# Midsomer Murders (1997)

> A veteran detective and his young sergeant unravel a string of murders in the outwardly peaceful English county of Midsomer.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/725

## Facts

- Seasons: 25
- Episodes: 144
- Episode runtime: 90 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: crime, mystery, drama
- Created by: Anthony Horowitz, Caroline Graham
- Network: ITV1
- Cast: John Nettles, Gwilym Lee, Jane Wymark, Nick Hendrix, Tamzin Malleson, Laura Howard, John Hopkins, Kirsty Dillon
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118401/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: cozy, amused, genteel, methodical, bloodless

## What critics say

Viewers broadly rate the long-running village murder mystery as a reliable, cosy watch in its middle years, with ratings sliding noticeably in later seasons.

## Synopsis

Midsomer Murders (1997-present) is a British ITV crime whodunit series created by Anthony Horowitz and Caroline Graham. Its veteran detective, DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles), works alongside his younger sergeant, DS Charlie Nelson (Gwilym Lee), investigating murders in the picturesque rural county of Midsomer in England. Each feature-length episode runs about ninety minutes and is built around a standalone case: a peaceful village is shattered by violence, suspects are placed under suspicion one by one, and the detectives patiently work through alibis, motives and local secrets until the guilty party is exposed. Barnaby's family life, including his wife Joyce (Jane Wymark) and his daughter Cully (Laura Howard), gives the series a warm domestic counterweight to the killings. The show has run for 25 seasons and 144 episodes, making it a long-running case-of-the-week procedural in the British village mystery tradition. Its tone is cozy and amused, with the grisly crimes handled with a light, almost genteel detachment rather than grit. Fans of Agatha Christie's Marple, Inspector Morse and Father Brown will find the same blend of rural charm and methodical puzzle-solving here.

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