Case file · Series 10, Episode 1 · Season 10, Episode 1
Dance with the Dead
A young man is found dead in a vintage car at a disused airfield while his girlfriend remains conspicuously absent.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
A wartime-dance setting gives Jones's first case as a detective sergeant an unusually melancholy rhythm.
- Best for
- Disused airfield · Dance school · Missing woman
- Mood
- Dark
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Ben Jones
- Spoiler guidance
- Read the premise freely; open the marked sections only after watching. Check the linked provider advisory for further viewing information.
Why it matters
A wartime-dance setting gives Jones's first case as a detective sergeant an unusually melancholy rhythm.
Simon Bright is discovered inside a vintage car at Cooper's Cross airfield, apparently the victim of a suicide pact. Laura Sharp, the girlfriend who should have been beside him, cannot be found, and a note seems to offer the detectives a finished explanation rather too quickly.
Barnaby and the newly promoted DS Ben Jones trace the couple through Elaine Trim's dance classes, a forthcoming 1940s fête and competing versions of Simon's private life. A second attack makes clear that the airfield tableau was arranged for an audience rather than left as an honest farewell.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
Who was the killer in Dance with the Dead? (spoiler)
The apparent pact is staged. Barnaby separates Laura's disappearance from the scene in the car and follows jealousy, family pressure and the dance school's relationships to the person controlling the story.
Spoiler-safe viewing companion
Three questions to carry into the episode
Three spoiler-safe questions for your rewatch.
- Place
What does Morton Fendle conceal?
- Theme
Which details could have more than one meaning?
- Teamwork
Watch DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Ben Jones: who notices what?
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 10
- Episode number
- Episode 1
- Written by
- Peter J. Hammond
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 12 November 2006
- Reported filming period
- May–June 2006
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Morton Fendle
- Casebook tone
- Dark
Sources accompany the production credits and filming links.
Fictional settings and real filming places are listed separately. Filming links include 2 mapped areas; 3 exact sites.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits10 episodes credited to Peter J. Hammond
- Director credits22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 52 of 144
- Story characterDark · Disused airfield · Dance school
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
This is Ben Jones's first case after his promotion to detective sergeant.
Frieth Village Hall supplies an exterior, while Nettlebed Village Hall provides interiors for Elaine Trim's school and the wartime fête.
Sources for the production file
Published episode chronology and credits ↗Official ITV programme page ↗Filming-location reference index ↗Credits follow the linked chronology. Dates can differ between territories. Consult original credits for story, teleplay and adaptation wording. External synopses may contain spoilers.
Selected episode credits
Dance with the Dead cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Jane Wymark
Laura Howard
Danny Webb
Henry Pettigrew
Ifan Huw Dafydd
Georgine Anderson
Lizzy Watts
Felicity Dean
Derek Hutchinson
Geoffrey Leesley
Isabella Furst
Wendy Wason
David Henry
Harriet Thorpe
Nicola Redmond
Edward Davenport
Liza Pulman
The performers behind this case
Core cast
Follow the cast links for full actor and character guides.
John Nettles
Tom Barnaby · Detective Chief Inspector- Bergerac
- Poldark
- Royal Shakespeare Company
Jason Hughes
Ben Jones · Police Constable · Detective Sergeant · Inspector- This Life
- Marcella
- The Pact
Barry Jackson
Dr George Bullard · Police pathologist- Cathy Come Home
- Doctor Who
- Barry Lyndon
Image credits identify the licence used. No programme publicity stills are reproduced.
Forensic team
Dr George Bullard
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Barry Jackson
Spoiler-controlled deaths
Deaths recorded in this case
3 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the list of deaths
- Simon Bright
Murder · Poisoning
Performer check- Simon Bright: Edward Davenport
- Laura Sharp
Murder · Blunt force
Performer check- Laura Sharp: Lizzy WattsThe list of deaths prints ‘Laura Sharpe’; the published cast record supports ‘Laura Sharp’, used here.
- Tony Kirby
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Tony Kirby: Danny Webb
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Who was the killer in Dance with the Dead? (spoiler)
Marissa ClarkeMarissa killed Simon Bright and Laura Sharp after Laura rejected her, then stabbed Tony Kirby because he had tried to keep Laura away from her. She also used spliced answerphone recordings to lure Carol Prentice to the airfield, where Carol survived the attack.
Verified motive
Marissa's possessive love for Laura became revenge after Laura rejected her and chose Simon; she killed Simon and Laura, then Tony for helping keep Laura away. The attempt on Carol formed part of the same revenge sequence.
Verified important clue
Archive case 52 · checked 16 September 2026The spliced Laura Sharp answerphone tapesRecordings found in Marissa's office have been cut together to imitate Laura asking for help at the airfield, proving how Carol was lured into the final trap and connecting the attempted attack to the staged airfield deaths.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 52 · checked 17 September 2026The spliced Laura Sharp answerphone tapesRecordings recovered from Marissa's office have been cut together to imitate Laura asking for help at the airfield. They prove how Carol was lured into the final trap and connect that interrupted attack to the same manipulation behind Simon's, Laura's and Tony's deaths.
Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 52 · checked 16 September 2026- deathSimon Bright is killed at the airfield
Marissa kills Simon after Laura rejects her and chooses a life with him.
- deathLaura Sharp is killed
Laura becomes Marissa's second victim in the revenge sequence that follows the rejection.
- discoveryThe answerphone messages are reconstructed
Spliced recordings reveal how Marissa imitated Laura's voice and manipulated the movements of later targets.
- deathTony Kirby is stabbed
Marissa kills Tony because he had helped to keep Laura away from her.
- discoveryCarol is lured to the airfield
The false messages draw Carol Prentice to the same location, where she is attacked but found alive.
- discoveryMarissa's revenge sequence is established
The resolution connects Simon, Laura and Tony to Marissa while preserving Carol's interrupted attack as a survival rather than a fourth death.
Real place → fictional identity
Where was Dance with the Dead filmed?
Dorchester Post Office
Used as: The village post office appears as Morton Fendle Post Office.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Frieth Village Hall
Used as: The hall exterior represents Elaine Trim's dance school.
Nettlebed Village Hall
Used as: The hall supplies the dance-school interiors and the 1940s fête venue.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Sources accompany the identified filming places.
Wider filming areas