marinajcnyc Review of Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders (1997– )

The older ones are fantastic, the new ones... not so much!

[9/10 · 15 October 2021]

The first few seasons of Midsomer Murders are fantastic (which is why I rated this a 9 out of 10). My personal favorites are Written in Blood, Death's Shadow, Strangler's Wood, Judgment Day (Orlando Bloom's first major role), and of course The Killings at Badger's Drift (nothing can top the plots of these-- all written by Caroline Graham, I believe). But Dead Man's Eleven, Destroying Angel, A Worm in the Bud, and many others from the late 90's (when this series started) into the early 2000's were terrific. Sadly, this show has not only become boring (I'd only rate it a 3 out of 10 now, and that's being generous!), but it seems like the only "plot" is political correctness. Look at what the show looked like from 20+ years ago when it started (with Tom Barnaby and Sgt. Troy-- who I truly miss!) and look at it now. A lot of the episodes up thru Sgt. Jones were pretty good too (I really recommend watching it up until about 2011-- which is coincidentally, when they got rid of the show's original producer, Brian True-May). But after that, it was a downhill slide. The TONE of the series is so different. Nothing is really SCARY anymore. All they seem focused on is inclusion/diversity. Which is OK but that's not the POINT of this show!! I personally miss Sgt. Troy's politically incorrect comments which were far more REAL and NATURAL than the script is now. People are watching Midsomer Murders because they not only want to see a good mystery, but because they want to see what England used to look like. Brian True-May, the show's original producer made the mistake of saying that... that it was "last bastion of Englishness," and he was fired. But sadly, they should have listened to him. Because if they did, and WERE still focused on making episodes like Written in Blood, this would be the best show on television, anywhere in the world. But now it's barely mediocre. Like everything else, it's gone downhill and is not ALLOWED to thrive like it used to. This is just my opinion, but look at the reviews and watch the episodes from 20+ years ago and see for yourself!