A Midsomer night’s scream
20 years of BBC’S most murder-prone county... and the famous faces who’ve passed through
TWENTY years ago today Midsomer Murders first appeared on TV, introducing us to the quaint county that has since become a killing field with 320 deaths investigated so far.
The show is based on the crime novels of Caroline Graham, and follows Det Chief Insp Barnaby, played first by John Nettles and now Neil Dudgeon, as he goes after the killers. With a body count that has included 11 accidental deaths, 11 suicides and seven deaths from natural causes, the show still pulls in six million viewers. And to mark its 20th anniversary, we have dug up 20 killer facts about the show:
1 Cluedo created a spin-off Midsomer Murders board game.
2 The original title was Barnaby. Midsomer Murders was finally suggested by writer Anthony Horowitz.
3 Pilot episode, The Killings at Badger’s Drift, was the highest-rating single drama of 1997 with 13.5 million viewers.
4 The show is now sold to 231 territories, from Afghanistan to Zambia, the United States to Australia.
5 Neil Dudgeon, who plays Det Chief Insp John Barnaby, sums up the winning formula, saying: “Its appeal is the British countryside, the whodunnit aspect, there’s the wonderful guests who come in, the whole structure and the formula of it means it’s a big, rich thing.”
6 The two-hour show takes five weeks to film and averages three deaths.
7 The series is shot in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Fans can book walking tours of set locations, such as Brightwell Baldwin, Bright-well-cum-Sotwell and Little Missenden.
8 Midsomer Murders has hired more than 1,000 actors. Filming is now
under way on the show’s 20th series.
9 In 2011, the genteel drama was engulfed in a race row involving its creator, Brian True-may, who claimed it was “the last bastion of Englishness” because it had no black or Asian faces “and I want to keep it that way”. ITV bosses were “appalled” by the comments. True-may was suspended and later announced he was stepping down as executive producer. The following year, an Asian family was introduced to the long-running show.
10 The series has a host of famous fans, including former Prime Minister David Cameron, movie stars Sharon Stone and Johnny Depp, and veteran actress Joan Collins.
11 During filming in the cold winter months, the actors have been known to suck ice cubes before delivering their lines. This stops their breath revealing the frostiness in the air – especially useful when trying to pass off a December day as June.
12 Last year, actor Gwilym Lee, 33, who plays Det Sgt Charlie Nelson, felt obliged to apologise on Twitter when fans were disappointed that no one had died in an episode. Describing viewers as a “bloodthirsty lot”, he promised the show would make up for it later in the series.
13 John Nettles, 73, who played Barnaby from 1997 to 2011, admitted his admirers had not always made life easy. He said: “You do get your stalkers and obsessives though, and it’s a huge problem sometimes. When I lived in Jersey, I used to have a middle-aged lady who, when I’d wake in the middle of the night, I’d see her van parked outside. I’d find her looking in through the window, and everywhere I went she would be there. I had to get some kind of injunction.”
14 The congregation in the 2008 episode, Blood Wedding, was made up of 34 members of the national press, posing as guests.
15 There is a Midsomer Murders Appreciation Society with fans from all over the world meeting at conventions and chatting about the show on Facebook and Twitter. Membership currently costs a tenner.
16 Cast say one of the biggest problems with filming so many outdoor scenes is the background noise from cows, birds and traffic.
17 Actor Nick Hendrix, 32, who plays Det Sgt Jamie Winter, is the nephew of ITN newscaster Alastair Stewart who tweeted that he was an “awesomely proud” uncle.
18 Fans are still reeling from the death of the Barnabys’ beloved dog, Sykes, who had appeared in 29 episodes over five years. In real-life the 13-year-old, sausage-loving Jack Russell cross, who has also appeared in Cranford and Pirates Of The Caribbean, has merely retired.
19 It is seven years since Neil Dudgeon, 56, took over the lead role from John Nettles, but he is happy to continue tracking down murderers for a while yet. He has one condition, though, and says: “As long as I’ve got a young sergeant who can go chasing after them.”
20 The show is famed for having an impressive buffet available for the cast and crew, with a menu that features home baking, lasagne and sausage rolls.