The Sheep Detectives

On his farm near the English village of Denbrook, shepherd George Hardy spends his time looking after his flock of sheep and reading murder mystery novels to them. The sheep live in blissful ignorance, believing that death only exists in fiction and that they turn into clouds at the end of their lives. When faced with an uncomfortable situation, they can will themselves to forget. They discriminate against an orphan lamb born in winter rather than the typical spring. One morning, George is discovered dead outside his trailer. Reporter Elliot Matthews believes he was murdered and encourages Officer Tim Derry to investigate. Tim concludes that George was poisoned. The sheep decide to solve the mystery on their own, led by crime aficionado ewe Lily, the ram Mopple who always keeps his memories, and stoic loner Sebastian whom George rescued from a carnival. During the reading of George's will—attended by Elliot, Tim, George's solicitor Lydia Harbottle, Reverend Hillcoate, butcher Ham Gilyard, innkeeper Beth Pennock, and neighbouring shepherd Caleb Merrow—they learn that George had a twin son and daughter who were sent away for adoption after their mother died in childbirth. The daughter, Rebecca Hampstead, also in attendance, reconnected with George and had just arrived from the United States to visit him for the first time. Lydia ousts Elliot before calling George's son, Peter Van Vuuren, who lives in South Africa, so he can attend remotely. They learn George was secretly a millionaire after selling the patent for an orf medicine he invented. The new will awards his fortune to Rebecca, replacing an old will which donated it to an animal rights charity. Cloud, a member of the flock, reveals she found one of Rebecca's bangles the night of the murder, contradicting Rebecca's claim of never having met her father. The sheep lead Tim to the meadow where he finds the bangle. He then discovers the type of berry used to poison George squashed in the soles of Rebecca's boots, and she is placed under arrest. Lily and Mopple, soon to be taken in by Caleb, visit his meadow to meet their future flock mates, but discover that Caleb owns a slaughterhouse and has been collaborating with Ham to slaughter sheep for meat. They are attacked and chased by Caleb's vicious German Shepherds, but Sebastian returns and fights the dogs in order to protect Lily and Mopple. Despite suffering grievous wounds during the fight, Sebastian manages to drive the dogs off before dying from his injuries. Lily realises that death is real, and that she had willed herself to forget every time a sheep close to her died. Lily tries to lead the other sheep to safety, but they become terrified and will themselves to forget, leaving her despondent. Mopple encourages her to embrace her memories of their deceased loved ones. Lily still tries to forget George but speaks to his ghost and realises that Rebecca is innocent and has been framed by the real killer. She and Mopple recruit the winter lamb to sneak into the jail and paint a message with his hooves. Tim is in the process of handing Rebecca over to the county police officers when he suddenly suspects that she is innocent. The sheep help Tim conclude that "Elliot" is Peter. Peter dyed his hair and assumed a new identity before murdering George, whose hands were stained in the scuffle by the medicine and dye. Peter then forged a will to make it appear that Rebecca had a motive, so after her conviction he would inherit his father's fortune as his next-of-kin. Peter attempts to flee, but twin rams Ronnie and Reggie destroy his car. Peter is arrested by the county police while Rebecca is cleared of all charges. Rebecca learns from Beth that her and Peter's mother was named Lily. Rebecca takes her father's surname, claims ownership of the meadow and sheep, and buys Caleb's French-speaking sheep to keep Caleb and Ham from slaughtering them. As Rebecca sits down to read to the flock, Lily adopts the Winter Lamb, naming him George. She looks towards the sunset and sees a cloud resembling Sebastian.

Plot from The Sheep DetectivesCC BY-SA 4.0