SILVER SPRING, MD; January 29, 2008 —Acorn Media announces the March 25, 2008 DVD release of Midsomer Murders: The Early Cases Collection, offering the first 18 stand-alone mysteries from the ongoing, smash hit British mystery franchise. The Early Cases Collection marks the first collector’s set of Acorn Media’s top-selling series and includes an exclusive bonus disc with a retrospective documentary.

Midsomer Murders delights fans with its sly wit, idyllic village settings, inventive crimes, and its top cop played by John Nettles. Nettles (Bergerac) plays Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, a dogged investigator and devoted family man, unflappable in the face of the macabre crimes and eccentric characters he encounters on the job. DS Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey), Barnaby’s first and longest-serving deputy, eagerly assists the chief on all of these cases.

The Early Cases Collection restores the episodes to their original U.K. broadcast order. These include the five mysteries adapted from the novels of Caroline Graham, a modern master of the English village mystery, as well as the next 13 original stories inspired by her characters. Acorn Media previously released these mysteries on DVD as Sets One, Two, Three, and Five. Since Acorn Media received the DVD rights out of order, Set Five actually includes the pilot and first episodes. Six of the episodes, including the first two in the series, were adapted by acclaimed writer Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War, Poirot, Robin of Sherwood).

Guest stars include: Emily Mortimer (Lovely & Amazing), Julian Wadham (The English Patient), Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean), Anna Massey, Richard Briers, Prunella Scales, and Celia Imrie.

Mysteries included: The Killings at Badger’s Drift, Written in Blood, Death of a Hollow Man, Faithful Unto Death, Death in Disguise, Death’s Shadow, Strangler’s Wood, Dead Man’s Eleven, Blood Will Out, Death of a Stranger, Blue Herrings, Judgement Day, Beyond the Grave, Garden of Death, Destroying Angel, The Electric Vendetta, Who Killed Cock Robin?, and Dark Autumn.

Special Features: Essay by John Nettles, Midsomer map, production notes, behind-the-scenes featurette, Caroline Graham biography, and cast filmographies. Plus exclusive bonus disc: Super Sleuths, a documentary about the show’s first decade, featuring John Nettles, Caroline Graham, writer Anthony Horowitz, and others.

Midsomer Murders first aired in the United Kingdom in March 1997. Since then, nearly sixty feature-length episodes have aired with new episodes still in production. In the U.S., the series has been seen on A&E and The Biography Channel.

Headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C., Acorn Media distributes distinctive home video releases to the North American market with a special focus on the best of British television. Acorn’s DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from Acorn Media at (888) 870-8047 or www.acornonline.com.