Complete released-series file · 1997–1998
Series 1
5 feature-length cases from the Tom Barnaby era, led by DCI Tom Barnaby with DS Gavin Troy across the run.
Episodes 1–5
Year-level chronology
Principal fictional places
Expanded case files
Before you open the folder
What defines Series 1?
This run sits in the Tom Barnaby period and contains 5 cases. Its archive labels lean classic, with 2 cases carrying that tone.
- Best entry point
- The Killings at Badger's Drift
- Opening case
- The Killings at Badger's Drift
- Final case
- Death in Disguise
- Recurring settings
- Each principal setting appears once
Archive highlights
Three ways into Series 1
Editorial signposts drawn from the Casebook catalogue—not a claim that every murder needs a podium.
The Killings at Badger's Drift
An apparently natural death draws Barnaby into a village of immaculate gardens and very untidy secrets.
Episode 1 →Casebook focus · LandmarkThe Killings at Badger's Drift
The feature-length case that established the entire Midsomer formula.
Open the case →Filming trailThe Killings at Badger's Drift
3 broader filming areas are already connected to this file.
Follow the places →Who works these cases
Core cast in Series 1
Every lead detective, investigating partner and credited on-screen pathologist represented in this series.
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John Nettles
Tom Barnaby · 5 casesAn English actor, author and narrator who was already a household name as Jersey detective Jim Bergerac. After Bergerac he spent five seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later returned to television drama in Poldark.
Open actor profile →Daniel Casey
Gavin Troy · 5 casesAn English stage and television actor also known for Our Friends in the North, Steel River Blues, EastEnders and Emmerdale. He later returned to the Midsomer world to play Tom Barnaby in the first professional stage adaptation.
Open actor profile →Barry Jackson
Dr George Bullard · 5 casesAn English stage and screen character actor whose career lasted more than five decades. His credits ranged from the landmark television play Cathy Come Home to Doctor Who, Barry Lyndon and many familiar British television dramas.
Open actor profile →Complete episode ledger
Every Series 1 case
5 expanded dossiers and 0 concise catalogue records, all linked in broadcast order.
- Episode01
1997 · Badger's Drift
The Killings at Badger's Drift
An apparently natural death draws Barnaby into a village of immaculate gardens and very untidy secrets.
- Episode02
1998 · Midsomer Worthy
Written in Blood
A writers' circle welcomes a celebrated novelist, then discovers that literary ambition can be murderously personal.
- Episode03
1998 · Ferne Basset
Death of a Hollow Man
An amateur production of Amadeus gives Barnaby a cast full of motives and a fatal change of props.
- Episode04
1998 · Morton Fendle
Faithful Unto Death
A craft-centre owner's wife disappears, leaving a suspicious ransom demand and a village eager to improve the story.
- Episode05
1998 · Lodge of the Golden Windhorse
Death in Disguise
A death at a New Age commune brings Barnaby into a world of mysticism, money and carefully remade identities.