Midsomer Murders (TV Series) Who Killed Cock Robin? (2001) User Reviews

A very solid mystery.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 26 February 2019]

Who killed Cock Robin is a solid mystery, a good old fashioned, traditional whodunnit, with a solid plot, a good set of characters, nothing outlandish, as would be expected in later years.

None of the characters are particularly dynamic, but Larry Lamb is very good, and Yolanda Vazquez as always is very charismatic, and quite captivating. I would have to say that some of the others are very nondescript, you're not going to remember many of them after a few days, nor are you going to remember much of the plot itself. Gabrielle Lloyd, who has a good pedigree with Murder Mysteries isn't given enough screen time.

I like the ending, the conclusion was dramatic, and you were left wonderful as to the killer's identity to the last.

I like the early years, I like the less elaborate forms of killing, but perhaps this one is a little too subtle for its own good. 7/10

early entry into the Midsomer series

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 17 May 2012]

Barnaby (John Nettles) is still with his old partner, Troy (Daniel Casey) in the 2001 "Who Killed Cock Robin?" Dr. Burgess (Ian McNeice) is driving home late one night when he accidentally hits someone. When he summons help, however, the body is nowhere to be seen. Tom Barnaby is brought in. Since the person hit allegedly was an Irishman known as the horse whisperer, the obvious person to talk to is Melvyn Stockard (Larry Lamb), who buys and sells horses. He also has a criminal record.

Later, a body is found in the village well and the case becomes much more complex -- involving infidelity, more murder, and an important business deal with a lot of money involved.

Pretty good if not heart-pounding, with the attractive team interviewing various members of the village, including a former ballerina, a bitter husband and a delusional wife. The acting all around is good, but there are too many characters for us to really get to know them.

Beautiful scenery. For so much murder going on, the town sure looks idyllic.

Convoluted

[lbowdls · 7/10 · 29 December 2019]

This is one of those episodes which is so hard to follow, hard to keep up with who all the characters are. Even the plot like doesn't make sense as it says the father of someone getting married is found murdered but it's someone called Noel's father. So many different directions in this one which is not unusual in many Midsomer episodes. This one unlike some others which are hard to keep up with to me at least has interesting characters and does stay complex but ultimately clearer towards the end and reveal if the murderer. So all in all I think the episode is very satisfying unlike what others say.

Wrong nursery rhyme!

[kmoh-1 · 28 March 2022]

A fairly standard Midsomer Murders, based around a doomed wedding taking place in Cold Comfort Farm territory. All fine, loads of motives, and a revelation that is seemingly based on no evidence whatever, merely an announcement by Barnaby.

However, some reviewers have questioned the title. Actually, 'Who Killed Cock Robin?' is an old English nursery rhyme (probably about Robin Hood, with personified animals). "Who killed Cock Robin? 'I' said the sparrow/'with my little bow and arrow, I killed Cock Robin.'/Who saw him die? 'I' said the fly/'with my little eye, I saw him die.' And so on.

Apart from the murder theme, there is no connection between this rhyme and the plot. But when a body is removed from the well, Stockard says to Barnaby (for no apparent reason) "Pussy's in the well/Who put her in?/Little Tommy Flynn/Who pulled her out?/Little Tommy Stout". Not a very helpful comment from Melvyn, but he is quoting another nursery rhyme, Ding Dong Dell.

I suspect that the best explanation for the weird title is that the writer jumbled up his nursery rhymes when giving the piece its title.

Characters Certainly a Bit Stock

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 20 February 2016]

Considering the plot of this episode, it's my belief that this is just too long. As a result, there are long talky periods where little happens. Once a character has been established, we don't need more exposition. I think first of all of the farmer, the father of the boy who is getting married and the jilted husband. He is full of anger and there are several scenes that don't progress the plot, just reaffirm the same point. The smug father of the bride, an acquaintance of Barnaby's is much the same too. He is full of himself and he resists helping in the case, enjoying casting barbs at Tom. Unlike most of the Midsomer Murder episodes, I was pretty sure who the murderer was and I was proved correct. I could go into more, but others have already presented some of the shortcomings. I agree that a high standard has been set and the last two shows don't stack up.

One of the duller Midsomer Murders entries.

