| Midsomer Murders | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | |
| Based on | Chief Inspector Barnaby byCaroline Graham |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Jim Parker |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 24 |
| No. of episodes | 138 aired (UK) + 1 special documentary(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Betty Willingale |
| Cinematography |
|
| Editor | Derek Bain |
| Running time | 89–102 minutes |
| Production company | Bentley Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 23 March 1997 (1997-03-23) – present |
Midsomer Murders is a Britishmystery television series, adapted byAnthony Horowitz andDouglas Watkinson from the novels in theChief Inspector Barnaby book series created byCaroline Graham. It has been broadcast on theITV network since its premiere on 23 March 1997. The series focuses on various murder cases that take place within small country villages across the fictionalEnglish county of Midsomer, and the efforts of the senior police detective and his partner within the fictional Midsomer Constabulary to solve the crime by determining who the culprit is and the motive for their actions. It differs from other detective dramas in featuring a mixture of lighthearted whimsy and dark humour, as well as a notable soundtrack with a title theme that includes atheremin.
The programme has featured two lead stars: from its premiere in 1997,John Nettles asDetective Chief Inspector (DCI)Tom Barnaby, until his retirement from the drama in February 2011; thenNeil Dudgeon as DCI John Barnaby, Tom's younger cousin, since March 2011. Both main stars have featured a list of supporting actors who worked alongside them, includingJane Wymark,Barry Jackson,Daniel Casey,John Hopkins,Jason Hughes,Gwilym Lee, andNick Hendrix.Midsomer Murders remains a popular feature in British television schedules and has been broadcast internationally in over 200 countries and territories.
Midsomer Murders is adetective drama[1] set in England. The stories revolve around the efforts ofDetective Chief InspectorTom Barnaby, and later his successor, cousin John Barnaby, to solve numerous murders that take place in the picturesque but deadly villages of the fictional county of Midsomer. The Barnabys have worked with several different sergeants throughout the run of the show:Detective Sergeant (DS) Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey), DS Dan Scott (John Hopkins), DS Ben Jones (Jason Hughes), DS Charlie Nelson (Gwilym Lee) and DS Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix).
Filming ofMidsomer Murders began in the autumn of 1996, and the first episode, "The Killings at Badger's Drift", was broadcast in the United Kingdom on 23 March 1997. This inaugural episode was the highest-rated single drama programme of 1997, watched by 13.5 million viewers.[2] Throughout its run, the feature-length drama has attracted many well-known accomplished actors from the stage and screen in guest-starring roles.
Anthony Horowitz and the original producers,Betty Willingale and Brian True-May, created the series. Horowitz adapted the majority of the early episodes from the original works byCaroline Graham. Current writers include Helen Jenkins, Jeff Povey, Nicholas Hicks-Beach, Julia Gilbert and Maria Ward.
InitiallyJohn Nettles acted in the role of Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby. Nettles' character retired at the end of 2010, after the 13th series of eight episodes; his last episode was "Fit for Murder".Neil Dudgeon replaced him in the 14th series, playing Tom Barnaby's cousin, DCI John Barnaby,[3] who was seen in a series 13 episode, "The Sword of Guillaume".[4] Dudgeon made his first appearance inMidsomer Murders in the series 4 episode "Garden of Death", in which he played the role of a tongue-in-cheek gardener, Daniel Bolt, rather interested in sex.[5]
Series 20 began in the UK onITV on 10 March 2019, with episode 1, "The Ghosts of Causton Abbey".[6] In the US, the entire six-episode series was immediately released on the streaming servicesAcorn TV andBritBox,[7] and became available onNetflix after the UK broadcast schedule had finished. The show was removed from Netflix in October 2019; only the first 19 series had been shown on the service. Series 20 onward have never been shown on Netflix inUS orCanada.[8][9] As of January, 2021, series 1–20 can be seen in the US onIMDb TV andTubi TV.
