Village Green, Turville, Bucks, UK – Midsomer Murders, The Straw Woman (2004) - Movie Locations on Waymarking.com

Liz Francis, the new teacher in Midsomer Parva, restarts the old tradition of burning a straw woman in the village. Unfortunately the local curate is inside the straw woman and Barnaby is called to investigate his murder. The local vicar was in a relationship with the curate and he dies shortly afterwards, having spontaneously burst into flames in the church.

Some villagers blame Liz Francis for restarting the ritual, whilst others blame Alan Clifford, a man who made his fortune in the sex industry and who has bought the local manor house. Attached to the manor house is a chapel, which Clifford has turned into a sex shrine. The late curate was trying to get the chapel back, claiming that the chapel was never sold to the manor.

Two of the most vociferous opponents of Alan Clifford are the local GP, John Cole, and Margaret Hopkins, widow and Cole’s lover. John Cole’s son, Matthew, is a photographer and has been photographing Alan Clifford’s daughter, Jo. Jo is one of John Cole’s patients, and has been propositioned by the good doctor. John Cole receives some photographs of Jo posing for Matthew and heads for the church. In the church he suffers the same fate as the vicar, but is saved from death by Liz Francis.

Liz Francis comes under attack from the villagers and Scott takes to protecting her. He spends the night with her and they discuss the treatment of witches in the past and the ritual of the straw woman. The next morning Liz goes to the church, and she bursts into flames and dies. Scott finds that she had discovered something in the church records. When Scott reads the records he finds that one of the witches executed in the 17th century was called Malpas, the same name as a herbal doctor in the village.

Kate Malpas is a former GP who now heals using herbal medicine. She is treating Alan Clifford, who is dying from terminal cancer. Clifford is also being treated by his nurse and partner, Agnes Waterhouse. Scott and Barnaby trace calls made to Liz Francis and John Cole to Agnes Waterhouse’s phone. She had been committing the murders so that she could have complete control of Clifford’s medical care. She had hoped to pass the blame to Kate Malpas using the ancient witch records. The spontaneous combustion had been caused by phosphorus dissolved in toluene, a trick she learnt from a former boy friend who was a lab technician.

Movie or TV Show: Midsomer Murders - The Straw Woman Year Released or First Aired: 2,004.00 IMDB Link: [Web Link]

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