(John Nettles) "Midsomer Murders" is like Agatha Christie on speed.

(horse whinnying) (Neil Dudgeon) We're in Midsomer now, and things happen differently here.

(explosion) The deaths are unusual and fascinating.

Who in their right mind chooses to be surrounded by death?

(female narrator) "Midsomer Murders" is one of the most popular crime dramas not just in Britain, but on the planet.

♪ (speaking in French) The French version is quite my favorite.

(female narrator) Over the next hour, we'll celebrate 25 years of the strangest goings-on.

(Nick Hendrix) I love the human candle, which was particularly amazing to just see on set, actually.

(female narrator) Reveal the show's dark secrets.

I believe I've killed 18 people, and I'm still at large.

(female narrator) Bring curious insights.

(Jane Wymark) He said, "I'm not gonna blink."

And I went, "Wow."

(female narrator) And look back at the world-famous stars...

I will drive straight over you.

(female narrator) ...who dared take their first TV steps in Midsomer County.

(Manjinder Virk) It's actually quite family-friendly, despite all the murders.

♪ (female narrator) As we go behind the scenes on a quarter of a century of mystery... (Jason Hughes) It's like I was in some kind of apocalyptic world where people just died all the time.

(female narrator) ...and mayhem.

(objects crashing) (Fiona Dolman) You know, we kill people with cheese.

There isn't another program, I think, that can do that.

-Have we got a murder weapon?

-You're standing in it.

(female narrator) ...in the glorious English countryside.

(Neil Dudgeon) What's not to like about Midsomer?

(theme music) As long as you survive it, really.

♪ (man) I killed them because I wanted to.

♪ (female narrator) Death by chocolate.

♪ (man) No good deed goes unpunished, eh?

♪ (energetic music) (female narrator) Here in these deadly woodlands, filming for the latest series of "Midsomer Murders" has begun.

(director) Action!

(female narrator) And Inspector Barnaby has yet another death to investigate.

Quite possibly the 396th Midsomer murder.

But no one really knows.

(Tamzin Outhwaite) They've got this beautiful scenery, and then they've got these murders, which sometimes are quite outlandish.

(female narrator) Over the past 25 years, audiences the world over have embraced "Midsomer's" reputation as the deadliest place on television.

Midsomer Murders has a light feel to it in a lot of ways and has an awful lot of comedy within it.

♪ (John Nettles) Of course, the public laughed at the unfeasible number of deaths and all those things.

But it would be at least three or four murders before Tom Barnaby found out who done it.

He's the most useless cop in the world.

(laughs) (female narrator) But thankfully, the Causton police are dogged and reliable and over the years have brought us not one but two Inspector Barnabys to keep on top of the body count.

(Neil Dudgeon) "Midsomer" takes everything seriously enough for us to enjoy it, but not so seriously that we can't also go, "What is going on in this place?"

(Jeff Povey) There's nothing intrinsically nasty about "Midsomer" anywhere, although people get murdered.

They're sort of escapist deaths, fun deaths.

(whimsical music) ♪ (guide) Here we are all celebrating the 25th anniversary of "Midsomer Murders."

♪ (female narrator) Already enjoying the sights of Oxfordshire today, this group of "Midsomer" fans are about to discover the location of one of the series' most infamous murders.

♪ (guide) Here we are in Badger's Drift, otherwise known as The Lee in Buckinghamshire.

And what you are looking at here is exactly where, in the opening sequence of that very first episode, you saw Emily Simpson riding her bicycle along the road.

Here is where the whole story of "Midsomer Murders" started.

(upbeat music) (female narrator) 25 years ago, the fictional Midsomer village of Badger's Drift was the sleepy setting for the debut episode of a brand-new crime drama.

♪ (driver) Hello, Miss Simpson!

Have a very good afternoon.

(John Nettles) "The Killings at Badger's Drift," all the tropes of the provincial murder drama were there.

There was blackmail and knife killings and all the rest of those things.

How'd she die?

(Dr. Bullard) That's easy--broken neck.

But the question is, did she fall?

(chuckles) Or was she pushed?

(Daniel Casey) The brother and sister had been caught by the Rainbirds, who are the local undertakers, and so they were blackmailing people.

(Dennis) How much do you think it's worth?

(Iris) Think what the police will make of it if their forensic people get hold of it.

They'd have a field day!

Oh, this is the big one, Denny!

This is going to make us very, very rich.

Mommy!

The characters were wonderfully well-written.

They were caricatures, of course they were.

(whimsical music) (female narrator) But of course, the main star of this opening whodunnit was the genial local detective, Inspector Barnaby.

(man) Who are you?

What do you want?

(Barnaby) I'm Detective Inspector Barnaby.

♪ And this is Detective Sergeant Troy.

Who are you?

(John Nettles) The producer came to see me with the proposition that I should play a detective in this new series he had coming up.

I thought, well, I've already done Bergerac.

But it was as far away from the world of Bergerac as could possibly be.

Here was a guy who was a respectably married man.

He had no hang-ups, no psychological difficulties of life.

-What's this, then?

-It's Delia Smith.

