Midsomer Murders star John Nettles reveals why he 'never wants' to ...

John Nettles has spoken candidly about his time on Midsomer Murders, as well as revealing why he would never watch any of the old episodes back. The retired actor, 81, portrayed Tom Barnaby on the show for over ten years, before being replaced by Neil Dudgeon. 

Speaking about its enduring success, John told The Times: "I’m just amazed by it, the fact that every territory has a Midsomer Murders presence. In America, I’m told — as if they hadn’t got enough to put up with, by the way of Trump and all the rest of that menagerie around him in the White House — they have to put up with a 24/7 Midsomer Murders channel. They show back-to-back episodes, which is quite amazing." 

Addressing whether he has watched it back, he firmly said: "No, I don’t watch. I’ve seen every trope, every curiosity, every plot manoeuvre that belongs to the genre, over and over and over again. I never want to see another actor pretending to be a dead body. 

"It’s just too much. I’ve done it for so many years, for days and months at a time, 24/7, more or less. And it’s like building a wall. You build it very carefully. You don’t want to go back and watch other people building it." 

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The actor has already recently been replaced in his role of Jim Bergarac in the upcoming reboot, which sees  Damian Molony take over the iconic role. Speaking to Metro about how John reacted to Damian in the role, the Crashing actor said: "He was just so lovely, and he said so many nice things about the first episode too.

© Gorassini Giancarlo/ABACA/Shutterstock

"He finished our lunch saying, ‘Bergerac has been so good to me and my career, and I really hope it does the same for you,’ which I just thought was a really lovely sentiment, and it just goes to show how much of a good guy he is."

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While there have been plenty of reports recently that Neil will now be replaced as DCI John Barnaby in Midsomer Murders, he set the record straight on This Morning. He said: "I'm getting the elbow and this is how I find out! No as far as I know, I'm still here. We're shooting next year, and the last I heard, I'm in it!"