Five seasons of classic British murder mystery now available on DvD through Acorn
DURING THE dog days of summer there are few guilty pleasures more enjoyable than a British murder mystery, and if murder among the marigolds is your thing then British television specialist Acorn has got just the thing for you.
On July 30th the popular British television retailer and online streamer is re-releasing the first five series of its best-selling series, Midsomer Murders, in individual season sets and in original U.K. broadcast order with SDH subtitles (subtitles for the deaf/hard of hearing).
For those who have not yet experienced the particular pleasures of the show, Midsomer Murders features macabre crimes in bucolic English rural settings where the sun is always shining and the birds always singing. But no matter how ingenious the criminal, justice always prevails thanks to low-key detective Tom Barnaby (John Nettles). Series 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 have featured a wide array of famous faces, including Orlando Bloom, Emily Mortimer, Honeysuckle Weeks, Toby Jones, Imelda Staunton, Trudie Styler, James Bolam, Samantha Bond, Anthony Bate, Kenneth Colley, Celia Imrie, and Hugh Bonneville (of Downton Abbey fame).
Acorn TV is currently featuring a free 30-day trial for complete access to 18 different series in its catalog, plus marathons. Thereafter, a subscription is $2.99/mth or $29.99/yr. Each week three new seasons are added and three are removed. Among the offerings: War and Peace, Jack Taylor, I, Claudius, Vera, Joanna Lumley’s Nile, as well as U.S. premieres of Honest and Blandings Series 1,and marathons of Prime Suspect, Foyle’s War, and Agatha Christie’s Marple. For details go to acornonline.com/TV.
Time Magazine has described Acorn as the ‘chief curators of the best Brit TV’, and after spending a few hours recently engrossed in the Midsomer Murders, this critic would have to agree.
– Nick Stark
