Cast Details

Biographies of the regular cast members.

John Nettles

Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby

John's birth mother was an Irish nurse who came to work in England during the Second World War, but John was adopted by Eric and Elsie Nettles as a baby, and grew up as an only child. After having spent his early childhood years in Roe Green, Manchester, he moved to St. Austell, Cornwall with his parents.

After university he started out as an actor at the Royal Court Theatre where he mainly played spear-holders and other small parts, then went on to play most theatres up and down the country, ending up a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. It was when he was there that he, after several interviews at the BBC, was phoned up one morning and offered the part of Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac. This was to change John Nettles's life. Bergerac (1981-1991) became a huge success. Before this he had also worked in television, as he got his TV break during the early 1970s in the BBC sitcom The Liver Birds as Paul, and as Dr. Ian McKenzie in the immensely popular series A Family At War, but Bergerac became something completely different for John. John Nettles and Jim Bergerac were two names that for ten years seemed interchangeable. In the public perception John Nettles always wore a bomber jacket, and spent his waking hours driving around the roads of Jersey, Channel Islands, in his red Triumph Roadster. This was of course not quite true.

After Bergerac finished, he re-joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he did five seasons. Then in 1995 he was approached by Brian True-May who was thinking of dramatizing the Inspector Barnaby novels, and thought John would be suitable for the role. A year later John had a call from True-May saying it was going to happen, the making of Midsomer Murders started.

John is also a much used narrator, and we can hear his voice in several documentaries, such as Airport, Disaster and Violent Planet, as well as a number of audiobooks. He has himself written three books: Bergerac's Jersey, John Nettles' Jersey and Nudity in a Public Place.

For people who are friends of the theatre, John is a well known and acclaimed interpreter of Shakespeare. Despite being a classical actor, he also used to enjoy very much appearing in pantos. The filming of Midsomer Murders now takes up 10 months of the year (May to March), and consequently does not give room for very much else.

John is currently living in Evesham with his wife Cathryn, whom he married in 1995. He was married to his first wife, Joyce, for 13 years, and together they have a daughter, Emma (born 1970).

Trivia
John has a lot of fans, and some are rather obsessive, e.g. the woman who sent him expensive jewellery. This was promptly returned by his wife. John says he does not know how to deal with such things. He doesn't think anybody does. Because this does of course not only happen to him, but to a lot of people who happen to be on television for one reason or another.

John told in an interview how he finds Barnaby to be slightly boring. John would have liked Barnaby to have some more romance, but the producers say no. John said: "I sometimes contemplate in the early hours of the morning, the horror of Barnaby's sex life. In the books Barnaby was overweight and suffering from indigestion, but he still liked the occasional bounce with the missus. I would like the occasional bounce with the missus, but we are not allowed. It really is a case of no sex, please, we're British."

Daniel Casey

Detective Sergeant Gavin Troy

Daniel Casey is a British actor, born on 1st June 1972 in Stockton-on-Tees. He is the son of North East TV presenter Luke Casey. He joined a youth theatre at the age of 14 and decided that he wanted to have a career in acting. Although he had a place at Durham University to study English, he left it to go on tour in the award-winning play 'Dead Fish'. It was whilst working on this show that he was noticed by a casting agent and offered the part of Anthony Cox, a young policeman in the highly acclaimed BBC production 'Our Friends in the North'.

Daniel married his longtime partner Ellie, who works for the EastEnders costume dept, in October 2005 and they now live in Ealing. On 10th June 2006 they became the proud parents of a baby boy.

Daniel is currently staying with John Nettles during the rehearsal and performance period for On The Piste, and despite leaving 'Midsomer Murders' Daniel still remains firm friends with him.

John Hopkins

Detective Sergeant Dan Scott

John Hopkins is a British actor best known for playing Sgt. Dan Scott on Midsomer Murders.

John, or 'Hoppers', as he is known on set, joined the cast of Midsomer in series 7 after Daniel Casey's DS Troy gained promotion and moved to pastures new.

This is his first TV role, and before joining Midsomer as DS Scott, John built up quite a resume of Theatre work whilst at RADA.

His interests are climbing, cycling, and swimming and he has some special skills - including, Acrobatics, Dialects and a strong bass voice!

Jason Hughes

Detective Sergeant Ben Jones

Jason Hughes is a British actor born in Porthcawl, South Wales in 1971. Best known for playing gay lawyer Warren Jones in the ground-breaking BBC TV series This Life from 1996 to 1997, he is now starring as Detective Constable/Sergeant Ben Jones in the hugely popular ITV detective series Midsomer Murders.

Other UK television credits include guest roles in dramas Mine All Mine, Waking the Dead, Casualty and Peak Practice. In 2002, Jason had a starring role in the film Killing Me Softly, and his other film credits include the 2005 movies Red Mercury and Dead Long Enough. Jason lives in Brighton with his wife Natasha Dahlberg, a jewellery designer, and their two children Molly and Max.

Jane Wymark

Joyce Barnaby

Jane Wymark was born on 31 October, 1952 in London, she is an English actress. The daughter of well-known actor Patrick Wymark (now deceased), she is best known for playing Morwenna Chynoweth Whitworth (Morwenna Carne at the closure of the series) in the 1970s BBC TV period drama Poldark, and more recently Joyce Barnaby in the hugely popular ITV detective series Midsomer Murders (a role she has played since 1996).

She has also appeared in UK television dramas such as A Touch of Frost, Dangerfield, Lovejoy and Pie in the Sky.

Laura Howard

Cully Barnaby

Laura Howard is an English actress born in Chiswick, London in 1977. Sometimes credited as Laura Simmons, under her real name, Howard is best known for playing Cully Barnaby in the hugely popular ITV detective series Midsomer Murders (a role she has played since 1996).

Her first major role came in 1992, playing the teenage daughter Tammy Rokeby in the BBC comedy series So Haunt Me. Since then, Laura has also had a starring role in the Jack Rosenthal drama Eskimo Day and its sequel Cold Enough For Snow.

Her other UK television credits include Soldier Soldier, The Bill, Doctors and Casualty.

Barry Jackson

Dr. Bullard

Barry Jackson was born on 29th March 1938 in Birmingham, he is an English actor best known for his roles on film and television.

His film roles include: Ryan's Daughter, Barry Lyndon and Wimbledon.

TV credits include: A for Andromeda, The Mask of Janus, Adam Adamant Lives!, Doctor Who, Z Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, The Troubleshooters, Doomwatch, Poldark, Oil Strike North, The New Avengers, Secret Army, Blake's 7, The Professionals, Coronation Street, Enemy at the Door, All Creatures Great and Small, Minder, Bergerac, Lovejoy, Casualty, Peak Practice, Silent Witness, Kavanagh QC, The Bill, A Touch of Frost, Holby City, Heartbeat and Midsomer Murders.