How many Midsomer Murders series are there?
Barnaby has been finding bodies in England's prettiest villages since 1997 — and the count now stands higher than almost any detective drama on British television.
There are 25 series of Midsomer Murders, with series 26 filming and due later in 2026. That 26th run of four feature-length mysteries will bring the total to 148 episodes.
The show began on ITV on 23 March 1997 with "The Killings at Badger's Drift", watched by 13.5 million people, and it has never really stopped.
The two Barnabys
The series splits neatly into two eras:
- DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles), series 1–13 — the original detective, 81 episodes between 1997 and 2011, ending with "Fit for Murder" on 2 February 2011.
- DCI John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon), series 14 onwards — Tom's younger cousin, in the job since 2011, currently partnered with DS Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix), with Annette Badland as pathologist Dr Fleur Perkins.
Why the release order is so confusing
Recent series have premiered abroad first — series 25 debuted on the streaming service Acorn TV in late 2025, while UK broadcasts on ITV have lagged behind. By the end of 2025, ITV had aired 138 episodes across 24 series in the UK, even though more had already been released internationally. Frustrating for British fans. Great for the show's 200-plus overseas territories.
What we know about series 26
ITV confirmed the commission in October 2025: four new feature-length cases, with Dudgeon, Hendrix, Badland, and Fiona Dolman (as Sarah Barnaby) all returning. ITV drama commissioner Huw Kennair Jones said at the time:
"Series 26 promises to deliver four brilliant brand new cases."
For the record: the show is based on Caroline Graham's Chief Inspector Barnaby novels, originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz — and 2027 will mark 30 years of murder in Midsomer. The county's population, somehow, survives.