Second Sight is the fifth episode of the eighth series of ''Midsomer Murders. It originally aired on January 23, 2005.
DCI Barnaby and DS Scott investigate the death of John Ransom in the village of Midsomer Mere. He had just been ejected from a pub for fighting but the post mortem shows a series of burn marks on his skull indicating he may have been subject to electric shock. The police find that the dead man's brother Max was conducting experiments in precognition and had applied the shocks. As Barnaby delves deeper, he learns of an ongoing dispute between the Ransom and the Kirby families over whether a new-born niece should be baptized. The families have a long history of fighting and both claim to have the power of Second Sight.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Emma Kirby insists that Baby Christine can't possibly have psychic powers although her father's family claim they do, screams her head off every time she's in the vicinity of someone who means harm (or her mother thinks is a threat). Turns out that Emma is the child of a Ransom and that family does have some ESP abilities.
- Sinister Minister: Reverend 'Preaching' Pete Kubatski is annoyed that the town, venerates people with "Second Sight" as he sees it as ungodly. He's also sexually and romantically interested in one of his congregation. Despite being meek and mild to the exterior, he is actually dangerously psychotic. Unable to take confirmation of his failure as a priest from John Ransom's psychic abilities Pete murdered John in a fit of rage. He then proceeded to commit several other murders to cover up his crime.
- Phony Psychic: Barnaby is able to prove that Max Ransom and Jimmy Kirby are both faking psychic abilities. Barnaby also doesn't believe that "Romani Rose" has powers. Subverted when three other members of the Kirby family show the unexplained ability to see future events, see winning gambling numbers and foresee danger. The fact that this psychic talent seems to be In the Blood helps solve the secret parentage of one of the murder victims as well.
- Unhappy Medium: Mal Kirby has perhaps the strongest manifestation of Second Sight in the whole village, to the point of miraculously saving a class of schoolchildren from a runaway truck, but he once tested his powers to their limit and managed to see to what he thought was the manner of his death. It terrified him so much that he became a recluse and swore off his abilities.
