'Midsomer Murders' Season 25 Is Officially in Production

This week's big annual event in Europe for the television crowd is called "Series Mania." Initially held in Paris, the yearly event has been held in Lille since 2016. Like most events of this type, the goal is to get the most promising pilots from around the EU in front of global distributors; the difference between this event and the markets that run concurrently with the big film festivals is that this is an invite-only event, where shows compete to be chosen as part of the "best of the best" screened for industry insiders. It's also a place to break news, not just about the series being screened, but also the status of other popular projects, and there's no series more beloved than Midsomer Murders, which distributor All3Media was eager to announce. had started production on its landmark 25th season.

Second only to Silent Witness in long-running crime shows, Midsomer Murders first debuted in 1997, though unlike Silent Witness (which first aired in 1996 and just aired Season 28), it has skipped a few years here and there, increasing (and then decreasing) the episode count to suit the times. It's also been remarkably stable, with its original lead John Nettles as DCI Tom Barnaby from 1997 to 2011, thirteen seasons, before handing the reigns to Neil Dudgeon as his replacement, DCI John Barnaby, who still leads the show today.

However, the detective sergeants, the show's other lead characters, have been cycled through faster. OG DS Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey) starred in the show's first seven seasons, DS Benjamin Jones (Jason Hughes) lasted eight, and current bagman DS Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix) will reach seven with Season 25.