Case file · Series 13, Episode 4 · Season 13, Episode 4
The Silent Land
Joyce swerves around a shadow near a cemetery; soon a parish clerk is found dead among the graves.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
An abandoned institution and nocturnal ghost tours make this one of the late Tom era's most atmospheric mysteries.
- Best for
- Cemetery · Haunting · Abandoned hospital
- 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
An abandoned institution and nocturnal ghost tours make this one of the late Tom era's most atmospheric mysteries.
Driving through March Magna at night, Joyce Barnaby narrowly misses a figure near the cemetery. Parish clerk Gerald Ebbs is later found dead there; his responsibilities included the library and graveyard, and he had developed a fixation on the abandoned St Fidelis hospital and one particular grave.
Barnaby and Jones examine Gerald's disputes across the parish while Joyce questions what she saw. A second murder during a night tour of the derelict hospital turns the village's appetite for hauntings into direct evidence.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
Who was the killer in The Silent Land? (spoiler)
Gerald's grave and hospital research uncovered a concealed identity. The apparent haunting is used to frighten witnesses and to protect what happened at St Fidelis.
Spoiler-safe viewing companion
Three questions to carry into the episode
Three spoiler-safe questions for your rewatch.
- Place
What does March Magna 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 13
- Episode number
- Episode 4
- Written by
- Peter J. Hammond
- Directed by
- Peter Smith
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 3 August 2010 22 September 2010
- Reported filming period
- October–November 2009
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Ben Jones
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- March Magna
- 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; 4 exact sites.
Credits and archive connections
- Writer credits10 episodes credited to Peter J. Hammond
- Director credits22 episodes directed by Peter Smith
- Release positionCase 77 of 144
- Story characterDark · Cemetery · Haunting
- Location evidence4 exact screen-use matches
The former Fairmile Hospital at Cholsey supplies the imposing abandoned institution.
Great Haseley provides the library, Gerald's cottage, the inn, florist and opening concert hall.
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
The Silent Land 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
Christina Cole
Danny Webb
Emma Fielding
Susannah Fielding
Jack Roth
Rupert Holliday-Evans
Tony Selby
Suzy Aitchison
Aden Gillett
Victoria Lennox
Gabrielle Lloyd
David Sibley
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
2 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the list of deaths
- Gerald Ebbs
Murder · Vehicle or machinery
Performer check- Gerald Ebbs: not listed in the current published cast recordNo Gerald Ebbs performer appears in the current published cast record.
- Jeff Bowmaker
Murder · Fall
Performer check- Jeff Bowmaker: Danny Webb
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Who was the killer in The Silent Land? (spoiler)
Adam PeachAdam killed Gerald Ebbs after Gerald blocked his efforts to bury his wife in the village cemetery. He later killed Jeff Bowmaker because he mistakenly believed Jeff had witnessed the first murder; Liam Peach did witness the second killing and is explicitly not treated as an offender.
Verified motive
Adam acted from grief and anger after Gerald repeatedly blocked his applications to bury his wife in the village where her family had lived for generations, while enjoying the cemetery himself. He killed Jeff only because he mistakenly believed Jeff had seen the first murder and could identify him.
Verified important clue
Archive case 77 · checked 16 September 2026Adam Peach's rejected burial applicationsThe parish records show that Gerald twice blocked Adam's request to bury his wife in the village cemetery despite her family's long local history, supplying the grievance behind Gerald's death; Adam's mistaken fear that Jeff had seen him explains the second killing, while Liam is the actual witness.
Verified decisive clue
Archive case 77 · checked 17 September 2026Adam Peach's rejected burial applicationsThe parish records show that Gerald repeatedly blocked Adam from burying his wife in the village despite her family's long local history, supplying the grievance behind Gerald's murder. Adam's mistaken belief that Jeff witnessed it explains the second killing, while Liam remains the actual witness rather than an offender.
Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 77 · checked 16 September 2026- discoveryGerald refuses the village burial
Gerald repeatedly blocks Adam's applications to bury his wife in the village where her family had lived for generations.
- deathGerald Ebbs is killed
Adam kills Gerald from grief and anger over the refused burial and Gerald's enjoyment of the cemetery he controls.
- discoveryAdam mistakes Jeff for a witness
Adam comes to believe Jeff Bowmaker saw the first killing and could identify him.
- deathJeff Bowmaker is killed
Adam kills Jeff to silence the person he wrongly thinks witnessed Gerald's murder.
- discoveryLiam witnesses the second killing
Liam, not Jeff, sees Adam kill; his knowledge makes him a witness and explicitly not an offender.
- discoveryThe burial grievance resolves both deaths
The cemetery dispute explains Gerald's murder, while Adam's witness mistake supplies the separate concealment motive for Jeff's death.
Real place → fictional identity
Where was The Silent Land filmed?
Former Fairmile Hospital
Used as: The abandoned institution becomes St Fidelis Hospital in March Magna.
Village house
Used as: A house represents Ian and Faith Kent's home.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.
Great Haseley village centre
Used as: The pub, cottages, hall and shopfront become March Magna's library, inn, homes and florist.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Village farm
Used as: The farm appears as Alice and John Carver's bed and breakfast.
Sources accompany the identified filming places.
Wider filming areas