Written in the Stars

A fair attempt at creating a spiritual and astrological episode, a similar feel to 'Things that go bump in the Night.'

It's certainly a watchable episode, but it's slightly forgettable when compared to some of the show's richer episodes, but the story is above average, the killings are innovative, but the main problem has to be the characters, with the exception of Maureen Lipman, they're all a bit forgettable.

Neil Dudgeon and Jason Hughes make a great combination, they work well off one another. Jason Hughes is much missed from the show. Sykes steals so many scenes.

I'm a life long fan of Maureen Lipman, she's appeared in two of my favourite shows, Midsomer Murders and Doctor Who, and it's fair to say that as an actress she's been given poor parts in both. Mystic Mags was almost a caricature, you expect characters to be big and bold, perhaps just a little too over the top.

The episode looks beautiful, it's very professionally shot, it both looks and sounds wonderfully atmospheric, with an excellent accompanying music. Some lighter moments throughout, particularly from the late great Kenny Ireland, and that moment where Jones tells Barnaby Uranus is fourteen times bigger then the Earth. It's not the best ending to be honest.

A fairly good watch, but you'll forget all about it pretty soon. 7/10

Midsomer Mysteries has the knack of using a niche subject and centering a fascinating story around it. Here it was astronomy. Season 15 has been a pleasant surprise from weak season 14. I found the story absolutely riveting. To top it off the episode featured some of MM most beautiful starlets as a bonus. Neil Dudgeon episodes will never be as good as John Nettles. But, this episode was a treat to watch.

When in its prime (a vast majority of Seasons 1-9), 'Midsomer Murders' was a great show and one that is watched and re-watched frequently. Seasons 10-13 became more uneven, with three of the show's worst episodes coming from Seasons 11 and 13, but there were a few solid episodes and "Blood Wedding" and especially "Master Class" were gems.

After John Nettles retired and Neil Dudgeon and the new character of John Barnaby took over, 'Midsomer Murders' just hasn't been the same, if anybody's read my reviews for the Season 14 episodes the reasons are detailed in those. After being pleasantly surprised by the previous two Season 15 episodes "The Dark Rider" and "Murder of Innocence", while not a 'Midsomer Murders' low-point "Written in the Stars" is a disappointment.

Starting with the strengths, as always, the production values in "Written in the Stars" cannot be faulted as usual. It's beautifully and atmospherically shot with suitably picturesque scenery. The music fits perfectly, with some lush jauntiness and sometimes an ominous quality, and the haunting theme tune is one of the most memorable and instantly recognisable of the genre.

The acting is good enough, with Neil Dudgeon and Jason Hughes acquitting themselves well and working more as a cohesive team than in most of their episodes. Barnaby isn't as arrogant or as disdainful, and Jones not as much as a dolt, Barnaby's treatment of Jones being nowhere near as much a turn off as in some of their previous episodes. Adorable and amusing Sykes steals scenes as ever. The murders are pretty inventive and atmospheric.

However, "Written in the Stars" had an intriguing concept with a unique premise but just doesn't grip, with an outlandish and convoluted story that fails to make sense. The final solution suffers from a too clichéd motive, not that surprising a killer's identity and for being pretty far fetched. The characters are not that engaging and lack colour (in personality). This is including bland Kate and condescendingly charmless Sarah (who for Barnaby's wife has very little chemistry with him).

Scripting is routine at best often and both takes itself too seriously and feels dumbed down. The pacing can lack energy.

In conclusion, pretty lacklustre but watchable episode. 5/10 Bethany Cox

The mystery is good but I did not like the story to much. It was supposed to be about stars and planet but it was mostly about occult stuff like horoscopes, predicting someone's future through the stars planets, meditation and yoga.

These are all things I do not believe in and 99 percent of the story is around these topics.

The story has opposing characters that study the planets and stars in a scientific way. Their project gets money funded in this area and the people have different ideas on the way the money should be used but they keep it a secret from each other.

The good thing about these Midsomer Murders is that they are not like American stories of murder like drugs, stealing etc. Their mystery is better not simple like a CSI or whatever. They usually are involved in finger prints not DNA.

There are several violent murders in this episode. They all seem to pan out with horoscope predictions which it seems the writer is trying to convince people the predictions are valid or the predictor may be the killer.

In the end the cops catch the murderer. British mystery series are good but don't make much sense on the role the police play. The detectives don't carry guns, They chase a killer that killed many people like in this story, and he calmly goes off with them.

In some series the police give tea to the ones they are questioning and seem to give alibis to criminals when trying to get the truth from them like in Wycliffe.

So unbelievable!

The previous episode murder of innocence had been one of the best since Neil Dudgeon took over. This is probably the worst. It really dragged on and, despite being the shortest episode to date, felt longer than the early episodes that lasted almost 15 minutes longer.