Barry Jackson Movies

Provincial police inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) is busier than ever in Series Eight of the popular British mystery program Midsomer Murders. Instead of the usual four feature-length episodes, this year's schedule yields no fewer than eight challenge mysteries for Barnaby and his new assistant, Sgt. Dan Scott (John Hopkins). In the opener "Things that Go Bump in the Night", Barnaby tries to determine if a killer is lurking amidst a spiritualist group. In "Dead in the Water", a corpse puts a crimp in the annual Midsomer rowing regatta. "Ghosts of Christmas Past" proves to be something of a relief for Barnaby, inasmuch as his investigation of strange events at an ancient historical landmark enables him to escape his irksome Christmas house guests. In "Orchis Fatalis", the murder of a supposedly respectable schoolteacher is at the center of a mystery involving an unusually valuable orchid. "Bantling Boy" is the story of a race horse, a groom with an unsavory past, and sudden death. In "Second Sight", Barnaby comes upon a village populated by psychics--at least one of whom is a murderer. In "Hidden Depths", a brace of suspicious deaths is somehow linked with a cache of counterfeit wine labels. Finally, "Sauce for the Goose" serves up the unappetizing spectacle of man crushed to death in a vat of relish! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Five feature-length episodes are on the roster in Season Six of the popular British mystery program Midsomer Murders. Detective Chief Inspector Tom Burnaby (John Nettles) of Midsomer County wastes no time getting down to business with "A Talent for Life", in which former "Bond girl" Honor Blackman portrays the first casualty of two seemingly unrelated murders. "Death and Dreams" is next, wherein Barnaby visits a hospital run by an old friend during his investigation of a highly suspicious suicide. For a change of pace, it is Barnaby's wife Joyce (Jane Wymark) who stubmles upon a corpse while pursuing her favorite hobby in "Painted in Blood". In "A Tale of Two Hamlets", there just might be a link between the death of a young film star, a notorious Satanist, and a bitter feud between two neighboring villages. Finally, Barnaby wonders if there is a connection between two freakish deaths and an eccentric millionaire inventor (Richard Todd) in "Birds of Prey". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A number of inconvenient truths are revealed after the death of the leader of a secret investment club in "Marked for Murder", the first of four feature-length episodes in Series Five of the popular British crime program Midsomer Murders. Avuncular Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) has no sooner disposed of that case than he is plunged into a mystery concerning witchcraft, infidelity and an e-mailed suicide note in "A Worm in the Bud". Then it's off to the town of Midsomer Wellow, where the mortality rate of the community's bellringers is appalling, in "Ring Out Your Dead", And finally Barnaby probes the death of a private-school student and the possible involvement of a sinister secret club in "Murder on St. Malley's Day". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 13th feature-length episode of the British detective series Midsomer Murders, "Beyond the Grave" is set in motion by a mysterious act of vandalism at the Aspen Tallow museum. When a 17th century painting is slashed to pieces, the superstitious locals believe that the damage was the handiwork of one Jonathan Lowrie -- and never mind that he has been dead for centuries. Ultimately, a number of mysterious deaths occur, which some attribute to Lowrie but which DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) believes are being committed by someone who is still very much alive. As he pursues his investigation, Tom is also pressed into service as a "technical advisor" for his daughter's actor-boyfriend (Ed Waters), who has been cast as a cop in a popular TV soap opera. "Beyond the Grave" was first telecast in the U.K. on February 5, 2000, and in the U.S. on April 8 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) of Midsomer country once again encounters a full docket of baffling mysteries during Series Three of Midsomer Murders. The first of this year's four feature-length episodes is "Death of a Stranger", in which Barnaby's efforts to prove the innocence of a young man arrested for murder are complicated by several more killings. Next up is "Blue Herrings", featuring veteran British stage and screen star Phyllis Calvert) as Barnaby's slightly dotty Aunt Alice, who prevails upon her nephew to look into the strange goings-on at her nursing home. In "Judgment Day", the community of Midsomer Mallow may lose the annual Perfect Village competition thanks to three inconvenient murders (watch for a young Orlando Bloom as burglar. And in "Beyond the Grave", is it possible that Barnaby's most formidable nemesis is a 17th century ghost--or failing that, is it the annoyingly persistent new boyfriend of the Inspector's daughter Cully (Laura Howard)? