Midsomer Murders has now gone on to air nine seasons without its original lead, John Nettles, because the series has stayed true to its roots.
Losing a show’s main character is a fate that many television producers, networks and even doting fans fear.
However, it has now been well over a decade since the British detective drama, Midsomer Murders has to bid DCI Tom Barnaby (played by the talented John Nettles) adieu at the end of its thirteenth season, and the series is still going strong.
John Nettles’ departure and Midsomer Murders’ continued success
It turns out that Nettles himself may have been the one to crack the secret to Midsomer Murders’ success back in 2009.
At the time, Nettles explained his reason for stepping down as the show’s titular crime-fighting family man, stating, “It’s always wise to leave people wanting more, rather than be booed off the stage because you bored them”.
And in the end, Midsomer Murders’ uncanny ability to leave its fans wanting more is exactly what has kept it on the air for all these years.
Nettles announced his plans to leave the show two years (and two series) before his final day on set, which gave the Midsomer Murders team ample time to plan their new future.
And although transitioning a show without the help of its stand-out lead character is always a difficult task, Midsomer Murders ensured that they did not bombard longtime fans with too many new things at once.
Neil Dudgeon’s DCI John Barnaby was not only introduced as a secondary character before making the jump to the show’s lead, but he is also the original Detective Barnaby’s cousin.
These seemingly insignificant details ensured that the rebooted Midsomer Murders (with the new leading man) kept firm ties to the original narrative and kept the show’s brand intact, just like the producer Brian True-May had promised to do when Nettles’ departure was announced.
The new detective Barnaby’s introduction
Midsomer Murders has been around for so long that many of the show’s details blend together now. But this is exactly how the Midsomer Murders team managed to make Nettles’ exit from the show fit so seamlessly.
This masterful switcheroo happened over the course of several years, as shown below:
| Date | Event |
| 1997 | Nettles originates the role of DCI Tom Barnaby in “The Killings at Badger’s Drift” |
| February 2009 | Nettles announces that he will be leaving the show in 2011 |
| February 2010 | Dudgeon’s DCI John Barnaby is introduced as Tom Barnaby’s cousin in “The Sword of Guillaume” |
| February 2011 | Nettles’ last episode, titled “Fit For Murder” airs and John Barnaby is named as Tom Barnaby’s replacement after his retirement |
| February 2011 – present | Dudgeon’s John Barnaby takes over as the lead of the series |
John Nettles’ impressive Midsomer Murders run
When all was said and done, and the Midsomer Murders team had pulled of their impressive Tetris-style main character switch, Nettles had spent 14 total years as the show’s main character.
This impressive 13-season run included over 200 different fictional cases, over the course of 81 episodes on the show.
And it seems like Nettles enjoyed every minute of his time on set, stating “It has been a joy to be involved in such a long-running series with so many good actors and great storylines.”
Midsomer Murders’ viewership over the years
Midsomer Murders has always been a favorite among viewers of the British mystery crime drama genre. And by the time Nettles announced his departure from the show, it had already reached its peak.
The “The Sword of Guillaume” episode, which introduced Nettles’ replacement for the very first time, drew in a respectable 6.3 million viewers.
Moreover, the show’s viewership even recently increased by about 39 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of the most recent February 2022 viewership figures, just over half a million same-day viewers tuned in to watch series 22.
Will Neil Dudgeon ever step down as the show’s new lead
While Nettles’ departure from Midsomer Murders may still be quite fresh in the minds of longtime viewers of the series, Dudgeon’s run as lead detective is starting to rival that of his predecessor.
Dudgeon has now been on the air as John Barnaby for more than twelve years, and as series 24 of the series has already started filming, it seems like he just may be able to beat Nettles’ 81-episode record soon.
The actor confirmed in 2020 that he had no plans to leave the show, stating “I’ve got no intention of stopping doing it. I don’t know what else I’d do” and it seems like Midsomer Murders’ not-so new detective still has big plans for the show’s future.
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