THE ANIMAL WITHIN
First Broadcast: January 19, 2007
Faith Alexander arrives in Midsomer Deverell to meet her long-lost uncle Rex Masters. But Rex has told everyone that Faith's entire family was wiped out in a plane crash - and he has disappeared.
Thanks to Miles King, an old friend who does Rex's gardening, news spreads quickly. Rex's cook Eileen Carnack, cleaner Janet Bailey and Janet's fiancé Jeremy Thacker rush to his home, Stonecroft House. Faith is anxious and can't understand how Rex has photographs of her when they haven't met following a 40-year family feud.
Barnaby asks Jones to investigate the disappearance. Faith explains the feud had something to do with her mother's childhood friend Lucinda Thacker, who went on to become the famous missionary Mama Lucy of Ethiopia. Janet is shocked - Lucinda was Jeremy's mother and he is devoted curator of the Mama Lucy Museum.
Rex's body is found in the river, below Crofter's Weir. Bullard suspects he was hit before he entered the water. Faith decides to stay on at the house, befriending Janet.
Solicitor Jane Benbow has a will showing Faith is the main beneficiary. But then Eileen, Janet and Miles all produce new wills, stating each of them will inherit Rex's wealth. Janet's is the most recent, and Miles and Eileen realise they have been tricked into years of unpaid work by their mischief-making friend.
An intruder tries to break into Rex's study in the night. Barnaby reads Jeremy's biography of his mother and suspects the family feud started because Rex sexually abused Lucinda when she was a teenager.
Meanwhile, Mrs Benbow discovers Rex was making substantial payments to Faith's husband Alan. He arrives and is arrested. Alan admits gaining £160,000 from Rex and sending him family photos. But he claims he is not the killer and witnessed someone else break into Rex's house the night he vanished. Then Barnaby and Jones find the bodies of Miles and Eileen, brutally stabbed to death.
Barnaby returns to Rex's study and finds some important clues in his erotic photographs from the 60s. Can he get to the bottom of the tangled relationships stretching across the generations and identify the killer?
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DCI Tom Barnaby
|
John Nettles
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| DC Ben
Jones
|
Jason Hughes
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| Joyce
Barnaby
|
Jane Wymark
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| Cully
Barnaby
|
Laura Howard
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| Dr. George
Bullard
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Barry
Jackson
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| Faith Alexander A clean-cut American woman in her mid 40s, Faith lacks in confidence and style. She leaves Philadelphia to visit her uncle, Rex Masters, in Midsomer following a family feud that has lasted 40 years. | Lisa
Eichhorn
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| Miles King Miles has known Rex since his childhood and helps out in his garden at Stonecroft House. He's in his 60s, fit and handsome, but is a slightly dodgy ne'er do well. | David
Troughton
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| Janet Bailey Rex's cleaner Janet is loyal to her boss. She is engaged to local museum curator Jeremy Thacker and befriends Faith when she arrives. | Emily
Woof
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| Eileen Carnack A receptionist at the surgery run by her GP husband Richard, Eileen is in her 50s and appears tense and unfulfilled. She helps Rex by cooking for his many dinner parties. | Linda
Basset
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| Richard Carnack Richard is a solid, dependable doctor in Midsomer Deverell. He is married to Eileen but doesn't know how to make his wife happy. | Malcolm
Stoddard
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| Amie Pearce Amie is a traditional, yet intelligent country wife, married to Jack. | Freda Dowie
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| Jack Pearce The village lock-keeper, Jack lives in a cottage near the weir and is a countryman in his 70s. | John
Cater
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| Jeremy Thacker Jeremy is curator of the museum set up to honour his mother Lucinda, who became a famous missionary, Mama Lucy of Ethiopia. He is engaged to Janet Bailey and devoted to his mother's memory. | Samuel West
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| Jane Benbow A smart solicitor, based in Causton, Jane is the lawyer to Rex Masters. | Helen
Masters
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| Rex Masters Larger than life Rex is charming, urbane and enjoys a bit of mischief. A retired society photographer, he lives in style at his lavish country home Stonecroft House. | Richard Johnson
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| Alan Alexander An American, Alan is in his 40s, slick and manipulative. | William Hope
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| Screenplay
by
|
David Hoskins
|
| Directed
by
|
Renny
Rye
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| Produced
by
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Brian True-May
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'The Animal Within' was filmed in June and July of 2006, in locations such as Mill End, Bucks (the weir) and Littlewick Green, Berks (the green and cottages).
The episode was first broadcast on 19th January 2007, and attracted 6.1 million viewers.