The show's official social media confirmed that production of series 21 began in March 2019.[10] As with series 20, series 21 was initially released in the USA. It premiered on Acorn TV and BritBox on 1 December 2019, before airing in the UK in January 2020.[11]
Published in "The Cinemaholic" in Aug 2024, they have "learned that the network has joined Acorn TV to renewMidsomer Murders for its twenty-fifth season. The instalment’s filming began in the United Kingdom in the spring of 2025."[12]
In October 2025, ITV announced that a 26th series had been commissioned.[13]
Midsomer is afictionalEnglish county. Thecounty town is Causton, a medium-sized town where Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby lives with his wife and where theCriminal Investigation Department is located. Much of the popularity of the series arises from the incongruity of sudden violence in a picturesque and peaceful rural setting. Various clues in several episodes hint that Midsomer might actually cover the areas ofBerkshire and part of northernHampshire. This may be supported by the episode "Dead in the Water" where a body is found in theRiver Thames.[14]
Many of the villages and small towns of the county have the word "Midsomer" in their name; this is inspired in part by the real county ofSomerset, and specifically, its actual town ofMidsomer Norton, and became a naming convention within the show. Midsomer Wellow and Causton are derived from the names of real Somerset villages Wellow and Corston.
Each episode usually contains several murders, the highbody count being a well-known feature of the show.[15] Despite this, the culprit is almost never aserial killer—very frequently the murderer is driven by circumstance to compound his or her crimes, and keeps killing to cover up the original murder.[15]
Humour is a main feature of the series. There is oftendark comedy, such as a woman being murdered with a wheel ofcheese,[16] and many scenes are examples of "dramedy" (comic drama or dramatic comedy). According toRadio Times when describing the episode "Death and the Divas" (series 15, episode 4): "Midsomer Murders never takes itself too seriously but here it's got its tongue so far into its cheek, it hurts."[17]
Nostalgia has also been a feature of the show, especially in its Nettles era. Most episodes have been set inhermetic rural villages of a kind that were already changing rapidly by the time the series began, Nettles opined in a 2003 interview.[18] The old-fashioned settings are true to the Graham novels: "Although the books are set in the present", wrote one reviewer, Graham's country villages "seem to come from another time".[19] "The spirit is obviously of the '50s", Nettles remarked, and the less crowded, less complicated village/world was clearly part of the books' appeal.[19]
Causton is represented by a number of towns includingThame andWallingford, inOxfordshire.[20]
The Six Bells, a pub inWarborough, Oxfordshire,[21] repeatedly features as the Black Swan in the Midsomer village of Badger's Drift.[22] The Bull & Butcher, the village pub inTurville,Buckinghamshire, featured in both "Murder on St. Malley's Day" (renamed as The Chalk and Gown) and in "Schooled in Murder" (renamed as The Spotted Cow).[23]
Filming took place on Sunday 11 August 2013 atWhite Waltham Airfield, southwest ofMaidenhead, for episode 4 of Series 16, "The Flying Club".[24]
TheBuckinghamshire tourism authority announced in 2021 the launching of three themed tours of locations in the county that have been used to film the series.[25]
In "The Killings of Copenhagen" – number five in the sixteenth series and the 100th episode overall[26] – several scenes are filmed on location in centralCopenhagen, likeRådhuspladsen ("the City Hall Square"),Nyhavn ("New Port") with its canal and old colourful houses, a Danish countryside church, and at the circular courtyard inside theCopenhagen Police Headquarters building.[27] The murder in Copenhagen is one of three within the entire series (until episode 114, at least) that take place outside the fictional county of Midsomer, the others being in Wales where DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) and DS Ben Jones (Jason Hughes) travel in "Death and Dust" andBrighton where Inspector John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon) is introduced.
| Character | Actor | Series | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ||
| DCI Tom Barnaby | John Nettles | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Joyce Barnaby | Jane Wymark | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| DS Gavin Troy | Daniel Casey | Main | G | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dr. George Bullard | Barry Jackson | Main | R | G | Main | R | Main | ||||||||||||||||
| Dr. Dan Peterson | Toby Jones | R | Main | ||||||||||||||||||||
| DS Daniel Scott | John Hopkins | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| DS Benjamin Jones | Jason Hughes | Main | G | ||||||||||||||||||||
| DC Gail Stephens | Kirsty Dillon | R | Main | ||||||||||||||||||||
| DCI John Barnaby | Neil Dudgeon | R | Main | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sarah Barnaby | Fiona Dolman | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dr. Kate Wilding | Tamzin Malleson | R | Main | ||||||||||||||||||||
| DS Charlie Nelson | Gwilym Lee | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dr. Kam Karimore | Manjinder Virk | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| DS Jamie Winter | Nick Hendrix | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dr. Fleur Perkins | Annette Badland | Main | |||||||||||||||||||||
The pilot episode ofMidsomer Murders was shown on 23 March 1997. 140 episodes have been produced across 24 series. As of 30 December 2025, 138 episodes have been broadcast in the UK, comprising 24 series. New series may air in different territories before the UK. Air dates may vary by region.
