Midsomer Murders
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Caroline Graham
Directed by	Peter Smith Sarah Hellings Jeremy Silberston Richard Holthouse Renny Rye
Starring	John Nettles Jane Wymark Barry Jackson Laura Howard
Composer(s)	Jim Parker
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	58 (as of 1 January 2008) (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Brian True-May
Producer(s)	Brian True-May Betty Willingale
Associate producer(s)	Ian Strachan
Editor(s)	Derek Bain
Cinematography	Colin Munn Graham Frake
Running time	120 minutes (including adverts)
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Picture format	Super 16
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	23 March 1997 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Midsomer Murders is a British television drama that has aired on ITV1 since 1997. A detective drama, it focuses on the main character of Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, played by John Nettles and his efforts to solve the various crimes 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. midsomer murders logo This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... For other uses, see Drama (disambiguation). ... Caroline Graham, writer of the Chief Inspector Barnaby book series, was born in 1931 in Warwickshire England. ... Peter Smith can refer to: Peter Smith, a Canadian politician involved in the Ontario Bond Scandal in the 1920s. ... Jeremy Silberston (1 April 1950–9 March 2006), was an English film director. ... John Nettles is a British actor. ... An official publicity still of actress Jane Wymark. ... Barry Jackson (born 29 May 1938 in Birmingham, England) is an actor best known for his roles on film and television. ... A recent publicity image of actress Laura Howard. ... James Thomas Parker (b. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... The following is a list of episodes for the British drama Midsomer Murders that first aired in 1997. ... For other uses, see ITV (disambiguation). ... 16 mm film was introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1923 as an inexpensive amateur alternative to the conventional 35 mm film format. ... This article is about the spacecraft and the mission. ... is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... For other uses, see Drama (disambiguation). ... ITV1 is the name, in England, Wales and the Scottish borders, for a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel, broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ... Chief Inspector (Ch Insp/CIP) is a rank in Police forces. ... John Nettles is a British actor. ... Fictional counties are created by an author for character placement and story background. ... Sherlock Holmes, pipe-puffing hero of crime fiction, confers with his colleague Dr. Watson; together these characters popularized the genre. ... Caroline Graham, writer of the Chief Inspector Barnaby book series, was born in 1931 in Warwickshire England. ... Anthony Horowitz (born 5 April 1956) is an English author and television scriptwriter. ...

Cast

• John Nettles - Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby
• Daniel Casey - Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy (1997 to 2003, 2008)
• 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)

John Nettles is a British actor. ... Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby is a fictional detective created by Caroline Graham. ... Daniel Casey (born June 1, 1972) is a British actor best known for playing Sgt. ... John Hopkins is a British actor best known for playing Sgt. ... Actor Jason Hughes on the set of Midsomer Murders, circa February 2006. ... An official publicity still of actress Jane Wymark. ... A recent publicity image of actress Laura Howard. ... Barry Jackson (born 29 May 1938 in Birmingham, England) is an actor best known for his roles on film and television. ...

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, his other relatives are his parents , who by the episode "Blue Herrings" are both deceased, though only his mother is refered to, he also has an aunt Alice Bly who appears only in the aforesaid episode, to whom he is devoted. In fact, they both often provide a personal connection with the crimes that he is investigating. Midsomer Norton is a town in England. ... Charles Vincent, founder of the Metropolitan Police CID The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of all British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces to which plain clothes detectives belong. ...

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 very bright and ambitious, though 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 non-politically correct remarks, often concerning his disdain for homosexuals. He is known to make other inappropriate comments, often at the least fortuitous of times. He was promoted to Inspector and transferred to Middlesbrough at the end of the sixth series. His relationship with Barnaby has always been warm and the two make a formidable pair. He will make a one off appearance in the first episode of Series 11, "Blood Wedding", to attend the wedding of Cully Barnaby.^[1] Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ... Homosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same sex. ... Middlesborough redirects here. ...

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 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. Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster that is primarily residential and well known for its collection of small hotels. ... Midsomer Norton is a town in England. ...

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. She is an actress and frequently takes temporary jobs in the Midsomer area when "resting" between assignments. Like her mother her tendency to do community work often leaves her personally involved with the murders that take place.