Stewed neck of lamb with mushroom dumplings.

You can't go wrong with Delia Smith.

(Barnaby) Hm, I'd always thought.

(John Nettles) When he finds himself in a world full of extraordinary characters, every one of the people he sees in the high street there is a potential murderer, and that's-- I thought that was fun.

You know, Mrs. Rainbird, I'd have said that eight o'clock was a bit late for your hobby.

I mean, what are you likely to see flying at that time?

Owls.

(Jane Wymark) I was right there from the beginning.

The pilot, we went to the then-producer, Brian True-May, and we said to him, "So, you know, do you think is going well?"

Do you think we might even get a series out of it?"

And he said, "I've got plans for Midsomer Murders for 12 years."

And we went straight to John and we said, "Do you wanna hear something really funny?

Apparently, we're going to be doing this for 12 years."

(Barnaby) Why do I get the feeling that everyone is lying to me?

Everyone!

(Joyce) They always lie to you, Tom, and you always know.

That's why you're so good at your job.

(Jane Wymark) And then I was in it for another 14 years.

(laughs) (Daniel Casey) Oh, it was amazing.

We got 15.8 million viewers for that first episode.

(Barnaby) It's 2:15.

Said I'd meet Joyce at the fête, you coming?

(Troy) Yeah, I thought I'd win myself a coconut.

(female narrator) And what inspired this series full of strange people and plots was a collection of acclaimed crime novels.

(screams) (Jane Wymark) It was a series of books by a lovely writer called Caroline Graham.

I've read them, actually, and they were terrific.

The original sort of artistic producer on it, Betty Willingale, was clever to spot it, you know, and do what she did, along with the first writer, to make it work for television.

(female narrator) Caroline Grimm's books inspired the first five episodes.

But over the next few years, a host of new writers would take Barnaby on many new adventures.

(man) We're on.

(female narrator) But there was another key character whose role was to remain calm amongst this wicked world of murder.

Dinner's ready, Tom.

(Jane Wymark) Believe you me, it's not easy playing the nicest woman in the world.

(Joyce) You know Cully is coming tomorrow.

She's going to want to see a bit of you.

Just I know how you are when you get started on a case.

-Yes.

-For 14 years, it was Barnaby's wife, Joyce, whose happy home life with Tom and their daughter Cully was in stark contrast to the many deadly challenges they faced, including, Joyce's cooking.

(toaster clanks) Not much meat on this chicken, is there?

It's not a chicken, it's a quail.

(John Nettles) She was a terrible cook.

Fried things and stuff like that, and Barnaby had to pretend to like them.

Dad, I brought you a present from Cambridge.

(Barnaby) What is it?

It's chicken and ham.

(Jane Wymark) The bad cooking lasted for a bit, but there's limits to how many lousy meals you can cook.

So she became more and more involved in the actual cases as time went on.

It was very handy that Joyce didn't have a career, because she could therefore have hobbies.

(Joyce) You've caught me digging up rather too much of your lawn.

(Barnaby) Yeah, I'm still working actually.

Do you have pictures in those plant encyclopedias of yours?

-Yes.

-That was quite a handy device for writers, and nice for me, you know, to not always be sitting in the kitchen.

Being out in the world, being blown up in a canal, or doing watercolor painting, that was a good one.

(Barnaby) Instead of being a kind of grace note in the great symphony of "Midsomer," she became a whole theme on her own.

(dramatic music) ♪ (female narrator) Coming up, there's confessions of a "Midsomer" sidekick.

(Jason Hughes) When I think of my time on it, it's like I was in some kind of apocalyptic world where people just died all the time.

(female narrator) As we celebrate a hit series that's always left us seeing stars.

(Neil Dudgeon) I'd already watched the show since the beginning and loved it, so, I jumped at the chance, little thinking that I might return for a longer stay.

(Jones) This is the new DCI Barnaby.

Cousin of the other DCI Barnaby.

(female narrator) For 25 years, Midsomer Murders has led us on a trail of death and destruction.

(whimsical music) (explosion) A path which has in turn put many of the quaintest villages in Oxfordshire on a rather unusual tourist map.

♪ (guide) Here we are outside the estate agent that was used in an episode called "House in the Woods."

It was Harriet Davis estate agency in that show.

In that episode, a couple who are looking to buy the house in the woods find themselves garroted outside the house, and there, the mystery begins.

(female narrator) Over the years, fighting crime in Midsomer has been quite a task for the overworked, understaffed Causton police.

And when it comes to the real leg work-- the running, jumping, flirting, or going undercover-- it often falls to the Midsomer sidekick, the lowly detective sergeant.

And first in line was Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy.

John and I clicked from day one, and we laughed every single day.

In the books, he was a right little thug.

(Troy) I could force it, sir.

(Barnaby) You've broken enough rules for one day, Troy.

Thank you all the same.

(John Nettles) He had no charm at all and was entirely not good detective material.

That was changed in the television version.

(mysterious music) The character became...

I think the word is lovable.

He couldn't drive a car.

Wherever he went, he used to hit the hedge or hit somebody else.