[poolandrews · 4/10 · 8 December 2007]

Midsomer Murders: Who Killed Cock Robin? is set in the small Midsomer village of Newton Magna where on his day off DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) decides to take his missus Joyce (Jane Wymark) to the village pub 'The White Swan'. However a coppers work is never done & the landlord Bill Pitman (Robert Oates) tells Tom about the local doctor Oliver Burgess (Ian McNeice) who hit an Irish man named Sean O'Connell (Sean McGinley) with his car the night before, Dr. Burgess came into the pub for help but when they returned to the scene O'Connell had mysteriously disappeared & fearing a scandal Burgess didn't want to report it. Barnaby calls in Sgt. Troy (Daniel Casey) & start to ask around the village, they discover that O'Connell was a horse whisperer & looking for work at the local riding school. Then, seemingly unconnected, while cleaning out the village well the body of local man Robin Wooliscroft (Patrick Drury) is brought up & the autopsy confirms he was murdered & dumped down the well. As well as a missing man Barnaby now has a murder on his hands & the sinister goings on don't stop there...

Episode 4 from season 4 this Midsomer Murders mystery was directed by David Tucker & coming straight after the disaster that was The Electric Vendetta I had hoped that Who Killed Cock Robin? would be a return to form for the show but to be honest it's as bad as The Electric Vendetta but for different reasons. The script by Jeremy Paul is surely one of the most dull mysteries in the entire series, the clichéd character's are just lifeless & bland. I suppose you could say that about a lot of Midsomer Murders episodes but here the character's really are very forgettable & poorly developed. Then there's the basic plot, I mean it's OK for what it is but it's actually rather slow going at times & takes a very long time to get going. Also I especially like the Midsomer Murders episodes where the motives for murder are over-the-top & the more bizarre the better, in the case of Who Killed Cock Robin? the motive is perhaps the most bland & routine in the whole series. The killer is also a little too easy to spot & even if you don't work it out the ending is a bit flat & the killer's identity won't surprise you. There's just not a lot here to get excited about, it's an alright Midsomer Murders episode but the show has set such high standards that the ones that don't measure up stick out like a sore thumb. Unusually the plot is rather simplistic too & I think that you could probably miss huge chunks of this & still pick up what's going on fairly easily. One more thing, why is this called Who Killed Cock Robin?? I mean why the word 'Cock'? What do Cock's have anything to do with it?!

Despite being a middling episode at best Who Killed Cock Robin? still looks as good as any other Midsomer Murders, the green with the well on it where Robin's body is discovered was shot in Westlington in Buckinghamshire, the car garage used was shot at Hambleden again in Buckinghamshire, Melvyn Stockard's beautiful manor house was Little Haseley in Oxfordshire & featured again in Midsomer Rhapsody (2005) during season 8 while Little Missenden in Buckinghamshire was also used for various locations including the pub scenes. This one has two murders although neither particularly graphic. There's an awful & hammy scene when Valerie Megson arrives back in the village after being away in Australia & she walks into the pub accompanied by an embarrassingly over emotion piece of piano music, it's a scene that I found hard to sit through & is probably the most poorly acted scene here. There's also a bit of Hammer Horror here as a murder takes place to one of their Dracula films which is playing on a TV in the background! I'm not sure which Dracula film it is though, it's been a while since I've seen them. The acting is pretty strong as usual from all involved for the most part but that 'home coming' scene in the pub is really, really badly shot, scored, conceived & acted.

Who Killed Cock Robin? is one of the most incident free Midsomer Murders episodes I can remember seeing, a low point & another disappointment after The Electric Vendetta. Hopefully the next episode Dark Autumn (2001) will be better, I doubt it'll be any worse.

Watchable, but not very impressive

[hossychristie · 5/10 · 11 October 2023]

After an enjoyable evening with local landowner and former criminal Melvyn Stockard and his girlfriend, Francesca Ward, who runs the horse stables, Dr. Oliver Burgess drives home and on the way he Suddenly hits a man who is standing in the middle of the road. The incident shocks Oliver and he goes to the local pub to inform the publican, Bill Pitman, that he has hit someone. When they follow him back to the crime scene, the body is gone. A body is later dragged up from a well at the village green, and the man's name is Robin Wooliscroft, who disappeared 6 weeks ago. It turns out that Robin had started a relationship with Valerie Magson, the farmer's wife. Robin and Valerie were supposed to start a new life in New Zealand and they were going seperately to the airport. Unfortunately, Robin never came, and Valerie had to go without him. Mary Mohan is later found murdered and when the case comes to a close, it is revealed that Frank Lightbourne and Bridget Wooliscroft are responsible for the murders. It seems quite obvious that Bridget wanted Robin dead, because she found out that he was planning to leave her for Valerie.

"Who Killed Cock Robin?" Is an okay episode. It is better than the previous "The Electric Vendetta", but the story gets a bit boring unfortunately. This may be that kind of episode that you never watch many times as you would with the classic episodes like "The Killing at Badger's Drift", "Written in Blood" and Death's Shadow". The killers in this episode was not a shock and was very easy to spot.

