Police drama set in the small villages of the fictional Midsomer County, is somewhat Agatha Christie like in terms of the mysteries and its setting. The series which has now run for 10 years in Britain is based on the series of books by Caroline Graham.
Our protagonist played by John Nettles is DCI Tom Barnaby and he very much underplays the role, but it is also obvious that he is quite a good actor. He is supported by Sergeant Troy (at least for the first 6 seasons) who sometimes comes to the wrong conclusions but has a good working relationship with his superior. The only other regular characters are Barnaby's wife and daughter as well as the medical examiner.
A considerable amount of time is given in each episode towards the development of the victims, suspects and possible witnesses to each of the crimes. This helps to make the show interesting, because many of the episodes actually work as mysteries, something that many series do not achieve. This is helped by the fact that as with many British series the episodes are considerably longer than American TV episodes at 100 minutes in length. This allows for time to unfold the situation leading up to the crime and also for the investigation.
Another key to the series is the depiction of an idyllic English country life, from the cottages and the cricket greens to the pubs and the quirky locals.
The very effective eerie theme music of the series includes a Theremin.
Although not graphic the level of violence that takes place in these communities is somewhat ridiculous and obviously not meant to reflect any kind of reality
Our protagonist played by John Nettles is DCI Tom Barnaby and he very much underplays the role, but it is also obvious that he is quite a good actor. He is supported by Sergeant Troy (at least for the first 6 seasons) who sometimes comes to the wrong conclusions but has a good working relationship with his superior. The only other regular characters are Barnaby's wife and daughter as well as the medical examiner.
A considerable amount of time is given in each episode towards the development of the victims, suspects and possible witnesses to each of the crimes. This helps to make the show interesting, because many of the episodes actually work as mysteries, something that many series do not achieve. This is helped by the fact that as with many British series the episodes are considerably longer than American TV episodes at 100 minutes in length. This allows for time to unfold the situation leading up to the crime and also for the investigation.
Another key to the series is the depiction of an idyllic English country life, from the cottages and the cricket greens to the pubs and the quirky locals.
The very effective eerie theme music of the series includes a Theremin.
Although not graphic the level of violence that takes place in these communities is somewhat ridiculous and obviously not meant to reflect any kind of reality