Midsomer County is an expansive place consisting of 46 villages. 46! I just thought I’d toss that out there because there has been a misconception that Midsomer was itself a small town in which hundreds of murders have taken place. Not so. Set 15 of the series revolves, as usual, around DCI Tom Barnaby, played by John Nettles of Bergerac, who uncovers the truth behind cases, sometimes quirky sometimes brutal. In this set Barnaby’s right hand man is played by Jason Hughes as DS Ben Jones, possibly Barnaby’s only assistant that matches his intelligence and crime fighting technique. Jayne Wymark and Laura Howard return as Barnaby’s wife and daughter, Joyce and Cully Barnaby and there is a special appearance by Daniel Casey, Barnaby’s first assistant DS Gavin Troy.

Britain has a long running tradition of great detectives and like the misconception that everyone in Midsomer should be dead by now you’d think the Brits would have run out of clever ways to pose a murder mystery. They haven’t. With Midsomer Murders it’s the combination of life and the mystery of crimes unsolved (as of yet) that bring a sense of unrushed enjoyment to each episode. Each episode has its own history from Barnaby’s daughter Cully finally tying the knot, maybe, to two families tragic histories finally coming to fruition in the now. A real addition to the series is the shows use of some really fantastic writers such as Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War) or the writers in this set David Lawrence aka David Harsent (Holby City), Michael Aitkins (A Perfect State), and Michael Compton (Silent Witness), plus you’ve got John Nettles who spent a decade portraying another successful Detective in the much loved Bergerac.

Set 15 also includes a bonus disc entitled Super Sleuths - A documentary about Midsomer Murders in which John Nettles, original author Caroline Graham, Anthony Horowitz, and others reflect on the show’s first decade. My favorite part of the 47 minute bonus disc is writer Anthony Horowitz commenting on an episode he wrote which starred up and comer Orlando Bloom in which Horowitz proclaims, “ I wish I could have wrote in a real death for Orlando and then maybe I would have saved the world from several horrible films.” Ouch.