Left for Dead is the third episode of the eleventh series of Midsomer Murders and first aired 20th July 2008.
DCI Barnaby and DS Jones investigate the deaths of Ron and Libby Wilson who are found dead in their cottage. They were found by Lynne Fox, a friend who claims to be a psychic and who offers to help the police. The cottage has been ransacked and they may be victims of a break-in gone bad. Soon after, Jack Purdy is killed and then dragged and put in his parked car. He had been out celebrating the previous evening for his brother Mark's stag night. He was also the man in charge of building a bypass around the town, which had lead to encounters with protesters including Alyssa Bradley, the owner of a home slated for destruction. There's a connection between the Wilsons and the Purdys: it was Jack and Mark Purdy's father who drove and accidentally killed the Wilsons' only son, Michael. As for Alyssa Bradley, her son Patrick disappeared 19 years ago and she is convinced that he will return. When a third person is killed, Barnaby begins to unravel the mystery that dates back nearly 20 years.
Tropes:
- Accidental Murder: The first Body of the Week occurs as a result of this when two characters are struggling at the top of the stairs. Although pushed, it was an accident and no murder was intended. The later murders, however...
- Bound and Gagged: The murderer leaves Tom Barnaby bound and gagged on a mattress in the cellar. He has to be rescued by Jones.
- Death by Falling Over / Staircase Tumble: How the first death in the episode happens.
- Madwoman in the Attic: As alluded to in the title, Patrick Bradley, who disappeared 19 years prior, turns out to be alive, brain-damaged, and locked in a cellar convinced by a couple that he was their lost child. When he finally figures out his true identity, he goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Molotov Cocktail: The murderer attempts to kill one victim by firebombing her house with a Molotov cocktail. The attempt fails, but only just, and the victim is hospitalized.
- Protest by Obstruction: A group of protestors protesting a new bypass use tactics like sitting in front of the excavators, chaining themselves to a tree and to a cottage that is scheduled for demolition, etc.
- Shout-Out: Patrick Bradley's surname is a reference to Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird. Both characters are considered ghostlike, locked up by their parent(s), not at full mental capacity, and only come out at night.
- Widowed at the Wedding: A bride is attacked at her wedding party, when she goes for a smoke outside. Her attacker burns her with a cigarette and stabs her with a knife, which ends up causing her death after a brief stint in hospital. The killer is a former bullying victim of her and her husband, who has gone on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge after the death of his (adoptive) parents.
