Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders is an ITV television series about the, among other things, murders that take place in Midsomer, a fictional English county. The series is loosely based on the 'Detective Inspector Barnaby' novels by Caroline Graham. Although the body count is remarkably, and unplausibly, high, there is a strong 'whodunnit' element in most episodes. The series are co-written by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson and mostly filmed in the English counties of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey. Midsomer Murders has been broadcasted around the world, including the United States, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and France.

There is a deliberate nostalgic feel about the Midsomer villages, in many ways resembling St Mary's Mead, Miss Marple's hometown. The inhabitants of Midsomer, however, involve in activities that were quite unthinkable in Agatha Christie's day, such as gay sex, drugs and incest. However, critics of the show often point out that the location is very "middle class".

The main cast includes John Nettles as Chief Inspector Barnaby, John Hopkins as Detective Sergeant Dan Scott, Jane Wymark as Joyce Barnaby and Laura Howard as Cully Barnaby. Very few characters are repeated through the episodes, despite Midsomer supposedly being a fairly low populated county.

Episodes

So far, thirty-nine episodes have been broadcast in the United Kingdom. These are the episodes and their first broadcasting date (in the UK).

Pilot Episode

• The Killings at Badger's Drift. March 23rd, 1997.

1st Series

• Written in Blood. March 22nd, 1998.
• Death of a Hollow Man. March 29th, 1998.
• Faithful unto Death. April 22nd, 1998.
• Death in Disguise. May 6th, 1998.

2nd Series

• Death's Shadow. January 20th, 1999.
• Strangler's Wood. February 3rd, 1999.
• Dead Man's Eleven. September 12th, 1999.
• Blood Will Out. September 19th, 1999.

3rd Series

• Death of a Stranger. December 31st, 1999.
• Blue Herrings. January 22nd, 2000.
• Judgement Day. January 29th, 2000.
• Beyond the Grave. February 5th, 2000.

4th Series

• Garden of Death. September 10th, 2000.
• Destroying Angel. August 26th, 2001.
• The Electric Vendetta. September 2nd, 2001.
• Who Killed Cock Robin? September 9th, 2001.
• Dark Autumn. September 16th, 2001.
• Tainted Fruit. September 23rd, 2001.

5th Series

• Market for Murder. June 2nd, 2002.
• A Worm in the Bud. June 23rd, 2002.
• Ring out your Dead. September 15th, 2002.
• Murder on St Malley's Day. September 22nd, 2002.

6th Series

• A Talent for Life. January 3rd, 2003.
• Death and Dreams. January 10th, 2003.
• Painted in Blood. January 17th, 2003.
• A Tale of Two Hamlets. January 24th, 2003.
• Birds of Prey. January 31st, 2003.

7th Series

• The Green Man. November 2nd, 2003.
• Bad Tidings. January 4th, 2004.
• The Fisher King. January 11th, 2004.
• Sins of Commission. January 18th, 2004.
• The Maid in Splendour. January 25th, 2004.
• The Straw Woman. February 29th, 2004.

Christmas Special 2004

• The Ghost of Christmas Past. December 26th, 2004.

8th Series

• Things that Go Bump in the Night. October 10th, 2004.
• Dead in the Water. October 17th, 2004
• Orchis Fatalis. 2005.
• The Ghosts of Sleath. 2005.

Cast

Midsomer Murders has enjoyed many famed British actors in its cast. The more notable are listed below.

• Orlando Bloom, Judgement Day
• Jonathan Firth, The Killings at Badger's Drift
• Henry Ian Cusick, The Fisher King

References

• 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, Ghost in the Machine, 2004
• Jeff Evans, Midsomer Murders: The Making of An English Crime Classic, 2003

External Links

Midsomer Murders Information Page