Tom Barnaby joins the Causton Chamber of Commerce trip to Brighton as he is suspicious of dodgy mayor Hicks' plan to buy coastal land on which to buy chalets. Also opposed to the plan is Lady Matilda William,who has had threatening letters, as have the local vicar, oily property developer Hugh Dalgleish and hotelier Jenny Russell. Lady Matilda is descended from Richard of Guillaume,a ruthless contemporary of William the Conqueror,and believes that her son Richard,last of the line and brain-damaged for twenty years,was the victim of ancestral jealousy.In Brighton Dalgleish is murdered with the sword stolen from Guillaume's tomb and Hicks is arrested for fraud. Having learnt how Richard came by his accident Barnaby is convinced that Richard and not the property scam is the cause of yet another victim being claimed by the sword of Guillaume.
New DCI John Barnaby arrives in Midsomer and is bemused by the quaint villages and their quirky residents. But when a local DJ is crushed to death at a traditional girls’ boarding school, he soon discovers that murder and deception are never far away. As the death toll rises, could Barnaby’s first case also be his last?
英国ABC摄制的经典间谍剧集The Avengers在整个60年代红极一时，风靡英语世界，时至今日仍然吸引着世界各地无数的拥趸，成为和The Prisoner、Doctor Who等齐名的老牌英国Cult TV经典，而国内也曾在80年代以《复仇天使》的译名引进其中一小部分。The Avengers系列结束10年以后，剧集制作人Brian Clemens和Albert Fennell在70年代创作、拍摄了续集The New Avengers，同样获得相当大的成功，国内在80年代曾以《三个侦探》的不当译名引进。
The New Avengers沿用了The Avengers系列的男主角超级特工John Steed（Patrick Macnee），原系列中的美女搭档换成了两个年轻后辈Mike Gambit和Purdy。剧情配合冷战背景，涉及间谍与反间谍、有组织犯罪、科幻等多种题材，很多创意在当时颇有前卫性，因而在70年代重掀Avengers热潮。电视摄像与制作技术在10年间的发展，使得The New Avengers比前作显得更为专业。虽然和如今的好莱坞大片相比，The New Avengers在噱头和视觉效果方面要相差很多，但是在70年代其地位还是相当高的，而在今天作为怀旧经典仍然具有相当不错的观赏性和娱乐性。
Robert is working in Oxford and sending money home whilst Ruby Pratt has returned from Pontefract after splitting with her gentleman friend. Gabriel Cochrane, whose wife has died and whose foundry has been repossessed by the bank, comes to Candleford, penniless, and Dorcas employs him in her forge where the work interests Sydney. After Edmund has collected money from Robert at the post office, he arrives home saying he has been robbed. The whole village rallies round Emma.
