Case file · Series 4, Episode 4 · Season 4, Episode 4
Who Killed Cock Robin?
A doctor's late-night collision and a body recovered from a well turn two missing men into one unusually tangled village case.
The 60-second case card
Should I watch this one?
The opening question—where did the man hit by the car go?—keeps changing as Barnaby establishes which disappearance he is actually solving.
- Best for
- Village doctor · Missing man · Community secrets
- Mood
- Classic
- 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 opening question—where did the man hit by the car go?—keeps changing as Barnaby establishes which disappearance he is actually solving.
Dr Oliver Burgess reports hitting a man on the road after a party, but no injured person can be found. The discovery of Robin Wooliscroft, missing for more than a year, at the bottom of a well gives the police a body without explaining the doctor's collision.
Barnaby and Troy work through a wedding party, the Stockard household, the village pub and relationships that survived Robin's disappearance. The two timelines eventually expose how an old killing and a new attempt to conceal it overlap.
Break the seal: reveal the finding
Who was the killer in Who Killed Cock Robin?? (spoiler)
The missing pedestrian and Robin's death belong to connected but distinct moments; reconstructing the late-night collision exposes the attempt to protect the earlier crime.
Spoiler-safe viewing companion
Three questions to carry into the episode
Three spoiler-safe questions for your rewatch.
- Place
What does Newton Magna 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 4
- Written by
- Jeremy Paul
- Directed by
- David Tucker
- Listed transmission date(s)
- 9 September 2001
- Reported filming period
- September–October 2000
- Detective
- DCI Tom Barnaby
- Partner
- DS Gavin Troy
- Pathologist
- Dr George Bullard · Barry Jackson
- Principal setting
- Newton Magna
- Casebook tone
- Classic
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 credits1 episode credited to Jeremy Paul
- Director credits3 episodes directed by David Tucker
- Release positionCase 17 of 144
- Story characterClassic · Village doctor · Missing man
- Location evidence3 exact screen-use matches
Old Amersham introduces the village, while Westlington green at Dinton supplies the place where the body is recovered.
St Peter and St Paul at Dinton hosts the wedding scenes; Little Missenden's Red Lion appears as The White Swan.
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
Who Killed Cock Robin? cast
These selected cast entries link to their published profiles. They do not include every name shown in the end credits.
Jane Wymark
Ian McNeice
Polly Hemingway
Patrick Drury
Noah Huntley
Gabrielle Lloyd
Sean McGinley
Linda Marlowe
Toni Palmer
George Innes
Jane Lapotaire
Larry Lamb
Malcolm Storry
Mel Raido
Polly Maberly
Robert Oates
Yolanda Vazquez
Mick Ford
Jonathan Hackett
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
2 people die in this case, according to the linked death record.
Break the seal: reveal the list of deaths
- Robin Wooliscroft
Murder · Other recorded death
Performer check- Robin Wooliscroft: Patrick Drury
- Mary Mohan
Murder · Poisoning
Performer check- Mary Mohan: Jane Lapotaire
Break a second seal: reveal the verified killer
Who was the killer in Who Killed Cock Robin?? (spoiler)
Frank Lightbourne · Bridget WooliscroftBridget paid her brother Frank to kill Robin Wooliscroft, and Frank carried out the murder and disposed of the body. Frank later killed Mary Mohan and attacked Sean O'Connell while trying to hide the original crime.
Verified motive
Bridget commissioned Robin's murder when he planned to leave her and reunite with Valerie and their son, clearing Frank's debts in payment. Frank later killed Mary and attacked Sean because their knowledge and the recovered watch threatened to expose his role.
Source: episode transcript ↗Verified important clue
Archive case 17 · checked 16 September 2026Robin Wooliscroft's stopped watchThe missing watch returns through the village and preserves the time of Robin's death, linking the recovered body to Frank's garage and the later attempts to redirect blame.
Clue source: episode transcript ↗Verified decisive clue
Archive case 17 · checked 17 September 2026Robin's inscribed watch and its staged chain of possessionThe watch fixes Robin's death at 11:05 and survives as evidence passed through the village and repeatedly planted to redirect blame. Reconstructing that chain in front of Frank breaks his account, while Bridget's payment of his debts establishes her instigation and Melvyn's later planting remains a separate offence.
Decisive-clue source: episode transcript ↗Verified red herring
Archive case 17 · checked 17 September 2026Dr Oliver Burgess's covered-up night-time collisionBurgess admits driving after drinking, striking a person and concealing the crash, so the missing victim initially looks capable of becoming the central death. Sean O'Connell survives that collision; Robin's older disappearance and the later killings instead lead to Frank Lightbourne and Bridget Wooliscroft.
Red-herring source: episode transcript ↗Verified death and discovery order
Archive case 17 · checked 16 September 2026- deathRobin Wooliscroft is killed
Frank kills Robin after Bridget commissions the murder to stop Robin leaving her for Valerie.
- discoveryRobin's remains are recovered
The body and Robin's watch reopen the disappearance and threaten to expose Frank's role.
- deathMary Mohan is poisoned
Frank kills Mary because he believes she knows enough about Robin to reveal the original crime.
- discoveryMary's death extends the case
Her death and Sean O'Connell's later non-fatal attack connect the present concealment to Robin's murder.
- discoveryThe commission is exposed
Barnaby reconstructs Robin's last movements and distinguishes Bridget's instigation from Frank's physical killings.
Real place → fictional identity
Where was Who Killed Cock Robin? filmed?
Westlington village green
Used as: The green forms the centre of fictional Newton Magna and the site where Robin's body is recovered.
St Peter and St Paul Church
Used as: The parish church hosts the episode's Newton Magna wedding scenes.
The Red Lion
Used as: The pub is renamed The White Swan in Newton Magna.
Representative photograph of the real filming location; the exact camera angle or building may differ.Sources accompany the identified filming places.
Wider filming areas
