Case file · Series 19, Episode 4 · Season 19, Episode 4
Red in Tooth & Claw
A summer pet show is disrupted when a local estate agent is found dead in a marquee surrounded by prize rabbits.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The show ring offers classic Midsomer spectacle while ownership, breeding and property give almost everybody something to guard.
- Best for
- Pet show · Prize animals · Estate agency
- Mood
- Eccentric
- Team
- DCI John Barnaby with DS Jamie Winter
- 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
The show ring offers classic Midsomer spectacle while ownership, breeding and property give almost everybody something to guard.
Bellville's annual pet show brings breeders, owners and campaigners into one competitive marquee. Estate agent Seb Huntington is found murdered among live rabbits, making his property dealings and his connection to the show immediate lines of inquiry.
Barnaby and Winter test theories involving animal-rights activism, a missing prize animal and personal resentments among exhibitors. The cheerful event masks conflicts about inheritance, control and the value assigned to both animals and land.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
Who was the killer in Red in Tooth & Claw? (spoiler)
The pet-show disputes provide several plausible motives, but the solution depends on family control and a concealed relationship rather than animal activism alone.
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 19
- Episode number
- Episode 4
- Written by
- Lisa Holdsworth
- Directed by
- Steve Hughes
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 18 January 2017
- Reported filming period
- August–September 2016
- Detective
- DCI John Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Jamie Winter
- Pathologist
- Dr Kam Karimore · Manjinder Virk
- Principal setting
- Bellville
- Casebook tone
- Eccentric
Sources accompany the production credits and filming links.
Fictional settings and real filming places are listed separately. Filming links include 1 mapped area; 1 exact site.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits4 episodes credited to Lisa Holdsworth
- Director credits1 episode directed by Steve Hughes
- Release positionCase 114 of 144
- Story characterEccentric · Pet show · Prize animals
- Location evidence1 exact screen-use match
Little Orchard at Long Crendon appears as the offices of Eden Moss Estate Agents.
The published filming reference identifies the agency but not a dependable real-world match for the pet-show marquee, so the Casebook leaves that site open.
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
Red in Tooth & Claw cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Steve Pemberton
Pemberton plays Timothy Benson in Red in Tooth and Claw, a case centred on a rabbit show and a local prize. His taste for the macabre makes this an especially fitting Midsomer appearance.
Open actor profile →Fiona Dolman
Amit Shah
Susan Hampshire
Michael Obiora
Aisling Loftus
Sean Gallagher
Sara Crowe
Vanessa Hehir
Maxim De Villiers
Stirling Gallacher
Simon Nagra
Tom Price
Navinder Bhatti
The performers behind this case
Core cast
Follow the cast links for full actor and character guides.
Neil Dudgeon
John Barnaby · Detective Chief Inspector- Messiah
- Life of Riley
- The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
Nick Hendrix
Jamie Winter · Detective Sergeant- Black Mirror
- Marcella
- The Crown
Manjinder Virk
Dr Kam Karimore · Police pathologist- The Arbor
- Trigger Point
- Out of Darkness
Image credits identify the licence used. No programme publicity stills are reproduced.
Forensic team
Dr Kam Karimore
- Credit
- Resident pathologist
- Played by
- Manjinder Virk
Spoiler-controlled deaths
Deaths recorded in this case
2 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the list of deaths
- Seb Huntington
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Seb Huntington: Maxim De Villiers
- Cleo Langton
Murder · Suffocation
Performer check- Cleo Langton: Stirling Gallacher
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Who was the killer in Red in Tooth & Claw? (spoiler)
Shray VarmaShray killed Seb Huntington because he saw him as an obstacle to a relationship with Tegan, then killed Cleo Langton when she might expose him. His attempt to kill Tegan's father Errol Judd was stopped; Timothy Benson's rabbit substitution and Ailsa Benson and Jayesh Varma's fur thefts are kept separate.
Verified motive
Shray's unspoken love for Tegan became a possessive fixation. He killed Seb to recreate the romantic moment Seb had interrupted and because Seb planned to leave with Tegan, killed Cleo rather than risk her exposing him, and targeted Errol when he believed Tegan's father would take her away; fear of rejection underpinned his refusal to tell Tegan how he felt.
Real place → fictional identity
Where was Red in Tooth & Claw filmed?
Little Orchard
Used as: The property appears as Eden Moss Estate Agents.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Sources accompany the identified filming places.
Wider filming areas