Case file · Series 2, Episode 2 · Season 2, Episode 2
Strangler's Wood
The death of a visiting model resembles a notorious unsolved case, but the local tobacco business supplies fresher motives.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
A sombre early mystery that places an old serial-killer fear beside corporate and family pressure.
- Best for
- Cold case · Tobacco · Copycat clues
- Mood
- Dark
- Team
- DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Gavin Troy
- 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 sombre early mystery that places an old serial-killer fear beside corporate and family pressure.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
Who was the killer in Strangler's Wood? (spoiler)
The resemblance to the historic murders is useful misdirection; Barnaby ultimately follows relationships around the victim and the factory.
Spoiler-safe viewing companion
Three questions to carry into the episode
Three spoiler-safe questions for your rewatch.
- Place
What does Midsomer Worthy conceal?
- Theme
Which details could have more than one meaning?
- Teamwork
Watch DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Gavin Troy: who notices what?
More episode detailsProduction, cast, deaths and filming information
Credits, context and checked facts
Production and cast
- TV series
- Series 2
- Episode number
- Episode 2
- Written by
- Anthony Horowitz
- Directed by
- Jeremy Silberston
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 3 February 1999
- Reported filming period
- May–June 1998
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Gavin Troy
- Pathologist
- Dr Dan Peterson · Toby Jones
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Worthy
- 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; 1 exact site.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits6 episodes credited to Anthony Horowitz
- Director credits9 episodes directed by Jeremy Silberston
- Release positionCase 7 of 144
- Story characterDark · Cold case · Tobacco
- Location evidence1 exact screen-use match
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
Strangler's Wood 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
Neil Conrich
Toby Jones
Nicholas Farrell
Phyllis Logan
Frank Windsor
Katy Brittain
Debbie Chazen
Jeremy Clyde
Elizabeth Tyrrell
Tom Eilenberg
Peter Eyre
Kathleen Byron
Trudie Styler
Frankie Carson
George Lane Cooper
Stuart Clark
Tara Hugo
Betty Romani
Antony Howes
Anne Stallybrass
Andreas Petrides
Rebecca Charles
Cyril Shaps
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
Daniel Casey
Gavin Troy · Detective Sergeant · later Inspector- Our Friends in the North
- Steel River Blues
- Midsomer Murders on stage
Toby Jones
Dr Dan Peterson · Locum pathologist- Detectorists
- Mr Bates vs The Post Office
- Infamous
Image credits identify the licence used. No programme publicity stills are reproduced.
Forensic team
Dr Dan Peterson
- Credit
- Locum pathologist
- Played by
- Toby Jones
Spoiler-controlled deaths
Deaths recorded in this case
7 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the list of deaths
- Carla Constanza
Murder · Strangulation or hanging
Performer check- Carla Constanza: Betty Romani
- Anna Santarosa (au pair)
Murder · Poisoning
Performer check- Anna Santarosa: Debbie ChazenThe list of deaths identifies only Anna the au pair; the published cast record supplies the surname.
- Dr. Aycott
Murder · Burning or heat
Performer check- Dr. Aycott: not listed in the current published cast recordNo Dr. Aycott performer appears in the current published cast record.
- Leonard Pike
Murder · Stabbing or impalement
Performer check- Leonard Pike: Peter Eyre
- Three unnamed girls×3
Murder · Strangulation or hanging · historical or before the main case
Performer check- Three unnamed girls ×3: not listed in the current published cast recordThe historical victims are unnamed and no performers appear in the current published cast record.
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Who was the killer in Strangler's Wood? (spoiler)
Bill Mitchell · Leonard Pike · Dorothea PikeBill Mitchell killed Carla Constanza, Anna Santarosa and Dr Aycott. Leonard Pike committed the three historical Strangler's Wood murders; his mother Dorothea then killed him after the new investigation exposed what he had done.
Verified motive
Bill killed Carla to stop her terminal smoking-related illness destroying Monarch Tobacco, Anna after she tried to blackmail him with Carla's message, and Dr Aycott to erase Carla's medical evidence. Leonard's earlier killings were sexually motivated; Dorothea killed Leonard after learning he was the original strangler.
Source: episode transcript ↗Verified important clue
Archive case 7 · checked 16 September 2026Carla Constanza's recorded messageThe message preserves Carla's warning after her death and links Anna's attempted blackmail and Dr Aycott's medical evidence to the threat facing Monarch Tobacco.
Clue source: episode transcript ↗Verified decisive clue
Archive case 7 · checked 17 September 2026Bill Mitchell's knowledge that Dr Aycott was a manWhen police deliberately use the wrong name, Mitchell denies knowing 'him' even though they have not disclosed the doctor's sex. The unprompted pronoun shows prior knowledge of Aycott, whose medical records Mitchell needed to destroy, and gives away the person behind the present-day killings.
Decisive-clue source: episode transcript ↗Verified red herring
Archive case 7 · checked 17 September 2026A revival of the original Strangler's Wood killingsCarla is strangled and left in the same wood as three earlier victims, making a returned serial killer an immediate possibility. The resolution separates the crimes: Leonard Pike committed the historical killings, while Bill Mitchell's present sequence conceals Carla's diagnosis and its threat to Monarch Tobacco.
Red-herring source: episode transcript ↗Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 7 · checked 16 September 2026- deathCarla Constanza is strangled
Bill Mitchell kills Carla to stop her terminal illness damaging Monarch Tobacco.
- discoveryCarla is found in the woods
Her body is discovered in Strangler's Wood, reviving the memory of three earlier killings there.
- deathAnna Santarosa is poisoned
Bill kills Anna after she tries to blackmail him with Carla's recorded message.
- discoveryAnna's death widens the inquiry
The second present-day death points investigators towards Carla's missing evidence.
- deathDr Aycott is killed
Bill kills Aycott to erase the medical evidence about Carla's illness.
- discoveryThe tobacco motive is exposed
Aycott's death helps connect all three current killings to the concealed diagnosis.
- deathDorothea kills Leonard
After learning that Leonard committed the three historical stranglings, Dorothea kills her son.
- discoveryTwo murder sequences are separated
The resolution distinguishes Leonard's historical crimes, Dorothea's final act and Bill's present-day killings.
Real place → fictional identity
Where was Strangler's Wood filmed?
Dorney Court
Used as: The Tudor house represents the fictional Fox & Goose Hotel.
Sources accompany the identified filming places.
Wider filming areas
