John Nettles made eighty-one films as DCI Tom Barnaby between 1997 and 2011, then left Midsomer Murders at the height of its popularity and never went back. He had already been famous once, as Bergerac on Jersey, and he seems to have known exactly when enough was enough. He is 82 and lives quietly in Devon.

The series began on ITV on 23 March 1997, adapted by Anthony Horowitz from Caroline Graham's novels, and 13.5 million people watched the first body turn up in an orchid wood. Twenty-nine years on it has passed 140 films and sold to more than 200 countries.

Jane Wymark, who played Joyce Barnaby, left alongside Nettles. Daniel Casey, his first sergeant Gavin Troy, has since played Barnaby himself in a touring stage version, the kind of promotion only Midsomer could arrange. Jason Hughes, Laura Howard, Gwilym Lee and Neil Dudgeon, who has now been John Barnaby for longer than Nettles lasted, all appear too.

Two are gone: Barry Jackson, the pathologist Dr Bullard, in 2013, and Jim Parker, whose theremin theme still opens every episode, in 2023.

The appeal, I think, is that Midsomer is the most beautiful place on television in which to be murdered. Nobody watches for realism. They watch for the village fete, the vicar with a secret and the pint in the pub afterwards.

Troy or Jones: which sergeant did you prefer?

AI-voiced narration. Ages and dates as of September 2026.