Robert Hardy

In Midsomer Murders

Robert Cavendish is the imposing head of a local family whose estate and cricketing world frame the investigation. Hardy brings patrician authority to a household in which appearances and loyalties are under pressure.

Performer biography

Robert Hardy's long screen career included Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small, repeated portrayals of Winston Churchill and Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter films. He was also a respected stage actor and an expert on the longbow.

His many portrayals of Winston Churchill became a distinctive strand of his career, while All Creatures Great and Small made his Siegfried Farnon a television favourite. Later, the Harry Potter films introduced him to a new international audience as the Minister for Magic. Hardy brought the same commanding manner to Midsomer's country-house world.