Neil Dudgeon's shock that he's still solving Midsomer murders 12 years on

msn.com:

John Nettles on screen as the lead detective in 2011, fans worried the writing could be on the wall for Midsomer Murders. But more than a decade later Neil Dudgeon is still solving crime in what must be the most death-ridden collection of villages in the world.

Neil has played DCI John Barnaby for 12 years and will celebrate his 50th episode as lead detective tomorrow. He reflects: “Nobody in their right mind as an actor would think: ‘I’m taking a job here for the next few months and it’ll last for 12 years or something’. “They came along and said, ‘ ITV have commissioned four with you…’ I thought four gives you a bit of time to play your way in.

And they upped it to eight before we started shooting. I thought: ‘Oh, well, this is great. We’ve got eight and that’ll be a lot of fun.

I’ve got a job for a bit’. “But when you get the recommission for another series, you do kind of feel like the faith and the trust of the people who had given me the job has been repaid. “Their faith has been vindicated because, after 12 years, the show still works with him in the policeman’s suit. ”Now 62, Neil started acting in school plays in Doncaster before heading to TV and parts in Casualty, London’s Burning, Lovejoy and A Touch Of Frost.