Yeah, Troy was an appalling driver.

(horn blares) (brakes screech) But I used to love it, because it meant that I could do a lot of the stunt driving that we could do.

Some of it, I wasn't allowed to do.

But a lot of it, I was.

(stammering) (bicycle bell ringing) (tires squealing) (whimsical music) Troy!

(female narrator) But after six years on the rural beat, actor Daniel Casey decided to move on to pastures new.

Thank you, sir.

♪ I mean, thank you for everything over the years.

(Daniel Casey) I will never forget that final scene, 'cause we filmed that last.

And when Barnaby speaks to Troy, uh, it did feel very real.

I know how much I've-- I've relied on you, Troy.

(light music) Midsomer will miss you.

And I'll miss Midsomer.

(Daniel Casey) He's a leading man in every sense of the word.

He led that company beautifully.

Troy?

(John Nettles) Now, the next sidekick was John Hopkins.

He's a terrific actor.

-What have we got?

-Good question, sir.

Victim's name's Nicholas Turner, he's a local solicitor.

Took a stroll off his roof.

(John Nettles) He was a very dark and kind of brooding figure.

(Dr. Bullard) Initial impression as to cause of death, catastrophic head and spinal injuries.

(Scott) He's quite a snappy dresser.

(crow cawing) And then Jason Hughes came in.

(Barnaby) And you are?

(Jones) Constable Jones, sir.

Constable Jones.

(Jason Hughes) Yeah, I thought it was just brilliant the way that they did it.

(Dr. Bullard) No Scott this morning?

(Barnaby) No, he called in sick, I'm on my own.

(Jason Hughes) I just showed up in a uniform and somebody said, "Well, where's the guy?"

And they went, "Oh, he's sick."

(laughs) And that was it!

He was gone and I was in.

(laughs) (Barnaby) Do you possess a suit, Jones?

(Jones) Yes, sir.

(Barnaby) And a tie?

(Jones) I do, sir, yes.

(Barnaby) How do you fancy working with the CID for a couple of days?

(Jones) Yes, sir.

They made me do all kinds of stuff.

(mysterious music) The nun would be the standout one.

I was luring a killer to then pounce on them.

♪ Oh!

(thudding) ♪ (officer) Stay on the floor!

On your feet.

(man) Who the hell trained her?

(Jason Hughes) I mean, when I think of my time on it, those seven years, it's like I was in some kind of apocalyptic world where people just died all the time.

(camera's shutter snaps) I haven't been up that way for a while.

Junction 2 Junction 7 on the M40, I just divert, go somewhere else.

Start to get, kind of, hot flushes and, you know, memories of murder.

(female narrator) Well, there's plenty of that around.

But one of the key questions in any episode of "Midsomer" is not just whodunnit but more like, who's in it?

How wonderful!

But no.

(female narrator) I was once suspected of murder myself.

Apart from the person who killed him, I was probably the last person to see him.

(female narrator) Because across the past 25 years, the series has played host to a Who's Who of the British acting profession.

♪ We get fantastic guests.

Over the years, it was just the entire range of the British acting profession.

(Mrs. Adler) I took an order earlier, three-tiered Dungeons and Dragons in white and dark chocolate.

(Tamzin Outhwaite) As an actor, I always think "Midsomer Murders."

It's one of those boxes that has to be ticked.

What was brilliant about my character is that she was the suspected murderer for pretty much the whole episode.

Do you really think I would kill Dominic and keep the weapon?

I mean, do you honestly believe that I would be that stupid?

The twist was, she actually wasn't the murderer.

That was ideal for me.

(female narrator) And there was one TV comedy national treasure who set the wheels in motion for guest stars to come.

An early one was Richard Briers, legend.

(female narrator) In "Death's Shadow" from 1998, the star of "The Good Life" was playing the village priest and "Call The Midwife's" Judy Parfitt, his wife.

(Stephen) I have a police inspector coming to see me.

Oh, don't tell me, Stephen, you've been found with your hand in the steeple fund.

Don't be ridiculous.

(John Nettles) He came along to play a priest and he was wonderfully enthusiastic.

Yes, vicar.

Looks as if we're gonna have the weather for it.

Absolutely.

Did you manage to find someone to open the fête?

A celebrity?

No, not yet.

But I may have had an idea.

I'll be back forthwith.

(Jane Wymark) We were sitting waiting to go into the church where there was gonna be the big scene, the reveal, that Richard Briers, who, you know, the loveliest man in the world kind of thing, does turn out to be the bad guy.

And I'm sitting with him and he says to me, "I'm going to do some acting in this scene."

And I went, "Are you, Richard?"

(laughs) He said, "I'm not gonna blink."

And I went, "Wow."

And that's exactly what he did.

It was terrifying.

(Troy) Stephen Wentworth, we're arresting you for the murders of Richard Bailey, David Whiteley, and Simon Fletcher.

You don't have to say anything but it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.

-It was him.

-There was no planning, no calculation.

He had to die by your hand before his operation.

And it was all the more shocking, because it was Richard Briers, 'cause you didn't expect it.

Please, come in.