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After making its British TV bow with the one-shot special "The Killings at Badgers Draft" in March of 1997, the whimsical mystery series Midsomer Murders launched its first full year on the air in the Summer of 1998, offering four feature-length episodes. In each story, veteran Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) unearths a hotbed of death, deception and depravity in the deceptively tranquil rural county of Midsomer. Assisting Barnaby in his inquiries is his loyal young aide Sgt. Troy (Daniel Casey) and mild-mannered county pathologist Dr. Bullard (Barry Jackson). In the first episode, "Written in Blood", Barnaby must solve the murder of a man who legally doesn't exist. Next up is "Death of a Hollow Man", in which the backstage intrigues surrounding an amateur production of "Amadeus" turn lethal. Barnaby looks into some likely skullduggery within the financial structure of a village community crafts center in "Faithful Unto Death" And finally, "Death in Disguise" finds Barnaby investigating a series of "coincidental" fatalities in a New-Age commune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another Man Who Loved Women with a slightly different plot, this routine story opens with the funeral of a local projectionist and gardener, Donald Lovelace (Barry Jackson). His widow and daughter are surprised at the number of women who turn out to mourn Donald's passing. Soon the truth about his peccadillos with a string of women ranging from the usherette at the movie theater to an aspiring singer are told in flashbacks, revealing a life that his aloof wife and resentful daughter knew nothing about. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

John Sebastian's musical score lends an appropriately anachronistic touch to the endearingly outdated The Act. Robert Ginty and Sarah Langenfield are the principal participants in this satiric tale of political dirty trickery, with emphasis on underhanded union tactics. Also on hand are veterans Jill St. John, Eddie Albert and Pat Hingle, who laudably behave as if the dialogue they're spouting actually has some artistic value. If you don't remember The Act making the scene at your local theatre in 1982, don't feel bad. The film barely received a release at all until it was committed to videotape several years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fifth episode of the six-part story "The Armageddon Factor," the Doctor (Tom Baker) has arrived on the "hidden" planet between the warring twin worlds of Atrios and Zeos. With the help of his old friend Drax (Barry Jackson), the Doctor is able to free himself and Romana (Mary Tamm) from the grip of the Shadow (William Squire), chief henchman of the dreaded Black Guardian. But several tasks still lie before the Doctor, not least of which is retrieving the sixth segment of the Key to Time, thereby restoring the balance between Good and Evil in the universe. Originally telecast on February 17, 1979, "The Armageddon Factor, Episode 5" was written by Bob Baker and David Martin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this children's movie, an adorable alien, Glitterball, is discovered by two moppets after he is inadvertently abandoned on Earth. The kiddies attempt to help Glitterball get home. They succeed and his is rescued by his beautiful mother ship. This film was released five years before Steven Spielberg made his classic E.T. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ian Hendry, who as Dr. David Keel had been one of the original stars of the original Avengers, is here cast as Gunner, an amnesiac secret agent. Having been missing for seventeen years, Gunner suddenly shows up, and just as suddenly recovers his memory, providing a strange coded message. This new information may or may not be able to lead Steed (Patrick MacNee), Purdey (Joanna Lumley) and Gambit (Gareth Hunt) to the whereabouts of a notorious double agent known only as the White Rat. As usual, however, the villain gets the upper hand along the way, forcing the New Avengers to gamble with their lives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The logic behind inflating Robert Bolt's minimalist romantic drama Ryan's Daughter into a 12-million-dollar epic seems to have been "When David Lean directs, it's a super-spectacular." Sarah Miles (who at the time was married to Robert Bolt) stars as Rosy, the daughter of Irish pub keeper Tom Ryan (Leo McKern). Married to tweedy, sexless schoolmaster Charles Shaughnessy (Robert Mitchum), restless Rosy has an affair with British officer Randolph Doryan (Christopher Jones). When village idiot Michael (an Oscar-winning turn by John Mills) innocently uncovers evidence of Rosy's indiscretion, the local gossips begin wagging their tongues. Shaughnessy chooses to remain above the scandal, assuming that Rosy will come to her senses. Later, Rosy's father informs on a group of IRA insurgents, hoping to keep the peace in his village. The locals assume that Rosy, still enamored of Doryan, is the informer, and exact a humiliating punishment. Realizing that his very presence has caused disgrace for Rosy, Doryan kills himself. For Rosy and Shaughnessy, life goes on...not happily ever after, just ever after. The film was lensed on location in Ireland by frequent Lean collaborator Freddie Young. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide