Midsomer Murders explores backstage rivalries and theatrical tensions in its latest episode, which involves the hunt for a killer who is stalking an operatic society.
The new installment of Midsomer Murders season 22, airing in the UK on Sunday, May 28 at 8pm on ITV1, sees Sarah Barnaby (Fiona Dolman) the headmistress wife of DCI John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon), being asked to perform with the Midsomer Mummers by her former colleague Jeremy Whittingdale, played by Inspector Morse and Lewis star Kevin Whately.
But as the Mummers get ready to put on a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance, a body is discovered in the prop pirate chest and Barnaby and his colleague DS Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix) have to investigate.
What To Watch caught up with Fiona Dolman for a chat to find out more about the new episode of Midsomer Murders…
Midsomer Murders is taking to the stage in this episode! What can you tell us about it?
“The pressure is on to identify the deceased and unmask the killer before they murder again… It was such fun, it might be my favourite one I've done! It has all the ingredients of a classic Midsomer — an amateur operatic society is ripe for murder!”
Does Sarah enjoy being a Midsomer Mummer?
“She loves it. Normally she's organising things so she likes the freedom and it’s fun to catch up with Jeremy, because they’re friends from way back.”
And was it fun co-starring with Kevin Whately?
“Yes, I’m a huge fan. He liked sitting back and letting someone else detect! We need Neil to go on forever though, so I said to Kevin, ‘Tell him you miss detecting!’ But the joy for Kevin was doing something involving music, that’s his big love.”
What was it like filming at a real theatre — The Mill at Sonning, Berkshire?
“Beautiful — I remember sitting by the river there with the sun setting. Also, because of COVID, it was the first time most of the actors had set foot in a theatre for a while. I cried!”
Are you a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan?
“My father was in amateur dramatics and an operatic society when I was young and he did a lot of Gilbert and Sullivan and I watched rehearsals for The Pirates of Penzance when I was probably about seven or eight, so this was hugely emotional. My dad would have loved it.”
Did you like wearing the amazing outfits in the episode?
“I had this fantastic wig, boots and bloomers and even skull and crossbones earrings! Our costume designer Sue Thomson made it look sumptuous and beautiful. Visually, it's a stunning episode.”
This is Neil’s 50th episode of Midsomer Murders, what do you love about working with him?
“We laugh a lot and we like each other a lot. We have a shorthand now, we feel like a married couple. If you had an egomaniac at the top, it would make for a tricky production but Neil’s the opposite of that. He always wants the guests to take centre stage.”
Do you have any favourite murders from Midsomer?
“We’ve had some corkers! Probably my favourite murder is the one [in 2005] with Oliver Ford Davies, who used to play my uncle in Heartbeat. In Midsomer Murders, he was pinned to the ground and a trebuchet fired bottles of wine at him to kill him, which is inspired.
“And it was disgusting but I liked the one [in 2011] where they got a machine that shakes trees to get the apples off it and the machine shook someone to death! And then, obviously, poor Martine McCutcheon who got killed by cheese [in 2013]. That’s an absolute classic. And bless her because she was a big name and she was so excited to experience death by cheese!”
And would you like a Sarah Barnaby spin-off?!
“Neil and I talk about it a lot! We’d like to go somewhere near the sea and Barnaby could investigate local crimes — like somebody stealing a garden gnome — meanwhile, something serious is happening and Sarah's dealing with that! But I’d like to stay in Midsomer for as long as possible. If that involves Winter eventually just wheeling Barnaby about, that's fine!”
Midsomer Murders airs on Sunday 28 May at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. It is available in the US on Acorn TV.
