Midsomer Murders
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| Midsomer Murders | |
|---|---|
 Opening credits of Midsomer Murders |
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| Genre | Drama |
| Creator(s) | Brian True-May |
| Starring | John Nettles Daniel Casey Jane Wymark Laura Howard Barry Jackson John Hopkins Jason Hughes |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 55 (to date) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 120 minutes (including adverts) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | 23 March 1997 – |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Midsomer Murders is a popular British television drama series about murders that take place in the fictional English county of Midsomer. It is based on a series of crime novels 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.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- John Nettles - Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby
- Daniel Casey - Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy (1997 to 2003)
- John Hopkins - Detective Sergeant Dan Scott (2003 to 2005)
- Jason Hughes - Detective Sergeant Ben Jones (from 2005)
- Jane Wymark - Joyce Barnaby
- Laura Howard - Cully Barnaby (1997 to 1999; from 2002)
- Barry Jackson - Dr George Bullard (1997 to 1998; from 2000)
[edit] Characters
Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby - 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 in which he is investigating.
Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy - 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, through 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 un-politically correct remarks often concerning his disdain for homosexuals. He is often known to make other inappropriate comments, often at the least fortuitous of times. He was promoted to Inspector and transferred to Middlesbourough at the end of the sixth series.
Joyce Barnaby - Barnaby's long-suffering wife. She is enormously tolerant of her husband, despite his 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.
Cully Barnaby - 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. Like her mother her tendency to do community work often leaves her personally involved with the murders that take place.
Dan Scott - is less naive and a bit cockier then 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.
Ben Jones - 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. 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 film.
[edit] Style
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 facade 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 drily, "It's been remarked upon."
[edit] Production
First transmitted in the United Kingdom in March 1997, filming is currently underway on the tenth series of the programme, which will bring the total number of episodes to fifty-nine. 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 the writer Anthony Horowitz, who, together with the original producers Betty Willingale and Brian True-May, also created the series; and current writers include Peter J. Hammond, David Hoskins, Douglas Watkinson and Andrew Payne.
[edit] 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. In total, there have been 149 murders, ten accidental deaths, eight suicides and two natural deaths.
[edit] Locations
[edit] Other countries
Midsomer Murders has been sold to a number of countries and territories across the world, including Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latin America, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.
[edit] DVD releases
The first nine series of Midsomer Murders have been released in the UK (Region 2). The first three episodes of Series Ten will be released on 2 April 2007.
In January 2006, Midsomer Murders started a DVD & Magazine Collection, available at newsagents in the UK and Australia.
[edit] Books
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.
