My hubby knew when I had a not-great day at work when he would ask me what I wanted to watch on the telly and I would tell him murder. That was his cue to pull up Midsomer Murders on Acorn TV.
Midsomer Murders takes place in the beautiful county of Midsomer in England. Midsomer is filled with quaint villages where murder and mayhem seem to take place on a fairly frequent basis.
In the beginning, at the center of this mayhem are Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and his Detective Sargent Gavin Troy. They are based out of the police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in the major town of the county, Causton.
Tom is happily married to Joyce and they have a daughter named Cully. Cully is an aspiring actress who lives with them when she isn’t traveling with various theatre companies. When not away, she takes various jobs around the area.
Joyce is a stay-at-home wife who is interested in a lot of things, from cooking to gardening to painting and beyond. As a cook she tries her best, always attempting new dishes from various chefs she likes. Unfortunately, her attempts are not the best and make for a number of light-hearted moments when Tom and Cully try to put on their best faces to avoid disappointing Joyce.
It is against this family backdrop we travel around the county of Midsomer to the various villages where murder most foul is committed, from gunshots to bludgeoning to electrocution and even death by a wheel of cheese.
Most of the murders, while horrible, are not graphic. While there is plenty of blood in some cases, there is an absence of guts and other extremely gruesome details you get in some of today’s grittier detective shows. In some cases, they are presented with a bit of dark humor. Most notably so when Fleur Perkins came on the scene as coroner in the first episode of Series 20. She has a wicked sense of humor.
We are introduced to Tom Barnaby and company in “The Killings at Badger’s Drift.” A retired school teacher who had been searching in the woods for an orchid stumbled upon something that upsets her. Whatever it was, it was enough for someone to kill her to keep her from talking and try to make it look like she fell down the stairs.
Over the course of the episode, we are introduced to a number of people who all seem to have something to hide, and a mother and son who are determined to profit from those secrets.
By the end, there have been a couple more murders and many secrets have been revealed.
As the series progresses, we learn more about Tom and his various Detective Sargents, starting with Gavin Troy.
When we first meet Sgt Troy, he comes across as not terribly bright, a terrible driver, and apt to make statements that have Tom shaking his head. At one point Tom tells him “You are as politically correct as a Nuremberg rally.”
But under the tutelage (and occasional gentle torture) of DCI Barnaby, Sgt Troy eventually becomes a pretty fair copper and advances to the rank of Detective Inspector and leaves Midsomer to continue his career.
With the newly minted DI Troy leaving for newer pastures, DS Dan Scott arrives in time to be thrust into a murder investigation without even having time to find a place to live.
Dan was transferred to Midsomer from the Metropolitan Police in London and viewed the transfer as a demotion. He is a fish out of water in the country and his attitude shows it. Tom is not happy with his new Detective Sargent. Eventually, Sgt Scott realizes that being a DS in the county of Midsomer isn’t a punishment and he and Barnaby come to an understanding.
DS Scott works with Tom through two series and in the first episode of Series 9, “The House in the Wood” he is out sick and Tom is in need of an assistant when he meets Police Constable Ben Jones who impresses Tom. Tom asks PC Jones if he has a suit and drafts him to CID as acting Detective Constable.
Ben quickly demonstrates he is very competent and by the end of Series 9, he passes his sergeant's exam and becomes a Detective Sargent.
Ben is the longest-serving DS in the show. He has quite a bit of local knowledge, having grown up in Midsomer and having a grandmother who is up on the local gossip in Midsomer Parva that is key to solving the murder there. He is a good singer, a fair cricket player, and a former Freemason that has helped with solving a few murders.
DCI Tom Barnaby and DS Jones prove to be a formidable team, solving even more murders and mysteries throughout Misdomer. Eventually, Tom decides it is time to retire, announcing it at his birthday party in “Fit for Murder” at the end of Series 13 where his cousin DCI John Barnaby, who is attending the party, is revealed to be Tom’s replacement.
We have been previously introduced to DCI John Barnaby in the first episode of Series 13, “The Sword of Guillaume” when Tom travels to the seaside town of Brighton when he suspects Causton’s mayor Dave Hicks is on the fiddle regarding land for seaside holiday chalets. He teams up with his younger cousin when the first murder occurs involving beheading on a spookhouse fun ride. The second murder takes place back in Causton where Tom and DS Jones put together the clues to identify the murderer.
John Barnaby is married to Sarah and they have a pet terrier named Sykes. Sarah is a teacher and after her move to Midsomer, she becomes headmistress at Causton Comprehensive School. Happily married for 15 years, they welcome their daughter Betty at the end of Series 16.
