Ghosts of Christmas Past is a special episode of Midsomer Murders that aired on Christmas Day of 2004. This episode was filmed during season 7, but was broadcasted between the episodes of season 8.
With his in-laws visiting for the holidays, DCI Barnaby is almost relieved to be called out when Lydia Villiers claims she was pushed down the staircase. When she dies, the police have a possible murder case on their hands. The Villiers family has reunited for Christmas including a long lost brother, Ross, but there are many secrets in the house. One subject that is not talked about much is the suicide of one of the siblings, Ferdy, nine years previously. Several of the young adults in the house, children when their uncle took his life, have memories of the incident. When the police learn that Ferdie's fiancée also committed suicide soon after his death, they have a better understanding of who might be seeking revenge.
Tropes:
- Asshole Victim: Unlike Lydia, who feels some remorse for lying about Claire, Jennifer is utterly unrepentant about it even though it drove her brother to suicide.
- Couldn't Find a Lighter: Jerkass Digby Frears lights a cigar from one of the candles on the dinner table as a taunt at one of the other guests who is not allowed to smoke.
- Crappy Holidays: Though the family come together for Christmas it's very apparent that most of them essentially just grin and bear it in part due to the memories of Ferdy's suicide and in part because Jennifer is insufferable, one even confiding in the newcomer that the red wine is how she gets through it. And this is before people start dying.
- Hunting "Accident": During the family reunion, there's a pheasant shoot scheduled. Jennifer Carter, unsuspecting, picks up the gun, says it feels heavier than usual, pulls the trigger and Kablooie. The cartridges that slipped into her pocket were too small, meaning they slid down the barrel and didn't fire (or eject) until she loaded another set in thinking the last shot was a dud. What's worse is that, according to The Coroner, this is actually a very common accident when hunting is involved. Had the threat for there to be two victims not been made, it would've been ruled a genuine accident
- The Killjoy: Jennifer, an exceptionally shrill and cruel instance of one who never ceased hounding her brother Ferdy over his desire to pursue a career as a magician rather than a 'real' job and actively destroyed his happiness by seeing his fiancée framed as a thief, directly resulting in the pair separately committing suicide. Even after Ferdy's death she's found to have heartlessly gotten rid of his magical paraphernalia and branded the attic it was kept in off-limits, and seemingly having learned nothing she treats Howard in much the same way.
- Laser-Guided Karma: The murderer attempts to invoke this on the two responsible for the deaths of his sister and friend by killing them in the same manner as the suicides. While he's prevented from gassing Lydia with car fumes like how his sister killed herself with them, his plan to kill Jennifer via shotgun like how Ferdy killed himself goes off without a hitch.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: The murderer initially relies on this, first by attempting to gas Lydia with her own car fumes and relying on her mental issues to have it chalked up as a tragic accident. When this scheme is foiled, they resort to pushing her down the stairs with the expectation that it will be chalked up to her slipping, only the fact that she survives long enough to tell Barnaby she was pushed plus an earlier death threat making Barnaby seriously consider this to be murder.
- Never My Fault: Jennifer refuses to acknowledge that her lie about Claire was wrong even after it drove her brother to suicide.
- Pick a Card: Young Howard Frears, who wants to be a magician when he grows up, does an actually-quite-clever version of the trick while being interviewed by Barnaby and Scott about the murder. His explanation of how he did it (including the fact that he arranged matters to have his own choice of card come up at the end) inspires Barnaby's later "Eureka!" Moment.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Dominic Jones' sister, Claire, married into the Villiers family, where she drew the suspicion of her sister-in-law, Jennifer, who hired a private detective to go into her past, revealing Claire had a criminal record of possessing drugs and stealing. To try and get her away from Lydia, Jennifer forced her aunt to claim several family heirlooms were stolen and put on sale in auctions without her knowledge, causing Claire to be charged before she was Driven to Suicide. When Dominic found out, he murdered both of them.
- Staircase Tumble: Lydia receives fatal injuries as a result of being pushed down the stairs, but her family believe it to be an accident. Since someone has already made threats to the family, Barnaby is certain it was murder.
- Tranquil Fury: Dominic Jones, though incensed by the deception that led to his sister and friend both killing themselves, coldly and calculatedly orchestrated the murders of those responsible while continuing to pose as their friend.
