HIDDEN DEPTHS

First Broadcast: March 13, 2005

Antonia Wilmot and Felicity Turner meet up for their Friday morning coffee, which they use to discuss each of their husbands. They each live in the same residence - Sandford House. Felicity starts by talking about her husband, who is apparently refusing to tell her about what's troubling him. The clean, Sarah, has even seen him heading to the roof numerous times. That happens again that morning. Suddenly, there are some cries from the roof and Felicity's husband falls down in full view of both the women. It doesn't look like anyone saw anything - no-one was near the roof, and the gardener, Steve Hope, was working on a bench on the other side of the house.

Barnaby and Scott are called in. His head and spine have been fatally wounded. The victim is Nick Turner, a solicitor. The cleaner, Sarah, thinks he might have taken his own life. But Felicity is sure her husband would never do such a thing. Barnaby learns from Antonia that Felicity and Nick may have fallen out over financial business. Barnaby and Scott ask to talk to Jack Wilmot, Antonia's husband, but he is at work.

The detectives visit his bank and learn that he was indeed in financial difficulty. He'd spent a lot of money on caring for Felicity's parents who were unwell at the time. And then there was a pompous old villager, Otto Benham, historian and also a solicitor, who had been spreading rumours about Nick. Most of the villagers had been told that Nick was taking money from his clients' accounts. His business partner, Jeff Martin, denies it but is made to check in case some money is missing.

Barnaby and Scott go to the local pub, The Crown Inn, in connection with trying to find out more from the villagers. Barnaby does some detective work while Scott spends his time chatting up a barmaid and ruining the quiz night by shouting out some of the answers! The pub had a minute's silence for Nick, as one of the punter's recall, but the pretentious pair of Mike Spicer, the former presenter of an awfully cheesy quiz show, and Otto Benham, the man spreading the rumours, kept sipping their wine. Another villager who is upset about Nick's demise is Jane Hampton, who worked for him briefly. There were more rumours in the village that she and Nick were lovers, but she denies all.
The next morning, Jane Hampton tells them what might have caused Nick to be depressed. He seemed to be speechless by some accident which he wouldn't say much about. But before that, he mentioned going to see a man called Peter Blagdon, who she briefly saw. Barnaby confuses Peter with Anthony Blagdon, who owns Sandford House.

Barnaby and Scott ask both Otto and Mike Spicer if they know the man. Otto doesn't seem to - but Spicer could be covering something up. Scott traces a picture of Peter Blandon - but he is the opposite to how Jane described him.
Barnaby asks Antonia if there has been any sign of her husband, Jack, but he has gone missing. That evening, a shocking murder takes place. Otto Benham is pinned to his croquet lawn and his wife Bernie, who hates him as much as he hates her, is forced to watch from an upstairs window. One of the historical catapults are used to fling wine bottles at him. He eventually dies. Bernie cannot help enjoying such a show.

Antonia dreams up something about Jack being locked in a secret wine cellar which is under Sandford House. There have been rumours that it has existed, and her husband, Jack, was once obsessed with finding the place. However, her hunt for finding it causes her to be locked in with Barnaby and Scott. Might they work out the whole case from inside the cellar? But what they can't do is get out - or stop another murder from being committed.

 

DCI Tom Barnaby

John Nettles

DS Daniel Scott

John Hopkins

Joyce Barnaby

Jane Wymark

Dr. George Bullard

Barry Jackson

Otto Benham

Oliver Ford Davies

Bernie Benham

Sara Kestelman

Antonia Wilmot

Nancy Carroll

Jack Wilmot

Matthew Flynn

Nick Turner

James Weber-Brown

Felicity Turner

Lucy Russell

Mike Spicer

Robert Daws

Steve Hope

Steve Lightbody

Sarah

Vicki Hopps

Jane Hampton

Rebecca Charles

Viv Marshall

Simon Armstrong

Jeff Martin

Phillip Bird

Mr. Perkins

Robin Soans

George

Ian Talbot

Zara

Caroline Laskowska

Cabbie

David Hampshire

Estate Agent

Eileen Davies

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Screenplay

David Hoskins

Director

Sarah Hellings

Producer

Brian True-May

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