the scene

32:13

and she takes a look at the

32:15

body in situ etc but then she's

32:17

mainly based at the mortuary and

32:19

in fact she's based there a lot. I know

32:21

in this particular episode there's a bit of comedy

32:23

underlying it that she's trying to escape

32:25

her parents who've come to visit and her

32:27

recently retired dad who I believe was a

32:29

surgeon. Not having anyone to boss around, taking

32:32

to bossing around his wife. So

32:34

I think what's really interesting about that

32:36

storyline is that you get a really

32:38

interesting perspective on Kate's job as a

32:40

pathologist from her father because it is

32:42

the kind of thing that you'll see

32:44

a lot where people seem to think

32:46

that pathology is a career

32:48

that's I don't know should be relegated. So

32:50

like if you've failed proper medicine there'll often

32:53

be this opinion that yeah you could be

32:55

a surgeon or you could be an oncologist, why

32:57

would you want to just hang around with the

32:59

dead in the basement? And I think

33:01

Kate gets an awful lot of that treatment from

33:03

her dad really and she puts up a good

33:06

fight where she obviously respects the dead and she

33:08

enjoys her job and she's very good at it

33:10

so she doesn't let him get to her. Dr

33:12

Kate Wilding She is a very strong

33:15

character indeed. Now I have to dig

33:17

here a little bit. Was

33:19

there any part of Kate's role that you

33:21

thought wasn't quite how pathologists operate in real

33:23

life? I suppose one of the things that

33:25

wasn't so realistic I guess was when Kate

33:27

was actually filling out her notes and her

33:29

dad came in and said oh you know

33:31

I would have had a helper. And

33:34

to be honest that is what tends to

33:36

happen. I mean pathologists don't have their own

33:38

assistants for example and they follow them

33:40

all over the place but every hospital has

33:42

medical secretaries and they're there to help do

33:44

things like type out notes if the pathologist

33:47

has used the dictaphone to help with reports

33:49

and stuff like that. So I think on

33:52

the other side they've got Kate Wilding and she's not

33:54

going around doing a load of crazy forensics

33:56

anywhere but she's very much bogged down in

33:58

the minutiae of the... basics of mortuary

34:00

work which is really again something that

34:02

she wouldn't be. Okay well glad

34:05

to hear that in real life the

34:07

pathologists can escape a little bit of

34:09

bureaucracy then. That was

34:11

real life mortician Carla Valentine.

34:15

And now it's time for everyone's favourite section

34:17

of the show The Superfans Face Off Mega

34:19

Quiz with me Ashley Story. And

34:25

I joined by Holly who is in

34:27

Washington State. Hello Holly. Hello Ashley

34:29

how are you? I'm

34:31

good Holly and I hope you're well too

34:34

because we've also got Alex who is in

34:36

London. Hello Alex. Great to see you

34:38

Ashley. Hi. Good to see you too Alex.

34:40

Looking dapper. We can't afford the buzzer so

34:42

you have to make your own noise. Holly

34:44

what's your noise going to be baby? Amazing.

34:47

Alex what's your noise? I'd

34:49

go with bong. We've got a beat and

34:52

we've got a bong. Okay right here

34:54

we go we are doing a quiz

34:56

on the Flying Club. Exciting. We start

34:58

with question one. In which Midsummer village

35:01

is this episode set?

35:03

Bong. Midsummer pastures. Incorrect

35:06

Alex this is not a Midsummer titled

35:08

village. This isn't a Midsummer Langley or

35:10

Midsummer anything this has got its own

35:12

name. Holly would you

35:14

like to have a guess? Beat

35:16

beat Fairfield. Right letter. Wrong answer.

35:18

Any other takers? We know it

35:20

begins with an F. Oh

35:23

um Fairaker. No. Oh that's so

35:25

annoying because it's um Fairfield

35:28

or something. The

35:30

answer we were looking for was

35:32

Finchmere. Oh Finchmere.

35:35

Finchmere. Okay question

35:37

two. What running

35:39

event is Stephanie King in training

35:42

for? Oh and bong

35:44

is it Tough Mudder? No that would be a lot. Odd

35:54

third race is that available. Holly?

35:57

Oh gosh no. Beat beat

35:59

bong. I'll just guess the Midsummer

36:01

Marathon. Oh, you're

36:03

so close. You're so close.

36:06

Is it like a 5K or something? It's

36:09

the cost of Madison. Oh,

36:11

that's close, yeah. Okay,

36:14

question number three. With Sarah

36:16

away, how many treats the Sykes

36:18

try to trick Barnaby into giving

36:21

him? These are tough questions, aren't they? You

36:23

have been with you your research. Beep,

36:26

beep. Holly. I'm gonna

36:29

try five, not knowing the

36:31

answer. You would be trying wrong. Yeah, okay, there it

36:33

is. Shall I go for a bong and

36:35

just try four times? No,

36:38

the answer was three. Little dogs

36:40

can only have one or two

36:42

treats, guys. Yeah, yeah.

