Go behind the scenes of Midsomer Murders with stars Neil Dudgeon and Nick Hendrix
Neil Dudgeon , 60, and Nick Hendrix, 36, alias DCI Barnaby and DS Winter, pass on some lessons learnt…
1 EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
NICK People always think the big-name guest stars will be the killer, but it never ceases to amaze us how bad we are at guessing who did it. Often the stars themselves would rather be murdered than be the murderer!
NEIL Kelly Brook was only in her story, Till Death Do Us Part [series 20, episode five], for a few scenes but absolutely loved being killed off in the show! She played a bride, Laurel, who was dramatically murdered on her big day.
2 GET A GOOD SIDEKICK!
NEIL I’ve had three lovely sergeants since I joined Midsomer in 2011 [Jason Hughes AKA DS Ben Jones, Gwilym Lee who played DS Charlie Nelson, and Nick as DS Jamie Winter]. Nick is my longestserving sergeant and I’ve been very blessed we get on so well.
NICK If you have to be stuck with another actor for seven months a year, they better be a good laugh. Thankfully, Neil is hilarious and full of wise words, anecdotes and opinions. You’ll find us off set chatting away about anything from Brexit to Strictly!
3 FANS ARE EVERYWHERE
NICK The reach of the show amazes me. It’s shown in 200 countries. I was recognised in Vietnam by a Sri Lankan woman, who married a Finn and lived in Luxembourg. NEIL Fans still remember me first playing a gardener before I got the role of DCI John Barnaby [in the series-four episode Garden of Death]. I get messages on Twitter saying, ‘I’ve just seen Neil Dudgeon being a saucy gardener in an episode from years ago. He was trying to seduce Joyce Barnaby!’
4 MIDSOMER ISN’T A VILLAGE!
NICK If we had a penny for every time we’re asked, ‘How is there still anyone left alive in that village?’ For the record: it’s not a village, it’s a county. A very large county! If you do the maths, it works out as 300-odd murders over 24 years of Midsomer. That’s around 12 a year, which isn’t that bad, actually!
5 NEIL WANTS HIS OWN DOG!
NICK Neil’s been talking about getting a dog ever since I met him. Every day on set, he’ll ask someone, ‘Do you have a dog? What kind of dog is it? How old is it?’ NEIL People I haven’t seen for 10 years or so come on set and say, ‘Have you got a dog yet?’ I still haven’t! I’d just like a nice little dog to go on walks with, but I feel daunted when I start doing research online.