(dramatic music) ♪ (resounding thud) (John Nettles) It was a lovely bit of casting.

(female narrator) Many a famous face has popped up in "Midsomer Murders," but the cast list also includes some now well-known names who weren't quite so familiar at the time.

(Bernice) Edward, what was all the noise about?

-It's a police car.

-Police car?

(female narrator) In 2009, the Causton police were called to investigate the very strange death of a young man in Midsomer's miniature village.

What they found was future Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman playing the unlikely suspect, Bernice.

(woman) The police have found a body here in the village.

A body?

(Bernice) Oh, Edward, that's terrible.

(Jane Wymark) She wasn't a huge star then.

She just has a kind of truthfulness as an actor.

I was just gobsmacked.

She had that extraordinary ability of being a hundred percent within the part.

(Bernice) I just know you're going to win.

I'll be cheering for you all the way.

Oh, for God's sake, leave me alone, will you?

(Jane Wymark) She just can't step an emotional foot wrong.

I don't think she could do it if she tried.

(Bernice) She didn't like me putting flowers on the graves.

She smashed them.

(hammer knocking) ♪ So I smashed her.

(ominous music) ♪ And the green grass grows all around, all around ♪ ♪ And the green grass grows all around ♪ (John Nettles) I'm not in the least surprised that she has gone on to be a great lady of English acting.

Not at all surprised.

(female narrator) But amongst a cast of more than 1,000 actors over 23 series, there have been some surprises.

(Laura) You still seeing that girl?

I wonder what she'd say if she knew about me.

(Peter) Get lost, Laura.

(Jane Wymark) I used to do mentoring at the Guildhall School, and one of my mentees was Orlando Bloom, and the minute I met him, I knew he was going to be a movie star.

And so, I read the current script and I thought, well, Orlando could do that so easily.

So, I put his name forward to the casting director and there you go.

-You're Peter Drinkwater?

-And you're police.

It's the same smell, you can always tell.

(engine revs) (Jane Wymark) And then he went on to be an elf, there you are.

(laughs) (female narrator) And "Midsomer" was the starting point for another British movie star, spotted here by "Harry Potter's" David Bradley, who's worked with a fair few budding actors himself.

Nice day for it, youngin'.

It was my last episode, and there was his young boy, really handsome, and he was quite a gentle soul.

Really nice guy.

I just thought, "I hope he doesn't get eaten up and spat out by this business."

I will drive straight over you.

(engine revs) (horn honks) (Daniel Casey) Henry Cavill went on to do rather well for himself.

♪ (female narrator) Unfortunately for the future star of Superman, Henry's Kryptonian powers weren't quite developed enough to save him from death by "Midsomer."

(gunshot) But there was one fleeting appearance that would blossom into something far more long-term.

(mellow music) Excuse me.

(Jane Wymark) Neil actually had appeared in "Midsomer Murders" in a fairly early series, I think, playing a gardener.

(cork pops) (coughs) (Neil Dudgeon) He spent a lot of time in the hothouse being quizzed and being generally suspicious.

(woman) Where are you going?

Back to the garden.

I'm a gardener, remember?

(Jane Wymark) A particularly randy gardener who flirted with Joyce Barnaby, much to Tom's irritation.

(Daniel) Brought you a few Pennington gems.

(Joyce) Well, that's very kind of you, Daniel.

(Daniel) Bear in mind, the White Bedder is vigorous.

(Jane Wymark) I think that was the only time anybody flirted with Joyce Barnaby.

I'll be quite happy to come back and make sure everything's is nicely... Bedded in?

(Jane Wymark) That was a fun day of filming.

(Daniel) Right, well, I'll be off then.

(Neil Dudgeon) I'd already watched the show since the beginning and loved it, so when my agent rang up and said, "Oh, they've offered you an episode of 'Midsomer.'"

And I said, "Oh, that'd be fantastic, that'd be brilliant."

So I jumped at the chance, little thinking that I might return for a longer stay.

(female narrator) It was nine years later when the moment finally came for DCI Tom Barnaby and actor John Nettles to retire from this hotspot of murder and mayhem.

Whoa!

Champagne!

Well, I did it for 13 years.

A long, long time.

I was getting on for 70, and I couldn't run anymore.

I couldn't think of any more reactions to dead bodies, to be honest with you, I couldn't.

(Barnaby) So, we're saying it's suspicious?

(Dr. Bullard) Well, the question is, was she dead before immersion?

There's no obvious signs of struggle.

I'll know more when I've opened her up, Tom.

Tom?

Sir?

Oh, yeah, well I suppose I'd better get changed.

(Ian Strachan) When John decided to retire, we started quite a long process of quite a long list of potential replacements.

(female narrator) After two years, it was finally decided that Neil Dudgeon was the man for the job.

(telephone ringing) Barnaby.

-It's John.

-Oh, John!

He was on everybody's shortlist.

This isn't personal, is it, Tom?

Oh, no, no.

This is preventative detection.

Okay, I'll dig a little deeper.

(female narrator) But there was something of an unusual hurdle for anyone replacing Inspector Tom Barnaby.

