Country Matters is the sixth episode of the ninth series of Midsomer Murders and originally aired on 10th September 2006.
There's friction among the villagers in Elverton where there is widespread disagreement over the construction of a large Goodfare supermarket. Those in favor see it as a convenient way of getting their shopping done without having to drive great distances while those opposed see it as the beginning of the end of village life. Emotions are running high, including a bout of fisticuffs at a village meeting. With all of this going on around them, DCI Barnaby and DC Jones investigate the murder of Frank Hopkirk, an environmental consultant who was in the village working on the supermarket project. He was found stabbed to death in an old mill but as the police investigate, they learn that he was something of a Lothario. In fact, several of the leading citizens of Elverton are involved in sex games, from role-playing to mild S&M, all of which the dead man happily participated in. Jealousy, however, played a major role in his death.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Auto Erotica: The Vicar confesses to meeting her (married) lover in his van in a field. Although she claims they were just talking, the flashback shows the van start rocking almost as soon as they get in.
- Bear Trap: A woman pretends to be caught in a bear trap as part of an elaborate sexual roleplay.
- Between My Legs: Tom Barnaby's face is framed between the legs of "Mr. Hundsecker," when the latter mistakes Barnaby for a Dom (there has been a lot of sexual escapades around the village) who is going to whip him with a riding crop.
- Bondage Is Bad: This is inverted and played straight; while there are multiple men adopting the submissive role they are both bad and good. The Dom is the murderer.
- Don't Come A-Knockin': The Vicar confesses to meeting her (married) lover in his van in a field. Although she claims they were just talking, the flashback shows the van start rocking almost as soon as they get in.
- Never One Murder: Subverted with this episode, which only has a single murder.
- Not In My Back Yard: A group of locals was willing to go to the European Court of Human Rights
in order to stop a supermarket from being built in their village.
