Case file · Series 4, Episode 6 · Season 4, Episode 6
Tainted Fruit
A wealthy young woman's hostility leaves Barnaby with a crowded suspect list when she is killed using stolen barbiturates.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The victim has offended almost everyone, but the case is less about popularity than the power to control land, work and private lives.
- Best for
- Country estate · Blackmail · Privilege
- 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
The victim has offended almost everyone, but the case is less about popularity than the power to control land, work and private lives.
Melissa Townsend is found dead after an injection of barbiturates stolen from the local veterinary surgery. Her conduct towards tenants, employees and neighbours has produced threats, grievances and a large number of plausible motives.
A fatal apparent accident and another barbiturate killing on a tennis court force Barnaby and Troy to test stories involving blackmail, privilege and intimate betrayal. The Townsend estate connects the social conflicts, but not always in the way Melissa's enemies assume.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
Who was the killer in Tainted Fruit? (spoiler)
The murders silence people who can expose overlapping relationships and blackmail; Melissa's many enemies obscure the smaller circle with the most to lose.
Spoiler-safe viewing companion
Three questions to carry into the episode
Three spoiler-safe questions for your rewatch.
- Place
What does Midsomer Malham 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 4
- Episode number
- Episode 6
- Written by
- Peter J. Hammond
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 23 September 2001
- Reported filming period
- May–June 2001
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Gavin Troy
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Midsomer Malham
- Casebook tone
- Dark
Sources accompany the production credits and filming links.
Fictional settings and real filming places are listed separately. Filming links include 3 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 19 of 144
- Story characterDark · Country estate · Blackmail
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
Newington House near Wallingford stands in for the Townsends' imposing Midsomer Malham home.
St John the Baptist at Little Marlow represents the parish church; Long Crendon's Church House supplies the village shop.
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
Tainted Fruit cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Jane Wymark
Lucy Punch
Ellie Haddington
Claire Price
Miles Richardson
Adrian Rawlins
Benjamin Whitrow
John McGlynn
Terence Harvey
Amanda Walker
Richard Clothier
Ann Bell
Charles Collingwood
Brian Poyser
Pamela Miles
Terry O'Brien
Eleanor David
Sara Mair-Thomas
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
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
- Melissa Townsend
Murder · Poisoning
Performer check- Melissa Townsend: Lucy Punch
- Adam Keyne
Murder · Fall
Performer check- Adam Keyne: Adrian Rawlins
- Raif Canning
Murder · Poisoning
Performer check- Raif Canning: John McGlynnThe list of deaths prints ‘Kenning’; the published cast record supports ‘Canning’, used here.
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Who was the killer in Tainted Fruit? (spoiler)
Georgina CanningGeorgina killed Melissa Townsend and Adam Keyne after they blackmailed her, then killed her husband Raif when he discovered what she had done. Sally Rickworth was framed for Georgina's earlier drink-driving collision and is explicitly cleared of the murders.
Verified motive
Georgina killed Melissa and Adam to stop their blackmail over the drink-driving collision she had framed Sally for, protecting the licence and social standing she feared losing. She killed Raif after he discovered what she had done and confronted her.
Source: episode transcript ↗Verified important clue
Archive case 19 · checked 16 September 2026Sally Rickworth's borrowed bootsThe wet-field route made in Sally's boots shows how Georgina returned to the tennis club after placing an unconscious Sally behind the wheel, exposing the collision frame that led to the blackmail and murders.
Clue source: episode transcript ↗Verified decisive clue
Archive case 19 · checked 17 September 2026The evidence planted in Sally's already-emptied handbagPolice have just searched and emptied Sally's bag before Georgina enters, so the incriminating item found there afterwards can only have been planted during her visit. The failed frame supplies immediate proof against Georgina and prompts her admission, while Sally's boots and route explain the earlier collision staging.
Decisive-clue source: episode transcript ↗Verified red herring
Archive case 19 · checked 17 September 2026The theory that Sally Rickworth was being blackmailedSally conceals her relationship with Melissa and has enough money to make a blackmail demand plausible, so the inquiry tests whether the victims were exploiting her. That theory is explicitly rejected: Melissa and Adam were blackmailing Georgina over the drink-driving collision, while Georgina had left Sally to take the blame.
Red-herring source: episode transcript ↗Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 19 · checked 16 September 2026- deathMelissa Townsend is poisoned
Georgina kills Melissa to stop the blackmail over Georgina's drink-driving collision and the attempt to frame Sally.
- discoveryMelissa's death opens the case
The scene and later toxicology turn suspicion towards several people she had threatened or angered.
- deathAdam Keyne is killed
Georgina kills Adam after he joins the blackmail, arranging his fatal fall at the barn.
- discoveryThe blackmail payment is traced
Adam's body and the missing payment connect the two victims to the same concealed collision.
- deathRaif Canning is poisoned
Georgina kills her husband after he discovers what she has done and confronts her.
- discoveryGeorgina's sequence is established
Raif's death completes the account and clears Sally Rickworth of the murders for which Georgina tried to frame her.
Real place → fictional identity
Where was Tainted Fruit filmed?
Church House
Used as: The historic building is used as Midsomer Malham's village shop.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
St John the Baptist Church
Used as: The church represents the parish church in fictional Midsomer Malham.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
Newington House
Used as: The house stands in for the Townsend family's manor.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Sources accompany the identified filming places.
Wider filming areas