(Neil Dudgeon) In Britain, "Midsomer Murders" is known as "Midsomer Murders," whereas in a lot of territories around the world, it's called "Barnaby" or "Inspector Barnaby."

So somebody came up with the idea that Tom Barnaby, John Nettles' character, has a cousin who's also a police detective chief inspector, and his name, of course, being his cousin, is John Barnaby.

That was miraculous!

Ha-ha-ha!

(Jason Hughes) Yeah, he was a cousin who had come from...cousin lands.

This is the new DCI Barnaby, cousin of the other DCI Barnaby.

Oh.

(Neil Dudgeon) And I certainly didn't think, "Oh, I want to go to 'Midsomer' and change anything."

I'll go to 'Midsomer' and do what John was doing.

It was brilliant, it's a great show.

(Barnaby) You're the local, you take it.

(gate creaking) My first scene as John Barnaby, once John had left and I'd kind of moved in, it was in this sort of pathology lab, and then all these people came in this little room, and they're all having a look, going, "Can he do it?

Is he going to be all right?

Is this okay or are we all gonna be looking for another job next week?"

(Barnaby) But somehow we have to encompass this little news item.

"Palmer was never keen on driving the Lotus X4, because being a left-hander, he found the positioning of the gear lever more awkward than usual."

See, right-handed headshot, easy-peasy, bang as per your photos.

But, as a lefty, damn near impossible.

Conclusion?

(whimsical music) Precisely.

See you later.

♪ (female narrator) But the real test would come when we saw the new Inspector Barnaby on TV, along with his wife, Sarah, and dog, Sykes.

(Fiona Dolman) When we first took over, there was lots of talk of there being, sort of, "big shoes" to fill.

I think, for fans, there was a mixed reaction, I think at the beginning.

(woman) Mr. Barnaby, Mrs. Barnaby!

(Fiona Dolman) I was certainly concerned, but, actually, the reception was very warm.

(Barnaby) I hope Sykes didn't disgrace himself.

(woman) Oh, he did make some amorous advances towards two of my bitches, which wasn't the best of starts.

But, I think from Sykes's point of view, it was top banana.

Consider him part of the pack.

(Sarah) Fantastic news, thank you.

I get people who sort of see me in the street and go, "Oh, yeah, you're the new Mrs. Barnaby, aren't you?"

And you think, "I've been doing it for 10 years.

How long do I need to do it?"

(Neil Dudgeon) Here we are, ten, twelve years later, It's...we're still here talking about it, so, fingers crossed.

(theme music) (female narrator) Coming up: How "Midsomer Murders" went on to make a killing around the world.

(voiceover in French) It's just great in French.

(female narrator) And Midsomer's greatest mystery is finally solved.

(Jeff Povey) A lot of people think it's the same village we keep going to.

(Jane Wymark) They look at you and then they say, "There can't be anybody left alive in that village."

(upbeat music) (female narrator) In the Oxfordshire town of Thame, a place that has featured regularly as the fictional town of Causton, a "Midsomer Murders" guided tour is in full swing.

♪ (guide) Here we are, at, um, Causton Town Hall, the center of Midsomer County.

Of course, it's not really Causton.

We are actually outside Thame's Town Hall, as you can see.

(female narrator) Indeed, one of the key attractions of "Midsomer Murders" is its quintessentially English chocolate box setting.

(Neil Dudgeon) The countryside's is very important, I think.

When I used to watch it before I was in the show, I'd be on the sofa with my wife, and you'd have this opening shot of some beautiful village, and a Norman church and lovely thatched cottages.

And we were sort of intrigued as to, "Where do they film that?

It's so beautiful."

And I still kind of...

I find myself in a beautiful village like this, and I say, "Where are we, exactly?"

(crack of bat, applause) (Ian Strachan) Midsomer is, well, it's along the M4 and M40 corridor, usually west.

It's Hertfordshire, it's Oxfordshire, it's Buckinghamshire, anywhere the script demands.

(female narrator) Hear that, dear viewers?

A script.

Because Midsomer, home of the national collection of rural murders, is, we must remind you, a completely fictional place.

(Jason Hughes) I don't know how many times I've had to sort of explain that to people who go, "This little village and all these murders?"

They look at you first.

They set it up as a gag, and then they say, "There can't be anybody left alive in that village."

"Bet it's cheap to buy a house."

A lot of people think it's the same village we keep going to, but it's not.

We make up the names.

Gotta hammer that home, it's not.

It's not a village.

It's a county, everybody.

Not a village.

(dramatic music) (Jeff Povey) It is a huge English county made up of beautiful villages.

And made up of people who are insane, who want to kill people.

(woman) Suddenly, there was a rather weighty object in my hand, and, well... What can I say?

She stepped out in front of it.

(announcer) Let's put Solomon Gorge on the Psycho map.

Are you ready?

(cheering) Three, two... (female narrator) Over 25 years, Midsomer County, not village, has delivered an impressive number of murders-- nearly 400, at the last count, with ever-imaginative new ways to tax the Causton police.