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| Pilot | 23 March 1997 (1997-03-23) | |||
| 1 | 4 | 22 March 1998 (1998-03-22) | 6 May 1998 (1998-05-06) | |
| 2 | 4 | 20 January 1999 (1999-01-20) | 19 September 1999 (1999-09-19) | |
| 3 | 4 | 31 December 1999 (1999-12-31) | 5 February 2000 (2000-02-05) | |
| 4 | 6 | 10 September 2000 (2000-09-10) | 23 September 2001 (2001-09-23) | |
| 5 | 4 | 16 June 2002 (2002-06-16) | 22 September 2002 (2002-09-22) | |
| 6 | 5 | 3 January 2003 (2003-01-03) | 31 January 2003 (2003-01-31) | |
| 7 | 7 | 2 November 2003 (2003-11-02) | 25 December 2004 (2004-12-25) | |
| 8 | 8 | 10 October 2004 (2004-10-10) | 2 October 2005 (2005-10-02) | |
| 9 | 8 | 9 October 2005 (2005-10-09) | 17 September 2006 (2006-09-17) | |
| 10 | 8 | 12 November 2006 (2006-11-12) | 11 May 2008 (2008-05-11) | |
| 11 | 7 | 1 January 2008 (2008-01-01) | 5 May 2010 (2010-05-05) | |
| 12 | 7 | 22 July 2009 (2009-07-22) | 14 April 2010 (2010-04-14) | |
| 13 | 8 | 12 May 2010 (2010-05-12) | 2 February 2011 (2011-02-02) | |
| 14 | 8 | 23 March 2011 (2011-03-23) | 11 January 2012 (2012-01-11) | |
| 15 | 6 | 1 February 2012 (2012-02-01) | 30 January 2013 (2013-01-30) | |
| 16 | 5 | 24 December 2013 (2013-12-24) | 12 February 2014 (2014-02-12) | |
| 17 | 4 | 28 January 2015 (2015-01-28) | 18 February 2015 (2015-02-18) | |
| 18 | 6 | 6 January 2016 (2016-01-06) | 17 February 2016 (2016-02-17) | |
| 19 | 6 | 18 December 2016 (2016-12-18) | 20 May 2018 (2018-05-20) | |
| 20 | 6 | 10 March 2019 (2019-03-10) | 14 January 2020 (2020-01-14) | |
| 21 | 4 | 21 January 2020 (2020-01-21) | 28 March 2021 (2021-03-28) | |
| 22 | 6 | 4 April 2021 (2021-04-04) | 27 August 2023 (2023-08-27) | |
| 23 | 4 | 14 April 2024 (2024-04-14) | 10 November 2024 (2024-11-10) | |
| 24 | 4 | 29 December 2025 (2025-12-29) | TBA | |
| 25 | 4 | TBA | TBA | |
| 26 | 4[28] | TBA | TBA | |
In June 2019, British-American streaming serviceAcorn TV began streaming a 20th Anniversary Special presented by John Nettles.[29] The one-hour documentary brings together former and current actors on the show as well as producers and others working behind the scene to discuss memorable moments from the past 20 series and the peculiar quirks that have made the show a success.[30]
In May 2022, ITV announced that there would be a documentary celebrating the show's 25th anniversary.[31]
EntitledMidsomer Murders – 25 Years of Mayhem it featured contributions from cast members includingJohn Nettles,Neil Dudgeon,Jane Wymark,Fiona Dolman,Daniel Casey,Jason Hughes andAnnette Badland, as well as writerJeff Povey and producer Ian Strachan. It also delved behind the scenes of filmingseries 23 and highlighted pre-fame appearances by actors such asOrlando Bloom andHenry Cavill.
