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Dark deeds in the season of giving bring the overworked Midsomer detectives to a grand old country house for a chilling encounter...
It's a classic Agatha Christie-style whodunnit," says John Hopkins (aka DS Daniel Scott) of the Midsomer Murders Christmas special. The two-hour episode centres on the troubled Villiers clan, who return to their crumbling country seat for the festive season. Being a proper, old-fashioned kind of festive mystery, 'Ghosts of Christmas Past' required a proper, old fashioned house. Enter, with a posh flourish, Harpsden Court, an imposing mansion dating back to the 12th century, near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.
"It's an extraordinary building," says John Nettles (DCI Tom Barnaby), "and a very apt setting. There's a real sense of melodrama. The owners live in one wing, and the rest is unheated. It was freezing, and everyone was in full outdoor gear - over-trousers, mufflers, coats and hats!"
"Walking into it is like going back a hundred years," adds executive producer Brian True-May, who has worked on Midsomer Murders since it began in 1997. "In the kitchen, there are antique ranges and stone floors. In the main room, there's a great big baronial fireplace."
This isn't the first time a TV crew has filmed in these spine-chilling conditions. "We've used it before for Midsomer Murders, and also for and episode of Ultimate Force, where we stormed it and fired rockets at people!" says True-May. "The owners encourage filming. Quite honestly, they need the money because the upkeep is massive."
As well as the Christmas special, the tram have been at work on a new eight-part series since May. "Midsomer Murders now takes up ten months of the year, so it's impossible to have any plans outside it, apart from survival!" he says.
Thanks to sinister threats, mysterious accidents and lashing of murder, survival becomes a priority for the Villiers family in the Christmas special - and Harpsden Court proved perfect for its spooky plot. "We heard rumours that it was haunted, "says Hopkins. "It would get cold in odd places. Mind you, "he concedes, "I think that was because the windows didn't fit!"
