Midsomer Murders star on 'unexpected' secret to show success in cheeky dig at James Martin

Midsomer Murders: Neil Dudgeon on show's popularity

Midsomer Murders actor Neil Dudgeon, who plays DCI John Barnaby on the long-running ITV mystery series, has opened up about why he believes the show is so successful. The 63-year-old star appeared on James Martin's Saturday Morning today, where he was able to enjoy a "beautiful" calves liver dish. 

Speaking about the "unexpected" secret to Midsomer Murders' popularity with chef James Martin, 52, Neil reflected on the show's fantastic premise. 

James asked: "What do you put it down to? Because we were talking about successful shows and 'successful' nowadays is about three or four years?"

He continued modestly: "I can't put my finger on this one, to be honest. 18 years I've been cooking on Saturday mornings. What would you put it down to?"

Neil then cheekily replied: "If I may say so, the success of your show is even more of a mystery than the success of our show!" 

Neil Dudgeon addressed Midsomer Murders' huge success (Image: ITV)

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James Martin spoke to Neil Dudgeon about the success of both their shows (Image: ITV)

"Precisely," James responded good-naturedly with a laugh, as Neil hastened to add: "The reason I say that is because, I think the great thing about Midsomer Murders is... the people who originally created the show." 

"I mean 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."

He went on to explain that, because you would then give the writer free-reign on a two-hour story with this simple premise, "everything is changing all the time". 

"You've got this wide formula for what the story of the show could be," he continued. "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!"

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Neil Dudgeon plays DCI John Barnaby (Image: ITV)

ITV's Midsomer Murders stars Neil as DCI John Barnaby alongside Nick Hendrix as DS Jamie Winter, Fiona Dolman as Sarah Barnaby and Annette Badland as Fleur Perkins.

The ITV synopsis reads: "World-renowned murder mystery series set in the idyllic Midsomer county. Inspector Barnaby and his young sergeant probe an alarming number of suspicious deaths in the community."

Midsomer Murders returns to screens on Sunday 10th November at 8pm on ITV1.

James Martin's Saturday Morning airs every Saturday from 9.30am on ITV and ITVX. 

Midsomer Murders star on 'unexpected' secret to show success in cheeky dig at James Martin

Midsomer Murders star on 'unexpected' secret to show success in cheeky dig at James Martin

Midsomer Murders star on 'unexpected' secret to show success in cheeky dig at James Martin

Midsomer Murders star on 'unexpected' secret to show success in cheeky dig at James Martin

Midsomer Murders star on 'unexpected' secret to show success in cheeky dig at James Martin