DS Dan Scott - is a bit cockier than his predecessor Gavin Troy; he is a Londoner who was not thrilled to be transferred to Midsomer, which he regards as the 'sticks'. His relationship with Barnaby was prickly at first but it mellowed into a slightly awkward marriage of convenience, with Barnaby still disapproving of Scott's methods and Scott grudgingly starting to respect him. His departure from the show was never fully explained.

DS 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. Jones is considerably less naive than his predecessors. 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 episode and Jones assists with many references to masonic ritual and regalia, and is shown attending a lodge meeting in part of the episode. Freemasons redirects here. ...

Doctor George Bullard - Causton's resident pathologist. Bullard goes about his work with a professional skill and a cheery demeanour. He is a good friend of Barnaby. He has been a regular throughout the series (save for a brief spell, when his place was taken by Dr. Dan Peterson played by Toby Jones). In later episodes he has often played a greater role in the plot. Toby Jones as Truman Capote, with Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee, in Infamous (2006) For the artist, see Toby Jones (artist). ...

Style

The programme possesses a unique style. It is almost entirely set within the closed, rustic fictional English county of Midsomer. Midsomer is a world whose inhabitants are frequently wealthy, amoral and snobbish eccentrics, often obsessed with the confined lives they lead in these isolated communities. This setting provides for some friction amongst them, which is observed with a self-mocking, sardonic humour. A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. ...

The show often highlights people's artificial façade. To the unfamiliar eye, Midsomer is a picturesque, peaceful and prosperous county, but behind the well-trimmed hedgerows and cricket on the village green lurks a society brimming with all kinds of vice. Barnaby, by contrast, offers a stable homelife and an exceptional morality.

Each story is built up carefully, with underpinning currents and long unsolved mysteries adding to the bemusement of the detectives. There are usually false leads—so-called "red herrings—like those who have committed petty crimes or harbour some dark secret they attempt to conceal from the world. Despite the sinister, atmospheric edge that runs through the show, it maintains a consistent sense of humour. In literature, a red herring is a plot device intended to distract the reader from a more important event in the plot, usually a twist ending. ...

The locale seemingly has a large number of deaths, especially considering that Midsomer is a small, rural county. Due to the bizarre nature of the place, this does not seem entirely improbable. The show at times even plays on this lack of realism, with characters often commenting on the astoundingly high numbers of deaths. For example, in one of his earliest cases with Barnaby, Detective Sergeant Dan Scott asks, "Is the body count always this high around here?" Barnaby replies dryly, "It's been remarked upon." Sign in a rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China Rural areas (also referred to as the country, countryside) are settled places outside towns and cities. ... A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. ...

Production

First transmitted in the United Kingdom in March 1997, filming is currently underway on the eleventh series of the programme, which will bring the total number of episodes to sixty-six, and a twelfth series commissioned to be filmed in 2008. Viewing figures for the series are healthy, and the feature-length drama attracts a number of actors from the stage and screen in guest-starring roles. The majority of the early episodes were written by Anthony Horowitz, who, with the original producers Betty Willingale and Brian True-May, also created the series. Current writers include Peter J. Hammond, David Hoskins, Douglas Watkinson and Andrew Payne. Anthony Horowitz (born 5 April 1956) is an English author and television scriptwriter. ... Peter J. Hammond (sometimes credited as P. J. Hammond) is a British television writer. ...

Episodes

Main article: List of Midsomer Murders 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. The following is a list of episodes for the British drama Midsomer Murders that first aired in 1997. ... is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ...

Locations

Main article: Midsomer Murders filming locations

The following UK locations are some of the many sites that have played host to the filming of the British television series Midsomer Murders since filming began in 1996. ...

Other countries

Midsomer Murders has been sold to a number of countries and territories across the world, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Not to be confused with Republika Srpska. ...

DVD releases

The first nine series of Midsomer Murders have been released in the UK (Region 2). The first three episodes of Series Ten were released on 2 April 2007. is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

In January 2006, Midsomer Murders started a DVD & Magazine Collection, available at newsagents in the UK and Australia.

Books

The following list is a collection of published works connected with the series.

• Caroline Graham, "The Killings 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.

References

The Manchester Evening News is an English daily newspaper published each week day evening and on Saturdays. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Midsomer Murders at itv.com
• Midsomer Murders at the Internet Movie Database
• Midsomer Murders at TV.com