(Jane Wymark) I think what's genius about it is that it manages to marry together all of the components of your Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, you know, all the greats of the golden age of whodunnits in England while being nominally contemporary.

(John Nettles) This is the essential contradiction, all these beautiful, look-at-me villages, the half-timbered cottages and so forth.

All this is subverted of course, in "Midsomer Murders," because your dear old lady is a homicidal maniac.

All human life is there.

That chocolate box image is frayed slightly in Midsomer.

(woman) I always say that if Jesus had played a sport, I'm sure it would have been cricket.

Come in!

(Jane Wymark) You're looking at beautiful cottages and gardens while fetishism is going on in the background.

(breathing heavily) Behold, I was shapen in wickedness.

(Neil Dudgeon) People just like to see, especially somewhere where you think, "This is all so beautiful, isn't it?

This is all lovely.

Oh, my goodness, that man's been eaten by wild boar."

(Kate) Most of his chest and stomach are gone.

Not to get too technical about it, I'd say he's been eaten by something.

That sort of contrast of one with the other, I think, is sort of rich and appealing to us, in some human way.

(female narrator) It might seem like the most British of TV dramas, but you might be surprised to hear that Midsomer is exceptionally well-traveled.

(tense music) (voiceover in Spanish) The international appeal of "Midsomer" is something a lot of people don't know about.

(voiceover in Spanish) It's massive in Scandinavia, it's huge in Europe, and Australia, New Zealand, love it, and it's now in America.

When I signed up to the job, I didn't know that.

(foreign language voiceover) (Nick Hendrix) Yeah, I got recognized on my honeymoon in Vietnam, of all places.

And I was just like, "Man, this is crazy."

(voiceover in French) John Kinsella.

(loud thud, grunt) It's just great in French, because the man voicing me, he has the most beautiful voice in the world, and he made Tom Barnaby sound like the most kind, loving man God ever put breath into.

(voiceover in French) (voiceover in foreign language) (Neil Dudgeon) Denmark is one of the countries that has been a great supporter of "Midsomer."

When we got to the hundredth episode of "Midsomer," as a kind of celebration and a sort of a thank you to the international audience, somebody came up with the brilliant idea of setting part of the 100th episode in Denmark.

We were in Copenhagen with some lovely actors who I'd only just stopped watching in "The Killing."

(Barnaby) Everything here tallies with the crime scene at the Calders factory, which means he was killed in Midsomer.

And that makes him your problem.

(Neil Dudgeon) Ann Eleonora Jorgensen, she played the mother in "The Killing," they said, "What are you doing next?"

She said, "I'm doing an episode of 'Midsomer Murders.'

" They go, "You're doing an episode of 'Midsomer Murders'?

That's fantastic."

She said they just go bonkers for anything to do with "Midsomer Murders" in Denmark.

(Ian Strachan) We're treated incredibly well.

The name "Midsomer" or "Barnaby" open doors you would not believe.

We were allowed to film outside the Royal Palace, we filmed inside Copenhagen's police headquarters.

And we had a fantastic couple of weeks in Denmark.

And I think it made for a very good episode.

(Birgitte) You're sneaky.

That impresses me.

(Barnaby) Well, I'm glad you're impressed.

(theme music) (female narrator) Coming up: Midsomer's greatest murderer is finally unmasked.

I believe I've killed 18 people and I'm still at large.

(female narrator) And how Midsomer dines out on the most savory of deaths.

(clattering thud) ♪ "Midsomer Murders" has found a unique place in television history not just because it's been killing people off for 25 years, or the volume of deaths it manages to squeeze into each episode.

No, it's the way they kill 'em that's really caught our imagination.

(John Nettles) The great joy about "Midsomer Murders," one of them, is that, for the slightest reason, people will kill.

(woman) What are you doing?

I was just... (scream) (thud) She fell!

(John Nettles) They don't have to have a great motive.

(engine revs) (Jason Hughes) Very short tempers.

In Midsomer, you don't wanna go upsetting the apple cart down there, mate.

Just wanted to shut him up, and the bowling machine was right there.

(Neil Dudgeon) There are many favorite odd ways that people have found to kill other people.

♪ (gunshot) It's not your urban murdery thing where, oh, it's some sort of drug-addled mugging goes wrong.

(splash) They're sort of escapist deaths, fun deaths.

♪ (female narrator) Over 22 series, the pressure to deliver ever more outlandish deaths has proved a grisly challenge for the writers and set designers.

♪ (Nick Hendrix) I loved the human candle, which was particularly amazing to just see on set, actually, the way that they made this sort of entire wax body.

(Dr. Perkins) The human Roman candle.

One of Nero's favorite ways to kill naughty Christians.

(Neil Dudgeon) My favorite deaths in the show?

There are so many to choose from over the years.

There's an episode called "The Dark Rider."

It opened, there was a storm over this castle.

(dramatic music) In the storm, he looks down and sees a headless horseman.

♪ (scream) (horse whinnying) ♪ And I love it when I'm reading an episode and think, "How are we going to sort of justify he, and we, have seen a headless horseman?

♪ -Eye holes.

-But no current occupant.

