Neil Dudgeon Says This Midsomer Murders Plot Went Too Far

Midsomer Murders has never been shy of a quirky plot twist, but even Neil Dudgeon agrees there was one episode that might have crossed the line.

Chatting with James Martin during a rerun of James Martin’s Saturday Morning on ITV, Neil opened up about the moment he thought the show had gone a bit off the rails.

Neil’s been at the heart of Midsomer’s mysterious goings-on since 2010, stepping into the shoes of DCI John Barnaby.

But despite all the poisonings, cults, and sinister village secrets, there was one storyline that made him pause.

James asked him if he’d ever found any of the scripts a bit much. Neil didn’t hesitate: “The only time I did think that a bit was when I was first reading the script and a UFO crashed and then me and the sergeant turn up and examine this site and I thought ‘even we’ve gone too far’.”

He added that while the show can toy with themes like villagers believing in UFOs or mysterious lights in the sky, “you can’t actually go ‘oh look I think there’s an alien’ – it’s just that bit too far.”

The chat turned to why some TV shows stand the test of time, while others barely last a few years.

Neil shared what he thinks keeps people coming back to Midsomer Murders after all these years.

“The formula of Midsomer is something – not necessarily a murder – happens in a rural location and two policemen turn up to see what’s going on.”

As Neil puts it, “You can have endless variety within it and – always there’s something people find comforting about seeing the same thing over again – but the same thing is so different!”

You can stream both James Martin’s Saturday Morning and Midsomer Murders now on ITVX.