36:45

I have a giant dog, so, yeah. Okay,

36:48

question number four. Which

36:50

1986 Tom Cruise film does

36:52

Barnaby reference when he sees

36:54

pilot Alex Darnley kissing Jessica Alex? I'm

36:58

getting in Quigget, Top Gun. It

37:00

is Top Gun, it was an easy question.

37:02

I can see you guys wriggling with excitement

37:04

to answer it. Number five. This

37:07

episode is from season 16 of

37:09

Midsummer Murders. How many episodes are

37:11

in this series? Just in

37:14

this series, not in the whole season series.

37:16

In this season. So the season? Yes.

37:19

I'm gonna go with a bong. Is it number, is it five? He's

37:22

right, it's five episodes in this

37:24

series, stroke season, question number six.

37:27

Name a kind of plane Molly

37:30

Darnley flew during the war as

37:32

part of the air transport auxiliary.

37:34

Oh boy. Oh, Alex.

37:37

I'm just guessing here again though, is

37:39

this Spitfire? It is a Spitfire.

37:41

I would have also accept a Lancaster.

37:44

Well done. Molly Darnley is

37:46

portrayed by the esteemed British

37:48

actress June Wettfield, what a

37:50

legend. But which other

37:52

Midsummer Murders episode did she appeared in?

37:56

Oh, Alex. Midsummer

37:59

Mwnt... Midsummer Rhapsody. Look at you Alex!

38:01

Question number eight, Holly, let me hear them

38:03

bings come in if you know the answer.

38:06

Right. How is plane

38:08

spotter Eddie Raynor killed while in

38:10

a cornfield? Bong. Isn't

38:13

this a plane that comes flying near his body so he

38:15

has to run and run and run and then it kind

38:17

of knocks him? Yeah, it's a bit

38:19

like that death in the Hitchcock film. North

38:22

by Northwest. Yeah. Right. Question

38:25

number nine. What colour air suit

38:27

was Alex Darnley wearing when his

38:29

plane almost crashed while performing

38:31

stunts at the air show? Beep beep.

38:34

Bong. Oh, I'm going to go with

38:36

Holly. Holly was in there. I'm cooking

38:38

it. It's blue. Oh. Oh

38:41

man. Don't stop. Oh man.

38:44

Oh Holly. No Holly. That

38:46

was the most Bart Simpson. Oh

38:49

man. Oh man. Alex, would

38:51

you like to say something? I've never heard.

38:55

Alex, would you like to try and steal it? This

38:58

is when we find out Alex is colour blind. Red.

39:04

That's it Alex, it was red. It is red.

39:06

Wow. That was just a

39:08

guess. Okay. Question number

39:11

10. Final question Holly. You could win it all with

39:13

just this one answer. That's a lie but I'm saying

39:15

it anyway to make you feel better. You

39:17

make me feel good. Question 10. The

39:19

king points what weapon at Barnaby as

39:21

he tries to apprehend her. I

39:24

think it's in a flare gun. Alex, it was

39:27

a flare gun. You're right. Did you know that one,

39:29

Holly? Holly did that one. I did. I

39:31

was so ready. Do you know what

39:33

Holly, you're giving me super Jones energy.

39:35

Like when Jones is just there to

39:37

get it wrong but he makes Barnaby

39:39

feel better about himself. That's literally the

39:41

energy. Amazing.

39:43

Final score is 7 to Alex. New

39:47

play to Holly but she gave great smile. She

39:49

made us feel good. She's a bright spark and

39:51

a dull day and we're grateful for her. And

39:54

I get three points just for being me. So

39:57

well done Alex. Congratulations, you don't

39:59

win anything. apart from my

40:01

praise and respect. Well

40:04

that is enough, thank you. Thank

40:06

you for joining us guys. So

40:09

now the grand finale of The

40:11

Flying Club. So Molly's in the

40:14

clear, Alex is in the clear,

40:16

it's pretty sure it's not the

40:18

other darndlies, so who could possibly

40:20

be doing these terrible murders? Do

40:22

you want to say who it is, Mickey? Because

40:24

I think it's a great reveal. Well I didn't

40:27

see this one coming. It was a bit of

40:29

a surprise to me. Young Stephanie King, yes, who

40:32

lost her husband Bernard right in the

40:34

opening scene, is the

40:36

murderer. Yes, she has been

40:38

taking flying lessons behind

40:40

Bernard's back. She realised

40:42

that her whole life he manipulated her, he

40:45

decided when she got out of bed what

40:47

she did, he took her to work, he

40:49

picked her up, but behind the scenes she

40:52

was breaking free and living her own

40:54

life, so much so that she decided

40:56

to take out her husband. So

40:59

Stephanie, in a page straight out

41:01

of Sleeping with the Enemy where

41:03

Julia Roberts learns to swim to

41:05

escape her husband, she learns to

41:07

fly and uses

41:10

that new skill to end her

41:12

husband's life who has been controlling

41:14

and manipulating her, like you said,

41:16

Nikki. This isn't really you Stephanie. Oh

41:19

you don't know me. Actually I think

41:21

I do. Bernard

41:23

controls every single aspect of your life,

41:25

didn't he? I am not a victim.

