Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Neil Dudgeon, Nick Hendrix, Fiona Dolman, Annette Badland, Tamzin Outhwaite, Aaron Cobham, Don Gilet, Nicholas Goh, Michael Maloney, Shereen Martin, Julian Lewis Jones, Douggie McMeekin, Carlyss Peer, Richard Rankin, Isabel Shaw, Marcia Warren.
If murder is the most despicable of crimes, then perhaps the threat and delivery of blackmail must be seen as one of insidious misconduct; the system of extortion ruins lives, it is the easy return for the nosy, the corrupt and the back-stabbing harbingers of low morals. There is a tinge of the ugly side of humanity to it which makes you question exactly what someone receives from it, the spark of the thrill in which is never sated or satisfied, a constant need to have power over someone, forcing them to behave like a puppet, a coercion of will in which the intended victim might be pushed to exert their own form of justice, of gaining back control.
Midsomer Murders has a habit of delivering the ghoulish and the ordinary together in one sitting, and The Lions of Causton is no exception, an insight into the minds of those shaken by the accusations and denunciations of half- truths and conjecture which is every bit as monstrous as the murders inflicted.
To portray blackmail in such a way is to dig deep into the social observance of such a subject, far too often it is seen on screen as akin to a glamourous exception to crime, the person with secrets is given the ultimatum in which money is extracted and then the reveal of pressure sees them give in to the baser instincts of humanity, the audience is pushed into feeling compassion for the one who has committed, it seems, the lesser of two of evils. However, as The Lions of Causton shows with able writing dexterity, and with the beauty of placing it in the hands of the village whimsy, such actions are in the hands of cowardly, and no matter how you dress it up, to obtain by threat is a gateway action to cause further injury, even death.
The Lions of Causton sees terrific performances by Don Gilet as the coach of the team, Michael Maloney as the conflicted Neville Gallagher and a tremendously enjoyable enactment of underhand menace by Marcia Warren; one in which the elegance of her performance is placed as the warm face of such ignobility.
An episode built on the pressure of deceit, of showing two different faces to the world and expecting no repercussions, The Lions of Causton is a murderous delight.
Ian D. Hall