ITV subsequently announced that the one-hour documentary would air on the channel on Sunday 29 May 2022 at 7pm.[32][needs update]
In March 2011, series producer Brian True-May was suspended byAll3Media after telling the TV listings magazineRadio Times that the programme did not have any non-white characters because the series was "the last bastion ofEnglishness and I want to keep it that way". When challenged about the term "Englishness" and whether that would exclude ethnic minorities, True-May responded: "Well, it should do, and maybe I'm notpolitically correct." He later went on to say that he wanted to make a programme "that appeals to a certain audience, which seems to succeed." True-May's comments were investigated by the production company.[33] He was reinstated, having apologised "if his remarks gave unintended offence to any viewers", but subsequently stepped down as producer. ITV said it was "shocked and appalled" at True-May's comments, which were "absolutely not shared by anyone at ITV".[34][35]
True-May's replacement, Jo Wright, confirmed that she was committed to on-screen diversity when she took over the helm, saying: "I feel strongly that a range of ethnic groups should be represented on screen. And that will be reflected in some of the episodes in the new series with key guest casting. I will cast the series in the same way as I always do, by starting with the best script. And a good script will include a variety of different characters."[36] In series 15, Asian actors played central characters for the first time, in the episode "Written in the Stars".[37] Black characters also began to appear starting in that series. Beginning with series 18, the show gained an Asian member for its main cast: pathologist Kam Karimore, played byManjinder Virk.[38] However, she left at the end of series 19.
In 2004,Midsomer Murders was among the three most-sold British TV shows worldwide, whether as TV programming or DVD.[39] As of 2016[update],Midsomer Murders had been sold to more than 200 countries around the world.[2]
In Australia, first-run episodes and repeats are screened on the national free-to-air networkABC with repeats also shown on theNine Network channel,9Gem. The series was originally only aired on theNine Network. Repeat screenings are also aired on the subscription channelsUKTV and13th Street. A measure of the success of the series in Australia is that repeats of the series still rate highly and often feature in the nation's top twenty shows in national surveys.[40][41]
In Canada, the series is broadcast onTVOntario andBook Television in Ontario, onKnowledge in British Columbia, and via AmericanPBS channels available throughout southern parts of Canada. As of May 2019[update], the first thirteen series are currently available in Canada onAmazon Prime Video, while only series 21 is available onBritbox. The first nineteen series are also available on streaming service/app Tubi and Acorn.
In Ireland, the series is aired onVirgin Media Three every Monday night at 8 pm. It is one of the channel's highest-rated shows.
InNew Zealand, the series was broadcast onTVNZ 1 and it was broadcast for a number of years on the free-to-air channelPrime.
In the United States, the series was first aired byA&E, which broadcast "The Killings at Badger's Drift" on 28 June 1998 and followed with the next four episodes over the 1998–99 series.[19] The show remained on A&E for many years until it was syndicated byAmerican Public Television for broadcast on public television stations. All 24 series are currently available on the streaming serviceAcorn TV, which also offers the programme in Canada. The show was also broadcast onIon Mystery and is currently onIon Plus, and it has a dedicated channel on the streaming servicePluto TV.
TheParamount Channel broadcasts episodereruns daily.
PBS also occasionally shows Midsomer Murders on some stations from time to time.[42][43]
Composed byJim Parker, the main theme is a moderate-tempo waltz, performed (primarily though not exclusively) on an unusual electronic musical instrument, thetheremin, which has a sound not unlike a low whistle or a human voice. The theremin part was played by Celia Sheen (1940–2011). From the 14th series onwards the soundtrack was altered so that during the closing titles a standardised version of the theme is played on a solo violin in place of the theremin. Occasionally a version with a longer introduction opens the show, using a flute rather than a theremin as the lead instrument.
The closing theme for "The Scarecrow Murders", shown on 29 May 2022 to celebrate 25 years, was a more jovial clarinet version.
Multiple soundtrack CDs have been released so far[when?], containing versions of the theme and musical cues from various series.