(female narrator) And fans on our tourist trail are about to discover the location of one of "Midsomer's" most infamous crimes.

(Barnaby) Everything in this village centers around one thing: the dairy.

(guide) So, this is the beautiful, picturesque village of Turville, which has been used frequently not only in "Midsomer Murders," but in "The Vicar of Dibley" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

In fact, you can see at the top of the hill the very windmill that was used in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

And of course, also in "Schooled in Murder," the episode where it particularly featured in "Midsomer Murders."

(Jeff Povey) The cheese one is the one that everyone absolutely loves.

(tense music) Hello?

People are forever saying, "Oh, the one with Martine McCutcheon."

What are you playing at?

Because I'm not in the mood for games.

Not today.

♪ (clattering thud) ♪ (heavy thud) Crushed by wheels of cheese.

Brilliant.

And I think that's really sort of clever.

-Have we got a murder weapon?

-You're standing in it.

(Fiona Dolman) We kill people with cheese.

There isn't another program, I think, that can do that.

I mean, the writers, whoever are thinking up all of these murders, how they keep going, finding new ones, I'll never know.

(Jeff Povey) Picking a murder out of the air is amazing.

I spend most of the year sending texts to myself, saying, "This would be a great murder."

"Oh, this would be an even better one."

(gunshot) (Announcer) Over the past eight years, writer Jeff Povey has come up with some of "Midsomer's" most talked-about deaths.

Hooking in some deadly fishing... (Jeff Povey) The man in the vat of worms, he was killed, and then dragged into the tackle shop.

But the actor was amazing.

He said, "Yeah, I'll get in there, and they can crawl over me if they want."

(female narrator) Creepy comic book capers... and a somewhat gruesome adventure in the art world.

(Jeff Povey) I had one where he was drowned in paint.

(Barnaby) You know what they say, Nelson.

In art, everything has a deeper meaning.

(Jeff Povey) I think the process for a spectacular death is, basically, what is your world?

What are you doing here?

(tense music) Come to tell me how great I am?

When I did the cricket one, I knew for a fact that they had these bowling machines that hurled balls down.

(click) (mechanized thud) Now, I thought, well, what if you were tied up and you couldn't move and there's 100 balls going 100 miles an hour?

It's bound to kill you, isn't it?

And then we talked to, like, a medical person.

They said, "Well, it just takes one to hit them on the heart and it'll stop it," or whatever, you know.

And you go, "Okay."

(tense music) (balls thudding) That's probably one of my favorite ones, because I thought it's very sort of visual, and you could feel it, you can really feel that.

♪ (balls thudding) (Neil Dudgeon) And I just think the writerly imagination.

You sometimes think, "Oh, get help.

Where has this come from?

What's wrong with you?"

There's a few good deaths in the next one that's filming at the moment.

(director) Camera set!

And action!

(man) As soon as you get this message, grab Etta and get to the shelter.

(Jeff Povey) Including this latest episode, I believe I've killed 18 people.

And I'm still at large.

Prior to his demise, he called two numbers.

(Jeff Povey) It's a terrible thing to say, but it's great fun killing people.

It really is.

(laughs) (female narrator) But come every Midsomer murder, often the first person at the death scene is not a police officer.

(Kam) Looks like she was immersed in this stuff when it was in liquid form.

(Manjinder Virk) For Kam, I think one of her favorite murders possibly was the incident at Cooper Hill, with the aliens and the spaceships, because she couldn't solve it, (Nelson) So, you're saying this stuff's alien, I'm saying it's alien to me.

(Manjinder Virk) For her, that was probably fun.

For the actors, that was probably not fun, because they had to be put into black bags, covered in black goo.

I used to be very protective over the murdered actors, just because they had to hold really uncomfortable positions for long periods of time.

I would just make sure there's a pillow, or they could just lean on something.

(female narrator) In 2016, Manjinder Virk became the fourth actor to take on the busy role of Midsomer pathologist.

(Manjinder Virk) The first day on set, it was quite surreal.

Please, call me Kam.

There was something familiar about being with Neil, it was part of my growing up.

(Nelson) Don't suppose there's much you can tell from an empty room, is there?

Quite the opposite.

Right.

(Manjinder Virk) I took the job on because I liked the character and I thought she was interesting.

(Kam) See this?

The weft of the carpet?

It's flattened in the same way.

(Manjinder Virk) I didn't realize that it would be part of a sort of controversial headline, because I was the first person of color as a regular on the show.

It's important to have this discussion.

And the thing about "Midsomer" is, it's so out there as a show.

It's important to realize that people from all walks of life can be represented.

(Sarah) So, how are you finding the job?

(Kam) It's not what I was expecting so far, but I'm enjoying the challenge.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

(upbeat music) (female narrator) Across the years, the Midsomer pathologists have had one of the most gruesome jobs on television, and not just because of the criminally shapeless boiler suits.

♪ (Annette Badland) Fleur came into the series peering into a vat of beer.

(Fleur) Boiled human flesh isn't something I work with every day, so I'll need to consult a specialist.

And possibly a cookbook.

