Midsomer Murders probes the criminal undercurrents lurking beneath the idyllic surface of village life in fictional Midsomer County filmed in the lush English countryside of the Chilterns and Oxfordshire.

The classic English village murder mystery has long been a favourite of aficionados of detective stories. The most famous exponent of the craft was probably Agatha Christie's spinster sleuth Miss Marple, who from her home in the fictitious village of St. Mary Mead unravelled complex plots and announced 'whodunit' long before the plodding police inspector in charge of the case had found his first suspect. Set in the 30's and 40's Miss Marple solved murders that on the whole, were rather on the genteel side.

Following in this great tradition we now have the Midsomer Murders featuring Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, the creation of writer Caroline Graham on whose books the early teleplays were based. Midsomer Murders however, is set firmly in the present and the murders Barnaby is faced with include decapitations, burning alive and gruesome stabbings with farm implements and kitchen knives. Likewise, they are often forced to confront drug taking, incest, gay sex and sado-masochism, items strictly taboo in Miss Marple's day!

The settings, however, remain the same. The English country village conjures up a unique vision of fetes, cricket on the green and tea at the vicarage. The collection of villages known as Midsomer has all these attributes but behind the lace curtains and carefully manicured gardens there also lies evil, blackmail, greed, revenge and, of course, murder. In fact the area seems to house a higher proportion of homicidal psychopaths than the worst inner city ghetto.

One of the great attractions of the series is the beautiful locations that stand in for the Midsomer villages and towns. Most of the stories are filmed in the Chilterns, including the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire and occasionally Surrey. More recent episodes have even travelled to the further reaches of Devon and a future case ‘Death & Dust’ will see Barnaby travelling to Snowdonia in Wales. However, it is still the hamlets and villages of our home counties that prove the biggest attraction for the Midsomer crew.

Among the Buckinghamshire villages used to date are The Lee, Little Missenden, Penn, Bledlow, Chenies, Hambleden, Turville and Nether Winchendon. The Lee, actually owned by the Liberty family (famous for their store in Regent Street) has been a particular favourite. The peaceful village green, surrounded by quaint cottages and an old pub, has been the scene of several devious plots, including the pilot episode The Killings at Badgers Drift, Death’s Shadow, Death of a Stranger and Painted in Blood. The ‘Mrs. Bradley Mysteries’ starring Diana Rigg have also paid a visit here. Chenies Manor put in appearances in Judgement Day, Beyond the Grave and Orchis Fatalis and also became the focal point for one of the Rosemary & Thyme stories. The Hambleden valley, an enormous attraction for feature film and TV crews alike, has lured the makers of Midsomer too. Hambleden village became one of the key locations in Blood Will Out and Turville, famed for The Vicar of Dibley, stood in for Midsomer Parva in ‘The Straw Woman’.

The towns of Amersham and Chesham have also become key features in many Midsomer plots including Who Killed Cock Robin, Sauce for the Goose, Written in Blood, Things that Go Bump in the Night and a recent episode, The Axeman Cometh. These Chilterns villages and towns will certainly be embracing our screens for many years to come thanks to the enormous popularity of Barnaby’s adventures. This article was contributed by Joan Street. You can find a lot more information about the series with detailed locations information with excellent photos by visiting  the Midsomer Murders website