Midsomer Murders is one of those crime dramas that I can’t get enough of. Whenever older episodes are re-shown - especially if they star John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby - I’ll still be transfixed watching them.
There’s something strangely comforting about the ITV show as although it features plenty of gruesome murders, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. From someone being eaten by a wild boar in Midsomer Murders Wild Harvest to a character being beaten to death with a block of cheese in another episode, there’s a layer of the ridiculous that makes it so enjoyable.
There are also some brilliant themes for each episode. The latest to be shown again on ITV3 tonight is The Killings of Copenhagen and it revolves around a biscuit factory.
This is a milestone in Midsomer Murders history as it’s not only the 100th episode but also has a special twist to it. Here I explain who the killer is, why they did it and why this episode is so different…
Who is the killer in Midsomer Murders: The Killings of Copenhagen?
Clara Trout (played by the brilliant Joanna Scanlan) is unmasked as the murderer in The Killings of Copenhagen. She is discovered by DCI John Barnaby (cousin of the original detective) and his sergeant Charlie Nelson attempting to commit a fifth murder in Calder’s biscuit factory.
Since Midsomer Murders first started in 1997 the number of killings per episode has varied, but this one included two. Clara killed Eric Calder first, even though he died in Denmark and was nowhere near her at the time.
She poisoned an empty Calder’s biscuit tin and sent it to Eric in Denmark. As soon as he opened the package and held it with his hands, it got into his bloodstream.
Clara went on to kill Eric’s brother Julian Calder in a far more hands-on way. She restrained him and then poured a bottle of whiskey down his throat until he suffocated.
Julian’s body was then hidden in a shipment of biscuits and sent to Toft Biscuit Factory in Denmark. It was here that he was found and Barnaby and Nelson paid a visit to Copenhagen and realised that Julian had been killed back in England.
Clara’s final murders in Midsomer Murders: The Killings of Copenhagen were brothers Atticus and Ernest Bradley, the antique shop owners. She stabbed them and put apples around them which Barnaby believed was to suggest they were "greedy little pigs".
Why did Clara Trout commit murder in the 100th episode?
The motive for the murders in The Killings of Copenhagen was Clara wanting to get revenge for her dead mother, Agnes. She had been a brilliant baker and it was her recipe for the Golden Cluster biscuit that made Calder’s so famous.
They passed it off as their own and Clara was furious that her mother had been treated so badly. She described Agnes as a "good woman" and told Barnaby and Nelson that the tearoom she bought after leaving her job at Calder’s "killed her".
After Agnes died, Clara had found the original recipe. She’d figured out that her mother had created the biscuit and believed Calder’s "took advantage of her".
What she hadn’t known was that Agnes had decided to give the recipe for Golden Clusters to Calder’s in return for them promising to give Clara a job for life. The tea room was a "sweetener", not the full reward.
Not knowing this, Clara had continued her mission to make them pay. She killed the Bradleys because Eric had paid them to ship some of his personal things to a cabin in Denmark he’d bought to start over with a former girlfriend.
They didn’t end up sending them, but they found Agnes’ recipe book in his belongings. Atticus and Ernest had tried to sell her the recipe back to her "as if it was all about the money".
"She died unsung, unknown," said Clara, adding that Calder's Head Baker Armand Stone had got all the praise". That was why she was trying to kill Armand when Barnaby and Nelson found her in the factory.
Although Barnaby tried to convince her that all everyone will remember now is her crimes and not her mother, Clara Trout was having none of it. She responded simply, "One more won’t make a difference".
If Nelson hadn’t leaped from the stairs to rescue Armand from falling into the factory oven, he would have been Clara’s fifth victim for sure. Armand claimed that Eric and Julian Calder had "forced him" to go along with their plan of pretending he came up with the biscuit.
When he was saved, the truth all came out about Agnes’ deal with Eric Calder. She had told him that Clara had "talent" and that was why she got her job.
"She traded the recipe for your career," Barnaby said simply.
This was enough to make Clara break down in tears. She was arrested and Barnaby rushed off to the hospital where he and his wife Sarah welcomed a baby girl, Betty Barnaby.
Why was The Killings of Copenhagen a first for Midsomer Murders?
Midsomer Murders rarely focuses on any location except the fictional county of Midsomer, but The Killings of Copenhagen was partly set in Denmark. The episode opened with Danish detectives Birgitte Poulsen and Anna Degn investigating Eric’s death.
They then called Barnaby in and eventually he went over to Denmark after another body was found. The only other episode that takes place outside Midsomer is The Sword of Guillaume and this is partly set in Brighton, so doesn’t go further afield than Britain.
This makes The Killings of Copenhagen unique for Midsomer Murders. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect way to make the 100th episode really stand out and give it an even more special place in the ITV drama’s history.
All episodes of Midsomer Murders seasons 1-23 are available to watch now on ITVX.
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