Gearing up for its 18th series, Midsomer Murders has traversed generations and charmed millions of viewers over the years; but what's its secret?
Neil Dudgeon, who plays lead character DCI John Barnaby, puts it down to the show's "intoxicating mix".
"The countryside, the rather eccentric English characters," he explains. "I think it's that thing where it all looks lovely and pretty and gentile and chocolate-boxy on the surface, but underneath, everybody is full of their jealousies, rivalries and betrayals."
"There's an innocence about it as well," adds his co-star Gwilym Lee, who plays Barnaby's right hand man, DS Charlie Nelson. "It's not like a gritty, crime drama that's specific to urban London; it's a murder mystery that's character-driven, and so it's universal in the sense that people can engage with it as a kind of problem-solving adventure."
Recommissioned for a further six feature-length episodes in 2016, seasoned spectators will be pleased to learn that Midsomer's crime rate remains at an all-time high.

"There are one or two unlikelier moments; things you wouldn't see in any other show in its right mind!" teases Dudgeon. "We've got an episode set in a sculpture park, which involves a set of grisly, sculpture-related murders - people finding themselves heavily involved with the artwork.
"Then there's the cycling episode, where people are killed in cycling-related ways..."
"My dignity was killed, as I had to appear in Lycra at the beginning of that episode," Lee, 32, cuts in.
Dudgeon would have preferred for the Lycra to be more of a feature, however: "I was slightly disappointed, as Gwilym is in the Lycra and then gets the call to say, 'There's been a murder'. So I said he can't just go, 'Oh, there's been a murder; let me just go and get changed into my civvies', but that's exactly what he did!"
Too-tight costumes aside, unnerving scenes also cropped up in the upcoming UFO episode.
"It was quite an ambitious episode - to read the stage directions of a UFO as it hovers over a caravan and you think, 'Oh OK, yeah'," recalls Lee, who previously starred in 2011's Land Girls.
"Yeah - hovers over, whizzes off, crashes into the woods, explodes, in come Barnaby and Nelson, who go, 'Here's the crash site of the UFO', and you know, it's like we're in close encounter or something!" adds an animated Dudgeon.
"We can't do this on Midsomer, can we? We can! But won't it all go a bit mad? Well, yes! But we'll save it; it will all make sense in the end."
The detectives, who up until now have solved the intricate murders as a duo, will have an extra pair of hands this series, when pathologist Kam Karimore (played by Manjinder Virk of Ordinary Lies fame) joins the workforce. But, Lee confirms, it's a move that looks set to ruffle some feathers.

"Nelson, to begin with, feels slightly threatened by Kim because he's only been there a couple of years and has just started to feel at home when all of a sudden there's this newbie coming along who's also keen to impress. It results in a slight competition between the two of them."
More fleeting guest appearances include the likes of Meera Syal, Diana Quick, Helen Baxendale and Michelle Collins; but it's American actress and singer Liza Minnelli that Dudgeon really wants to see traipsing through the landscape.
"She'd fit right in!" he says, straight-faced.
"All I'm saying is if Liza happened to be in the country, and she had a bit of free time and she wanted to come and hang around at Midsomer..."
Maybe a surprise slot to commemorate the show's 20th anniversary in two years' time?
"We haven't been re-commissioned for next year yet, but hopefully we will get series 19, and if that gets through it would be a bit churlish of them not to get us to 20," notes Dudgeon. "Even if it's just one half-hour episode to just go, 'It's series 20!'"
With a winning formula and legions of international fans, all the clues suggest that Midsomer Murders is set to continue its reign for a while yet - and Dudgeon agrees.
"The murder mystery genre is huge all over the world - add to that the beautiful countryside and men in Lycra... Well, it's impossible to resist!"


Florida Man Claims Spotting Reptilian Humanoid inside Vehicle, Takes Pictures

.jpg)















































