'' is a popular
British television
Drama series about
Murder s that take place in the
Fictional English County of Midsomer. It is based on a series of
Crime Novel s by the author
Caroline Graham and was originally adapted by
Anthony Horowitz .
A detective drama, it focuses on the main character of
Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby, played by actor
John Nettles (of ''
Bergerac '' fame) and his efforts to solve the various crimes that afflict Midsomer.
- A senior member of the Midsomer Constabulary's Causton
CID , Barnaby handles the considerable number of murders that occur in the county. A patient, tolerant man whose style of investigation is methodical and fair. Much of his social life seems to revolve around his wife and daughter, to whom he is devoted. In fact, they both often provide a personal connection with the crimes that he is investigating.
- Barnaby's first and longest-serving deputy. He is a local man and attended a local comprehensive. He is young to be a Detective Sergeant, a point often commented on. He is extremely bright and ambitious, though it is usually his boss who solves the crime, often after Troy has made the wrong conclusion. In contrast to the tolerant Barnaby, Troy is one to make non-
Politically Correct remarks, often concerning his disdain for
Homosexuals . He is known to make other inappropriate comments, often at the least fortuitous of times. He was promoted to Inspector and transferred to
Middlesbrough at the end of the sixth series. He will make a one off appearance in the first episode of Series 11, "Blood Wedding", to attend the wedding of Cully Barnaby.
1
- Barnaby's long-suffering wife. She is enormously tolerant of her husband, despite him being a workaholic who spent their honeymoon solving the case of the '
Pimlico Poisoner', which suggests that they in fact met in London, where they both possibly lived and worked. Joyce is an easy-going and friendly woman, who likes to get involved in community activities. She has long possessed a desire to move out of their Causton home and into one of the picturesque Midsomer villages - only to be put off by the grisly murders that occur there.
- Tom and Joyce's only child. She is an inquisitive and bold young woman, who seems to have inherited many of her parents' friendly attitudes and community spirit. Early in the series she attended Cambridge University and dated a drama student, Nico. This fell through and she returned to live with her parents in Causton. She is an actress and frequently takes temporary jobs in the Midsomer area when "resting" between assignments. Like her mother her tendency to do community work often leaves her personally involved with the murders that take place.
- is less naive and a bit cockier than his predecessor Gavin Troy; he is a Londoner who is not exactly thrilled to be transferred to Midsomer which he regards as the 'Sticks'. His relationship with Barnaby was a bit prickly at first, but it eventually mellowed into a slightly awkward marriage of convenience, with Barnaby still disapproving of Scott's methods and Scott grudgingly starting to respect him.
- is the third character to act as Barnaby's assistant. Unlike the other two (Gavin Troy and Dan Scott) who both appeared on the series as sergeants, Ben Jones was an Acting Detective Constable when first introduced to the viewer; he was subsequently promoted to sergeant. Jones is considerably less naive than his predecessors. In an episode first broadcast in January 2007 it is revealed that Ben Jones is a
Freemason . Freemasonry is central to the plot of this particular episode, and Jones assists with many references to masonic ritual and regalia, and is shown attending a lodge meeting in part of the episode.
The programme possesses a unique style. It is almost entirely set within the closed, backwards-looking fictional English
County of Midsomer. Midsomer is a world whose inhabitants are a collection of wealthy, amoral and snobbish eccentrics, often obsessed with the fairly small lives they lead in these isolated communities. This provides for an enormous amount of friction between them, which is observed with a self-mocking, sardonic humour.
The show often highlights the façade put up by people. To the eye, Midsomer is a picturesque, peaceful and prosperous county, but in fact, behind the well-trimmed hedgerows and cricket on the village green, is a society brimming with all kinds of vices. Barnaby, by contrast, offers a stable homelife and an exceptional morality.
Each story is built up carefully, with underpinning currents and unsolved mysteries adding to the bemusement of the detectives. There are usually a number of false leads, such as those who have committed petty crimes, or harbour some dark secret that they attempt to conceal from the world. Despite the sinister, atmospheric edge that runs through the show, it maintains a constant humour.
One feature of the programme is the extremely large number of deaths, especially considering that Midsomer is a small,
Rural County . Because of the slightly bizarre nature of the place, this does not seem entirely improbable. The show at times even plays on this lack of realism, with characters within it often commenting on the astoundingly high numbers of deaths. For example, when he is called to a murder scene on his first day, Detective Sergeant Dan Scott asks, "Is the body count always this high around here?". Barnaby replies dryly, "It's been remarked upon."
First transmitted in the
United Kingdom in March 1997, filming is currently underway on the eleventh series of the programme, which will bring the total number of episodes to sixty-six, and a twelth series commissioned to be filmed in 2008. Viewing figures for the series are very healthy, and the feature-length drama attracts a number of well-known actors from the stage and screen in guest-starring roles. The majority of the early episodes were written by
Anthony Horowitz , who, together with the original producers Betty Willingale and Brian True-May, also created the series. Current writers include
Peter J. Hammond , David Hoskins, Douglas Watkinson and Andrew Payne.
See Also: List of Midsomer Murders episodes
''Midsomer Murders'' first aired as a pilot on
23 March 1997 . Since then, fifty-five episodes have been aired in ten series and the tenth series is currently airing. The episodes within each series are often aired many months apart.
See Also: Midsomer Murders filming locations
''Midsomer Murders'' has been sold to a number of countries and territories across the world, including
Australia ,
Belgium ,
Botswana ,
Canada ,
Croatia ,
Czech Republic ,
Denmark ,
Estonia ,
Finland ,
France ,
Germany ,
Hungary ,
Iceland ,
Israel ,
Italy ,
Latin America ,
Malaysia , the
Netherlands ,
New Zealand ,
Norway ,
Poland ,
Romania ,
Russia ,
South Africa ,
South Korea ,
Spain ,
Sweden ,
Turkey and the
United States .
The first nine series of ''Midsomer Murders'' have been released in the UK (Region 2). The first three episodes of Series Ten were released on
2 April 2007 .
In January 2006, ''Midsomer Murders'' started a DVD & Magazine Collection, available at newsagents in the UK and Australia.
The following list is a collection of published works connected with the series.
- Caroline Graham, "The Killing at Badger's Drift", 1987.
- Caroline Graham, "Death of a Hollow Man", 1989.
- Caroline Graham, "Death in Disguise", 1993.
- Caroline Graham, "Written in Blood", 1995.
- Caroline Graham, "Faithful unto Death", 1998.
- Caroline Graham, "A Place of Safety", 1999.
- Caroline Graham, "A Ghost in the Machine", 2004.
- Jeff Evans, "Midsomer Murders: The Making of An English Crime Classic", 2003.
