Red in Tooth & Claw is the fourth episode of the nineteenth series of Midsomer Murders and originally aired 18th January 2017.
Delphi Hartley's annual summer pet show comes to Bellville Hall, and local businessman Timothy Benson is once again working hard to ensure his prize-winning rabbit, Hercules, claims Best in Show. However, shortly after opening, the show is rocked by the murder of local estate agent Seb Huntington, who is found inside the central marquee, covered in live rabbits. His girlfriend, Tegan Langton, who is Delphi's second in command, is left distraught by his death. Meanwhile, Benson is shocked to discover that Hercules appears to have disappeared without trace. Suspicion immediately falls on him and his wife Ailsa after DCI Barnaby and DS Winter discover that they both have conflicting alibis for the time of the murder. When Huntington's boss, and Tegan's mum, Cleo, is found dead in her car, having asphyxiated from an allergic reaction to rabbit hair which is found inside her air conditioning system, it soon appears that someone has a motive for harming everyone close to Tegan.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – Medicine: It is rare for pet allergies to cause anaphylactic shock, so triggering someone's allergies to rabbits is not a good murder weapon.
- Constructive Body Disposal: The killer attempts to bury Errol Judd (who is still alive) in the concrete being poured for the foundation of a new heating oil tank, but is stopped by Barnaby and Winter.
- Plot Allergy: Rabbit fur is placed in the ducts of Cleo Langton's car. Turning on the A.C. system with the windows closed triggers her allergy to rabbits, and her allergy medication was removed from her purse, so she dies by respiratory failure.
- Shout-Out: Just before announcing the Best in Show Award, a prize is given for the Siberian Hamster category, but the girl is holding a rat, a little nod to the Fawlty Towers episode "Basil the Rat".