All 140 episodes have been released in the US (Region 1) and in the UK (Region 2) including three Christmas specials, by Acorn Media. The first 18 series and "Part 1" of series 19 ofMidsomer Murders have been released in Australia[44] and New Zealand (Region 4).
Note that episodes 1 to 100 were originally released as 25 DVD "sets", which were not in chronological order and are now discontinued. They have been re-released in 2015 as a chronological "series" 1 to 16 in redesigned packages. To confuse fans further, Costco Warehouses sold 5 abbreviated (region 1) sets with one less disc, but used the same "set" numberings even though they did not match the retail "sets".
Blue-ray discs were released for "Sets" 17 through 25 and "Series" 16 through 24, picking up where the "sets" left off but not re-issuing the "sets" in redesigned packages like the DVDs did.
In January 2006,Midsomer Murders started a DVD and Magazine Collection, available at newsagents in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK.[citation needed]
Acorn Media had released DVD chronological order collections ofMidsomer Murders in North America, which are:
Below table are the release dates for complete series sets in both Australia Region 4 and the United Kingdom Region 2.
| Discs | Region 4 | Region 2 | Region 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complete series 1 | 3 | 18 August 2006 | – | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 2 | 3 | 3 July 2007 | – | 30 July 2013 |
| The Complete Series One and Two | 6 | – | 6 April 2009 | – |
| Complete series 3 | 2 | 3 July 2007 | – | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 4 | 3 | 11 August 2008 | – | 30 July 2013 |
| The Complete Series Three and Four | 6 | – | 11 May 2009 | |
| Complete series 5 | 3 | 11 August 2008 | – | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 6 | 3 | 11 August 2008 | – | 30 July 2013 |
| The Complete Series Five and Six | 6 | – | 1 June 2009 | |
| Complete series 7 | 4 (Region 4) 6 (Region 2) | 3 November 2010 | 6 July 2009 | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 8 | 4 (Region 4) 6 (Region 2) | 3 November 2010 | 3 August 2009 | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 9 | 4 (Region 4) 6 (Region 2) | 3 November 2010 | 7 September 2009 | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 10 | 5 (Region 4) 6 (Region 2) | 4 February 2015 | 5 October 2009 | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 11 | 5 (Region 4) 6 (Region 2) | 4 February 2015 | 23 August 2010 | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 12 | 6 | 4 February 2015 | 17 April 2011 | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 13 | 5 (Region 4) 6 (Region 2) | 4 February 2015 | 9 May 2011 | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 14 | 4 (Region 4) 6 (Region 2) | 9 March 2016 | 2 April 2012 | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 15 | 4 (Region 4) 6 (Region 2) | 9 March 2016 | 6 May 2013 | 30 July 2013 |
| Complete series 16 | 4 (Region 4) 5 (Region 2) | 22 March 2017 | 7 July 2014 | 16 Sep 2014 |
| Complete series 17 | 3 (Region 4) 4 (Region 2) | 22 March 2017 | 8 June 2015 | 15 Sep 2015 |
| Complete series 18 | 4 (Region 4) 2 (Region 2) | 4 October 2017 | 16 May 2016 | 20 Sep 2016 |
| Complete series 19 | 4 (Region 4) 2 (Region 2) | 15 August 2018 | 21 May 2018 | pt.1 27 Jun 2017 pt.2 24 Oct 2017 |
| Complete series 20 | 4 (Region 4) 2 (Region 2) | 22 July 2020[45] | 2 December 2019[46] | 25 Sep 2018 |
| Complete series 21 | 4 (Region 4) 2 (Region 2) | 6 April 2022[47] | 5 April 2021[48] | 7 April 2020[49] |
| The Complete series 1–4 (Limited Edition) | 10 | 2 August 2017 | – | |
| The Complete series 5–8 (Limited Edition) | 14 | 2 August 2017 | – | |
| The Complete series 9–12 (Limited Edition) | 19 | 11 April 2018 | – | |
| The Complete series 13–16 (Limited Edition) | 16 | 11 April 2018 | – | |
| The Complete series 17-20 (Limited Edition) | 15 | 16 September 2020[50] | ||
| series 1–10 | 33 | 25 October 2017 | – | |
| The Entire First 20 series (Limited Edition) | 72 | 21 July 2021[51] | – |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