41:27

When you went to work, when you

41:29

had lunch, when you came home, everything

41:32

to be done, the Bernard one. Because

41:35

Stephanie's way was not a good way. So

41:37

she had to be controlled and watched over

41:39

every minute of the day. Is

41:42

that why you took up running? He

41:45

tries to breathe and just puts off your flying

41:47

list. He's a freedom up there. But

41:49

Eddie Raynor, who has the plane

41:51

spotter, he spots her And

41:54

he knows that she was flying and

41:56

that she lied about being able to

41:58

fly. And he knows that she's. Because

42:00

you can find and all the planes and

42:02

I think he could maybe and indicate that

42:04

she's gotten the my back so then she

42:07

might just have as well he thought to

42:09

blackmail inner city black male day. And.

42:12

Tried. To take a seat and promo

42:14

or the right of the so you

42:16

flying burn his body out loud noises

42:18

Hudson Black. Buffalo

42:21

The Man. Prices and

42:23

home. Picking off like that

42:25

I was great flying. For the

42:27

in line with the we hadn't

42:29

was towel why she decides to

42:31

costs Gabby knows of a heads.

42:34

Up. The Air sales. And.

42:36

Caught the fuel line with a job and

42:38

zones over posted airfield but of shut him

42:40

down before he puts it all together. His

42:43

fault. Oh come on Governs not a burn,

42:45

it more than a d He doesn't want

42:47

to control anyone, is a young man, his

42:49

life ahead of him. You don't want to

42:51

hurt him. Barnaby's. Lake Lake I get

42:53

yes, your husband, Baronets horrible man. As.

42:56

A portable man that governs nothing

42:58

says the young guys trying to

43:00

levies lace see suspended from from

43:02

gases that she thought that he

43:05

could also. Kane of indicate

43:07

high as the Mardi Gras and she

43:09

was just try to get clean escape

43:11

ever had very clean I think she

43:14

was happen or really hard time selling

43:16

address so they race against time. she

43:18

doesn't quite to got a the she

43:21

dove given in Kroenke on the head

43:23

with a valid or something like that

43:25

but they get they'd just in time

43:28

and she's arrested Sassy and assassinate the

43:30

What is interesting about this episode of

43:32

Women The Thesis I strongly enough that

43:35

is Stephanie A really. really strong

43:37

currents have money played by june

43:39

with food a very very strong

43:41

parents' house and also we have

43:43

harrys nice miranda a very very

43:45

strong character three women who has

43:47

a lot to say for themselves

43:49

says the women are very much

43:51

the driving force this episode of

43:53

even get sick llp tend to

43:56

kate whale dying or us all

43:58

adjust and saw her life and

44:00

her parents and her situation and she

44:02

delivers some zingers as well so it's

44:04

a good episode for the ladies. An

44:07

award has to go to June Whitfield

44:09

for her styling best costume award. She

44:11

looks brilliant throughout this whole

44:13

episode especially at the very end

44:15

where she's got like a jaunty

44:18

little cap on and she's got

44:20

her scarf and she's representing

44:22

the ATA with this huge

44:24

sort of statue and a medal but

44:26

she looks fabulous

44:28

throughout. She does indeed. Coming

44:33

up next time Bill and I

44:35

resurrect Dead Man's Eleven. The

44:38

town of Fletcher's Cross is preparing

44:40

for an annual cricket match when

44:43

the wife of a local landowner

44:45

and cricket captain is murdered after

44:47

taking her dog for a walk.

44:49

Spoiler alert going on there! We're

44:51

going to be dissecting this episode

44:53

with a fine-tooth scalpel. Oh yes!

44:55

So you'll definitely want to re-watch

44:58

this episode once we're done. Mrs.

45:00

Cowney seems to have been attacked. We found

45:02

a cricket bat by the body. We'll

45:05

hear from actress Jane Wymark who played Joyce

45:07

Barnaby. We went straight to John. We said

45:09

you want to hear something really funny? Apparently we're

45:11

going to be doing this for 12 years and

45:13

then I was in it for another 14 years.

45:16

As well as writer Victoria

45:18

Dowd from the Crime Writers

45:20

Association. There's some brilliant red herrings

45:22

in Dead Man's Eleven and I won't

45:24

give too much away because it's

45:27

a fantastic episode. And

45:29

of course we'll round things

45:31

off with Ashley Story's superfan

45:33

face-off. Meet

45:39

Summer Murders Mayhem is presented by

45:41

me Nikki Chapman. A massive thank

45:44

you to Ashley Story and our

45:46

guests Carla Valentine and June Whitfield.

45:49

This has been an all three

45:51

media international production with special thanks

45:53

to associate producers Rachel Gaester and

45:56

Danny Wolfe. This series

45:58

was created by Story and The executive

46:01

producer was Kirsty Hunter, produced

46:03

by Shannon Delwys. The

46:06

production team was Paineur, Annie

46:08

Abraham and Rieham Moussa. Some

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