From the supporting cast, Mick Ford, Larry Lamb, Polly Maberly, Linda Marlowe, Ian McNeice and Yolanda Vazquez leave the best impression.

"Who Killed Cock Robin?" is not an interesting episode, but it is still watchable. The first minutes are very intriguing, but after a while, the episode just gets weaker. It is better than the previous "The Electric Vendetta", but is a long way to go before this story could compare with the classic episodes like "The Killings at Badger's Drift", "Written in Blood" and "Death's Shadow". 5/10 Hossy Christie.

Forgettable at best!

[harrykivi · 5/10 · 1 May 2020]

The 4th season of "Midsomer Murders" has been up and down for me. It started average with "Garden of Death", continued with an awesome "Destroying Angel", proceeded with an awful "The Electric Vendetta". Now where are discussing "Who Killed Cock Robin?", which is not an atrocious entry, but mediocre at best.

Let's start with good, shall we?

. The production values are good enough here with gorgeous direction by David Tucker and mostly fitting background music. The cast's also solid. Considering how small screen time Gabrielle Lloyd and Sean Mcginley have, they do very well. Yolanda Vaquez and Jane Lapotaire are fun to watch as well.

. There are moments of charm and intrigue in "Who Killed Cock Robin?". Jane Wymark's Joyce brings warmth and humor to the scenes she is in. The murder mystery is easy to follow too.

But..

. The story of "Who Killed Cock Robin?" is agreed way to simplistic for "Midsomer Murders". Sometimes the narrative feels way too predictable and not very compelling. To be honest, I was quite bored watching this mystery. Also, the episode does get very melodramatic at some point. Agree that the bar scene stood out like a cat among the pigeons.

. There are too many characters involved with the story, which leaves some of the characters underdeveloped. Especially was disappointed of how the mystery treated Melvyn Stockard, who felt underwritten.

. The solution's also very easy to figure out. The couple, who does the deed, is very formulaic for murder mysteries and motives are pretty standard too.

It really does feel like the script is taking the easiest way out having a mediocre narrative and character-building, which is quite sad. Overall, forgettable, but not awful "Midsomer Murders." There are far worse episodes than "Who Killed Cock Robin?"

5/10 HK

Certainly better than the previous episode, but a long way from being one of the better episodes

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 8 January 2017]

When it was in its prime, 'Midsomer Murders' was a joy to watch and had many classic/top-tier episodes to its name, with iconic moments and being so well-made, written and acted, the climaxes to "Written in Blood" and "Death's Shadow" for example are two of the show's overall greatest scenes. The earlier seasons are especially true to this.

Its prime era however is long gone. While there were admittedly not so good episodes when John Nettles was in the lead the Neil Dudgeon episodes, although the production values and music are still top-notch often have many problems. Including being overly-outlandish, over-convoluted, previously great characters being dumbed down and the characters generally being nowhere near as likable or interesting, even the acting sometimes can be a let-down.

Coming onto "Who Killed Cock Robin?", credit is due that it is a pretty significant improvement over the strange, convoluted, underdeveloped and over-stuffed "The Electric Vendetta", for me the show's first bad episode. However "Who Killed Cock Robin?" also really isn't one of the show's better episodes, being more a lower-middling one.

Enough salvages it to make it watchable at least, though people may only have a desire to see it just once or twice and not over and over like the best episodes. As ever though, The production values are without complaint, with picturesque scenery and as ever the whole episode is beautifully shot. The music also is a perfect fit, and the theme tune is as distinctive and unforgettable as one would expect.

Acting is also fine, especially John Nettles and Daniel Casey and they work so well together. Jane Wymark charms too and while her love for Nettles' Barnaby is always evident one understands her frustration at the constant interruptions due to the demands of his job. Barry Jackson is solid as well. The supporting cast do what they can in rather limited roles, Sean McGinley and Larry Lamb are the most notable names (am also familiar with Malcolm Storry and Gabrielle Lloyd, from their guest turns in 'Inspector Morse', both with little to do and it can show in their delivery) and both do very well.

However, the story is at some points simplistic and predictable, with the motive, final solution and murderer being rather easy to figure out (sad because 'Midsomer Murders' have shown a fair times that it is capable of some ingenious ones, while some plot twists and subplots succeed in convoluting the storytelling. Too much of the episode is leaden in pace too and not as dark, suspenseful or as grim as before, rather bland and too safe. There are again too many characters, some given short shrift and few of them having any development or life.

Scripting-wise there is not much special here, pretty flimsy and dull and again like the story plays it too safe.

In conclusion, a lower-middling episode but there are far worse 'Midsomer Murders' episodes than this (including the previous one). 5/10 Bethany Cox