(Annette Badland) I believe there have been five pathologists.

Barry Jackson played the first pathologist, of course.

(Troy) So, where is it, then, the body?

(dramatic music) Most of it's in the hall.

And I know of late, um, they have been often the love interest for the sidekick.

(Winter) Do you remember when they took us to watch a post-mortem and the big Scottish guy fainted?

You and I had to take him outside.

(Kam) Then you suggested we go across the road for sushi and he nearly fainted again.

(Winter) Didn't know what he was missing.

(Annette Badland) But Fleur came in and she was not that.

(door opens) Sorry I'm late.

I was removing a chainsaw from a chest cavity.

(Nick Hendrix) She's a force of nature.

She always knows best.

She's always sort of solving the crimes for us.

And we're sort of scared of her, love her, need her.

Fleur has wonderful backstories.

She's part of a female biker gang.

She's been married in Las Vegas.

(Fleur) It's bringing back memories of my first wedding.

(Barnaby) I didn't know you'd been married.

(scoffs) I've been down the aisle a few times.

Although it wasn't an aisle as such in Vegas.

(Nick Hendrix) So, Neil and I spend most episodes pulling looks and just going, "What?"

(Winter) What's that?

(Fleur) A shinai stick, with modifications.

They use it in kendo.

I once shacked up with a local champion.

(Annette Badland) She's some girl.

(laughs) (Fleur) Enrobed, that's how they describe it, isn't it, on the box?

Mind you, they're usually talking about a hazelnut.

My very favorite murder to explore was death by chocolate.

(Fleur) I won't be able to get stuff out of his windpipe until I get him back to the lab.

It'll be all the way into his lungs, I shouldn't wonder.

(Neil Dudgeon) Pathologists traditionally are shown to be rather sort of ghoulish, dark-humored people.

(Fleur) I'd say he died because he got turned into a human lolly.

(Nick Hendrix) I think humor is very important.

It's a light-hearted show, really.

You know, we're not "Line of Duty."

That's the point of "Midsomer," is it's the other end of that spectrum.

The comedy element, I think, is a very important part of the tone.

(kiss) You missed a bit.

(sighs) It's what helps it to be cozy rather than scary.

It's not that we are glib.

You have to worry about someone who's been killed, and then be humorous to survive yourself.

Now, buzz off, let me get back to work.

(Jeff Povey) Barnaby stays very, very sane and true and straight through it.

(Barnaby) Mrs. Dagmar, I'm here on official police business.

Oh, in that case, I'm all ears, all eyes, and all the rest of me.

(Jeff Povey) He never jokes about victims, never ever.

Winter can, and he could get admonished for it.

Fleur can 'cause she does, she jokes about everything.

(Winter) That's the last time I go to a gym.

(Fleur) You go to the gym?

(Jeff Povey) But as long as Barnaby doesn't succumb to it, we're on safe ground.

(Winter) Do you believe her?

(Barnaby) It all sounds plausible enough, but something just doesn't feel right.

(Neil Dudgeon) I say this with some pride.

Years ago, there was some sort of survey among police as to what was the most accurate representation of the police.

(Fleur) All right, I give up.

Why did you cross the road?

(Winter) Like I said, it's my day off.

(Neil Dudgeon) And "Midsomer," you'll be astonished to hear this, "Midsomer" was adjudged the least accurate representation of actual police work.

Well, I was amazed.

(Jason Hughes) Which, I think is probably another part of its charm.

We're not trying to be real, it's a made-up land.

You know, these stories are fantastical, and we're not going to apologize for it.

And I think that's probably something that people enjoy, because they're like, "Well, at least they're honest.

Not trying to be anything you know, that they're not."

(Barnaby) Cheers!

(whimsical music) (guide) So, ladies and gentlemen, this is where our tour of Midsomer County ends, exactly where it began, here in Badger's Drift, 25 years after that very first episode.

And so, I hope that you've enjoyed our little tour today.

Thank you very much.

(applause) (upbeat music) (Ian Strachan) This is actually my 25th year as well.

I started filming in 1997.

To be honest, it's as fresh today as it was then.

♪ (Annette Badland) The storylines are... what we're working on at the moment is extraordinary.

The killer reconfigured the venting system.

(Neil Dudgeon) Twenty-five years.

It's kind of incredible that any show could have within it the seeds of its own reinvention so much that it can keep changing.

(John Nettles) There's no reason for it ever to stop, as far I can see.

(Neil Dudgeon) When you look at the rest of the TV landscape, it's really... it's really astonishing.

(Winter) Are you retiring?

(Barnaby) Me?

Whatever gave you that idea?

(Winter) Well, you did, sort of.

All those pictures of quaint cottages.

Retire?

I'm in my prime, Winter.

(Neil Dudgeon) I just want people to carry on loving "Midsomer Murders" as I do.

Happy birthday, "Midsomer."

(glass clink) Happy quarter-century, "Midsomer Murders."

(engine revs) (Jane Wymark) Many, many happy returns.

(cork pops) (theme music) So many years, so many deaths.

So many criminals caught.

Well done.

♪ (bright music)