John Nettles, best known for portraying the beloved Tom Barnaby in Midsomer Murders, hasn’t held back on his opinions about crime series. The seasoned actor decried the trend of distressing content within these shows, considering them “awful” because of their focus on dark themes.
Sharing his thoughts, Nettles said: “I tell you what is awful is the obligatory appearance of the tortured woman, the raped woman, the murdered woman. Jesus, God. It’s very difficult to do that stuff and to use it as a bit of a plot line. It gets worse and worse and worse. I think part of the Midsomer Murders appeal was that they took that idea to extremes … all kinds of extraordinary murders, totally unreal.”
Nettles, who avoids watching modern detective dramas, also mentioned that he never revisits episodes of his own show: “I don’t watch. I’ve seen every trope, every curiosity, every plot manoeuvre that belongs to the genre, over and over and over again. I never want to see another actor pretending to be a dead body.
“You internalise it too much after doing it for ages; its like constructing a wall brick by brick with great care,” he reflected. “You wouldn’t want to watch others laying down bricks once you’re done, would you?”.
The actor is due to be succeeded in his iconic role of Jim Bergerac in a fresh reboot of the detective drama, set to debut on 27 February.
Midsomer Murders star John Nettles (Image: ITV)
Damien Molony will take on the revamped role and shared with HELLO! and other reporters about his encounter with John and receiving his approval for the part.
He revealed: “We had lunch actually about three weeks ago. In Torquay, which was lovely, and we just talked about our experiences in Jersey, and all the great restaurants that we used to go to, and all the same beaches.
“And then he said this lovely thing at the end, he said, ‘Bergerac has been so good to my career. I hope it’s as good for yours,’ which I thought was a really lovely sentiment. And he’s seen the first episode, and he really liked it. We had a lovely time!”.
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John Nettles as Tom Barnaby with co-star DS Ben Jones as Jason Hughes from Midsomer Murders (Image: ITV)
The new series will depict Bergerac as a “as a broken man.” The plot summary states: “When a member of one of Jersey’s wealthiest families is murdered, Chief of Police Uma Dalal (Sasha Behar) wants their best detective on the case. Bergerac returns to work to not only crack the case but to prove to his daughter Kim (Chloe Sweetlove) and mother-in-law Charlie Hungerford (Zoe Wanamaker) that his life is back on track.
“If Bergerac can solve the case, then maybe he can also show he’s still capable enough to be a good father. And so, Bergerac becomes entangled in a knotty whodunnit that will keep the audience guessing across the first series. Will he be able to solve the crime and stay on track?”.