DANCE WITH THE DEAD
First Broadcast: November 12, 2006
A young man, Simon Bright, is found dead in his World War Two Humber inside a hangar at Cooper's Cross Airfield. At first it looks like a suicide pact gone wrong - the car is full of exhaust fumes and there are two glasses and an empty bottle of champagne beside him.
Dr Bullard finds Simon had suffered a blow to the head with a blunt instrument before he died - but there's no sign of his girlfriend, pretty Laura Sharp, who arrived in Morton Fendle just a year ago. Barnaby and Jones start the hunt for Laura.
Frances Kirby, who found the body, is trapped in an unhappy marriage to Tony, a former pilot turned air-crash investigator who is desperate to give the police the benefit of his experience. Tony fancies himself as a ladies man, while Frances finds solace in the devoted friendship of Richard Budd, the village postmaster.
Laura was a lodger at the home of single parent Carol Prentice, who tells the detectives the missing girl owed her rent. She worked at the local pub, the Airman, and at the boarding kennels run by Marissa Clarke, while also claiming benefit. But Laura's childlike charm seems to give her a strange hold over the villagers and no-one wanted to turn her in for fraud.
The investigation leads Barnaby and Jones to a traditional dance school run by Elaine Trim, the self-styled matchmaker of Morton Fendle. With Joyce and Cully in tow, the detectives join villagers for an evening of jazz and swing, but the spectre of the Second World War looms large.
In the black of night, Rosemary Wood, Frances' confused aunt, is convinced she sees her long-lost brother Ralph returning home, years after he went missing in action &ldots; and Tony Kirby is stabbed to death.
Carol receives a mysterious phone call and rushes to the old airfield, hoping to find Laura. But the killer is waiting for her instead.
|
DCI Tom Barnaby
|
John Nettles
|
| DS Ben
Jones
|
Jason Hughes
|
| Joyce
Barnaby
|
Jane Wymark
|
| Cully
Barnaby
|
Laura Howard
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| Dr. George
Bullard
|
Barry
Jackson
|
| Rosemary Wood Rosemary is in her early 70s and has never married. Every evening she leaves food and clothes in a lane in Morton Fendle for her brother Ralph who went missing in World War Two. | Georgine
Anderson
|
| Paul Bright Paul collects, repairs and hires out a range of military vehicles and equipment from the Second World War. He is devastated when his son Simon is found dead. | Ifan
Huw Dafydd
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| Elaine Trim Twice-divorced Elaine runs the village school of dancing and sees herself as the unofficial matchmaker of Morton Fendle, with mixed results. | Harriet Thorpe
|
| Francis Kirby Frances is Rosemary's niece and is unhappily married to Tony. She was once an air hostess and is still fit and attractive, and enjoys jogging around the village. | Felicity Dean
|
| Tony Kirby Tony is a few years older than his wife Frances. He met her when he worked as a civil pilot, before becoming an air crash investigator. He likes a drink and believes he is charming. | Danny Webb
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| Eric Usher Another bachelor of the village, Usher is a retired professional photographer and the local moaner. But he still has an eye for an attractive young lady. | David Henry
|
| Richard Budd Village postmaster Richard Budd is a bachelor in his early 50s. He idolises Frances and is desperate to rescue her from her marriage to Tony. Their relationship is politely romantic. | Derek
Hutchinson
|
| Jim Druce Jim is the landlord of the Airman pub, where Laura worked. | Geoffrey
Leesley
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| Carol Prentice Single mum Carol struggled to pay the mortgage when her husband walked out on her, so took in Laura Sharp as a lodger. She keeps rejecting amorous advances by Tony Kirby. | Wendy Wason
|
| Marissa Clarke A friend of Elaine's, Marissa is a well-built, friendly and cheerful woman who runs a boarding kennels. She is very Pedigree Chum. | Nicola Redmond
|
| Laura Sharpe Laura is a missing person in her early 20s. She is attractive, tiny and almost childlike. She lodged at the home of Carol Prentice. | Liz Watts
|
| Simon
Bright
|
Edward
Davenport
|
| Crooner | Liza Pulman
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| -- | -- |
| Screenplay
by
|
Peter
J Hammond
|
| Directed
by
|
Peter
Smith
|
| Produced
by
|
Brian True-May
|
Filming took place for 'Dance With the Dead' in May and June 2006, in locations such as Flaunden, Bucks (The Airman Pub); Frieth, Bucks (the exterior of the parish hall); Nettlebed, Oxon (the interior of the parish hall) and Dorchester-On-Thames, Bucks (Richard Budd's post office).