Midsomer Murders: the detective series with the highest body count on TV (average 3+ per episode), outrageously implausible plots and extremely dodgy characterisation – yet somehow inexplicably compelling, and it’s also filmed in my home turf of the Chiltern Hills.

The last episode was true to form, looking at the antics of a group of villagers engaged in occult, pagan rituals, using incantations supposedly handed down in secret from Ancient Egypt.  Complete and utter hokum, but it did cause me to reflect in some surprising ways:

The rituals were found to be a hoax, invented by a local in the 1960s, in the midst of a drug-addled haze.  But nevertheless they had the power to tip an vulnerable lady over the edge into insanity.  The occult is dangerous, whether indulged in as a game, a hoax or for real.  Praise God for Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness.  We need fear no evil.

Beware – clergy anorak point coming (others can skip this paragraph).  The programme three times showed a priest leading matins or evensong.  Using just the Book of Common Prayer was OK for this plot (but they always do!).  More annoyingly, he was leading the service from the pulpit, and wearing a stole rather than surplice and scarf.  Er…NO!  I’ll happily be their church consultant for a very small fee!

Most importantly, the plot turned on the search for a Book of Power, supposedly containing ancient magic, preserved secretly through the centuries.  No such book existed.  Rather, the hunt resulted in the discovery of some pages from the first edition of Tyndale’s New Testament – an absolutely priceless find.  But how wonderful it was to see the real Book of Power turning out to be the Bible – God’s word, which turned England upside down in the Sixteenth Century, and has been changing lives for nearly 2000 years.  Perhaps the programme didn’t intend it to come across in this way, but it was lovely to see the Scriptures prized in this way.

Want a Book of Power?  Try the Bible – it’s magic.