The revival of a traditional festival at Midsomer Parva ends in tragedy when the curate is burned alive inside a straw effigy of a woman. Then his gay lover, Rev Jim Hale (Jonathan Hackett) dies too, a victim of apparent spontaneous combustion, in front of a severed pig's head on the altar. Amid rumors of witchcraft, some villagers blame Manor owner and orgy host Alan Clifford (Keith Barron), who has a secret of his own.