At first, the teaming of DCI John Barnaby and DS Jones is a bit tense. John Barnaby has a much different approach to investigation, a dry sense of humor, occasional snark, and a degree in psychology. Not at all what Jones is used to, but they eventually click and it is off to solve more murders.
Eventually, Jones is promoted to DI and leaves for Brighton CID and at the start of Series 16 we have a new DS in the person of Charlie Nelson. Charlie is a capable DS and he and John work well together. While our previous Detective Sargents adhered to the suit and tie dress code approved by our DCIs, Charlie is more casual in dress and appearance. But he fits in well with John Barnaby as his DS. At the end of Series 18, he left Midsomer to take an undercover course.
John Barnaby’s newest DS is Jaimie Winter and they almost immediately click. They have a good working relationship and will play off each other, The banter between them is light-hearted and humorous.
Working with our detectives are the forensic pathologists who are usually first on the scene and officially determine the manner of death.
We first meet Dr. George Bullard when he is examining our murder victim in “The Killings at Badger’s Drift” where he informs Tom that while it looked like she had fallen down the stairs, she had been murdered and staged to look like an accident.
George is married to Catherine and they are good friends with Tom and Joyce. We usually see George at the site of the murders and in his lab where he delves deeper into what killed the victims, tho on occasion he is socializing with Tom and Joyce and even singing in a choir. He retires after the end of Series 14 to pursue his joy of fishing.
Next up is Dr. Kate Wilding, a competent, no-nonsense pathologist who quickly gains the confidence of our detectives. As the series progresses, she enters a relationship with Ben Jones and becomes good friends when Charlie becomes DS. Charlie rents a room from Kate, but their living styles do bring a bit of tension between the roommates. By the start of Series 18, she has left Midsomer to take up a post at Brighton University where she joins Ben who is working at Brighton CID.
At first, it appears that the next pathologist, Kam Karimore and Charlie won’t quite get along. They are competitive with each other which causes some friction, but they eventually come to a meeting of the minds and become friends. She also is a bit competitive with Jaimie once he arrives in Midsomer. They had previously met at a crime management seminar a number of years before and hints and the mystery of what happened there after the lectures pop up throughout Series 19. Jaimie is attracted to her and is sad when she takes a position in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Series 20 introduces us to the aforementioned Dr. Fleur Perkins. She is a serious no-nonsense pathologist who will not speculate on things until she has had a chance to fully examine everything. This does cause some issues with John Barnaby as he is used to at least being given a hint of the cause and time of death. When they first meet in “The Ghost of Causton Abbey” she is a bit snarky with John about the time of death of a body found in a boiling vat of beer, saying “Boiled human flesh isn’t something I work with every day, so I’ll need to consult a specialist. And possibly a cookbook”.
Fleur is a very interesting character who has been married several times and owns two motorcycles. You never know what new revelation she will make about herself and her life. I think out of all the pathologists, she is my absolute favorite.
But as this is a show about murders, we can’t forget the villains. They are played by a range of actors who were up and coming to those at the top of their field. I won’t say who played the villains, you need to find out who they are by yourselves. But needless to say, it is a joy watching them and trying to guess who is the murderer.
New viewers may note that the actors for the majority of the show are white. In 2011, producer Brian True-May made a statement (paraphrasing here) that there were no ethnic minority characters as the stories take place in English villages which would not be English villages with them. He was removed from the show, though he was reinstated later. It was then announced he would be leaving as producer after 2011.
The producer who replaced him, Jo Wright is committed to onscreen diversity. Series 15 features Asian actors in major roles and in Series 18 an Asian actor became a main character in the person of forensic pathologist Kam Karimore, played by Manjinder Virk. Personally, I love the diversity as it has introduced me to a significant number of actors I didn’t know and looked for other shows they were in.
Midsomer Murders is my go-to comfort TV. It helped when I had a not-great day at work, got me through being stuck in the ICU with pneumonia, and is helping to get me through my current frustrations of computer programs not doing what I need them to do. An evening of comfort murder is just what the doctor ordered.
Midsomer Murders is available to watch via Acorn TV with a subscription. The IMDb entry has a list of where else to watch it, though not all the platforms listed have the complete series.
Despite being set in beautiful English countryside the Midsomer villages are dangerous places to live, it seems that…www.imdb.com
PS: if you love Brit TV, I highly recommend subscribing to Acorn or BritBox, or heck, both of them. They are well worth the subscription price.
_________________________________________________________
If you like my writing and want to read more from me and other writers on Medium, click here to upgrade to a Medium membership for unlimited access. Please note, this is an affiliate link and I will receive a portion of your membership fees.
Comments