Midsomer Murders has been a British TV staple for decades. The crime drama first premiered on ITV back in 1997 with John Nettles playing the lead detective, DCI Tom Barnaby. After John stepped down from the role, he passed the baton to Neil Dudgeon, whose portrayal of DCI John Barnaby not only earned him household name status but ensured the show’s future and continued success.
The show’s 23rd season debuted earlier this year with a fresh set of mysterious crimes for DCI Barnaby to solve. As the season draws to a close, with only one episode left, fans might be curious about the drama’s future. Keep reading for all we know, including what the cast have said…
The future of Midsomer Murders beyond season 23
While there’s only one episode of the current series remaining, fans will be pleased to know that the 24th season is on the way.
Filming for series 24 took place last summer, with ITV yet to announce a release date. So far, a 25th series has not yet been commissioned.
© Mark BourdillonNeil Dudgeon’s future as the lead detective
Back in 2020, Neil said he had “no intentions” of stepping down as the show’s leading man.
“I think that as long as ITV want to make it and people want to keep commissioning it, as long as people want to keep watching it, it’s a great show to do,” he told RadioTimes.com, adding that he’ll likely retire from the role when he stops acting altogether.
© Mark Bourdillon“So I can’t imagine why I would – I think if I stopped doing Midsomer, I’d kind of stop doing things entirely. It’s like Dr Johnson said about London: when a man is tired of London he’s tired of life. I think when an actor’s tired of doing Midsomer he’s tired of acting,” explained the 63-year-old.
Nick Hendrix on his future on the show
Nick Hendrix has played DCI John Barandby’s sidekick, Jamie Winter, since 2016. While the actor sees “very few negatives” to playing the role, he hasn’t ruled out ever leaving.
Opening up about his future in the drama, the 39-year-old said: “I think as ever I would always say never say never and what I would say is that there are so few negatives to doing it that it would be a really hard job to turn down.
© Bentley Productions for ITV and ITVX“I’d like to think that I’ve done enough well now that they will always want me to be in it. So I can’t imagine that I would say outright that I’d do it for the next ten years because that’s not my career aspirations.”
The actor went on to say that he and Neil have “a good vibe” and fans of the show favour “consistency” over changes to the cast.
“But equally when you’re offered these jobs and you know it’s such a nice job with nice people it’s hard to say no,” he told Express.co.uk in 2020. “Each year as an actor you play it as it lies and see what happens and try to make a decision at the time that seems like the right one.”
Neil’s warning over episode schedule
Neil has previously addressed the show’s sporadic episode schedule and warned that showing repeat episodes in between new ones risks losing fans.
“Some years ago, ITV decided to schedule single episodes, or just two episodes from a series, so that Midsomer could take on rival shows on the other side,” explained the star.
© Mark Bourdillon/ITV“I think this is a shame. For an audience with any programme, they like to know when their show is going to be on, say, for the next four weeks. But they stopped doing this some time ago,” said the actor, adding that ITV began “dotting” the episodes against shows in the BBC’s schedule. “It’s been brilliant because we’ve kept our audience, and the audience is very loyal, and they love the show,” said Neil. “But it would be nice if it went out as a series again, but we’ve got two [new episodes] this time.”
When asked about viewers confusing old episodes with new ones, the actor told Express.co.uk: “I think that’s terrible. Because you put a new episode on, and people think, ‘Oh, a new series’. And then the following week you follow it with a repeat. People sit there and start watching and say, ‘Hang on. I’ve seen this before.’ If you keep messing with your audience, you’re going to lose your audience with just about anything.
“But we’re a victim of our success in a way,” he added.
