EXCLUSIVE: Midsomer Murders star Neil Dudgeon has nothing but praise for his co-stars
Midsomer Murders star Neil Dudgeon has paid tribute to his “absolute treasure” co-star while discussing his return as DCI Barnaby in the popular ITV series.
Production for the forthcoming series of Midsomer Murders is presently underway, with Neil reprising his role as DCI Barnaby alongside his sidekick Sergeant Jamie Winter (portrayed by Nick Hendrix) and Dr. Fleur Perkins (Annette Badland).
However, in an exclusive chat with Reach PLC, Neil revealed what it was like collaborating with his cherished co-stars.
When questioned about working with Nick and Annette “so closely”, Neil responded, “It is great. Annette has played Fleur for years and years and is still there.
“Whenever we meet her, she’s saying, ‘Oh, you know, I’ve just come back from such and such, where I’ve been filming this, and I’m going to Manchester next week,” reports the Express.
“She’s in three or four days, and episodes in between, she’s going off doing all sorts of things, but she’s in great demand, because she’s such an absolute treasure.”
He added, “And Nick is fantastic, and I feel very blessed. I’ve always felt very blessed because when I started, I had Jason Hughes, who was the Sergeant.
“And then when Jason left, I thought ‘Oh, it won’t be the same’, and then Gwilym Lee came along, and it changed him because Barnaby and Jason’s characters were more similar in age, they had a different kind of relationship, and me and Jason had a different kind of relationship, which was hilarious.” Recalling an amusing behind-the-scenes incident, the DCI Barnaby star added, “And we behaved terribly.
“I remember one day we were both so overcome with the hysterics that the director said to us, ‘You can’t carry on until you calm down…alright, both of you out’.
“And he sent us out of the location, and to the car park to calm down, which just made us worse.”
Heaping further praise on his co-stars, the actor continued, “And then Gwilym came along, who was just wonderful and lovely and fantastic.
“And then when he left, I thought, ‘Oh no, I can’t be lucky a third time’. And then Nick came along, and he’s just fantastic. He’s great to work with, and I think we get along pretty well, and it’s so important, because for the five months or so that we’re filming, you meet up at seven o’clock in the morning, and you’re standing next to each other, working with each other until seven o’clock at night.”
Emphasising the significance of their working relationship, he explained, “You know, it’s like 12 hours a day, five days a week for five months. During that period, I’m seeing much more of him than I am of my own family. I think if you’re doing that with somebody you didn’t get on with, that would be really, really hard.”
Midsomer Murders is available to stream on ITVX.