Excluded. Inspector Barnaby (France 3): meeting with Neil Dudgeon for the 25th anniversary of the series

Neil Dudgeon, who plays Inspector John Barnaby in the quintessential British detective series, Inspector Barnaby of which France 3 broadcasts the 22nd season, celebrated in a documentary the 25 years of fiction that has become an institution in Great Britain and around the world. The actor appears in the documentary Inspector Barnaby – 25 years of suspense and phlegm, broadcast on France 3 to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the series set in the murderous county of Midsomer. The opportunity to chat with his star, Neil Dudgeon.

“That’s more time than I spend with my family“says Neil Dudgeon on the set of Inspector Barnaby

Télé-Loisirs: how do you feel every year when you return to the set of Inspector Barnaby?

Neil Dudgeon: To be honest, it’s a mixed feeling. There is a part of excitement, it is a joy to find my partners and the whole team but at the same time, we are filming from mid-March until mid-July. So when we start, we also think that a looong period of work awaits us [Il rit]. But it’s wonderful to see everyone back every year.

You often exchange knowing glances with your partner Nick Hendrix (Jaime Winter). Has it become a gimmick between you?

It is unconscious and spontaneous. We get along really well, he’s a great person. He is very funny. Nick is terrific on and off the set. We particularly had fun on the third episode, an Agatha Christie-style plot. We had some giggles. In all the scenes, we try to underline the humor of a situation, a look or a dialogue. Our complicity is essential because at the start of each season, Nick [Hendrix] and I know we’re going to be together for five months, twelve hours a day, five days a week. That’s more time than I spend with my family. When you get along very well with your partner, it’s much more pleasant. Sometimes we even laugh too much and Nick needs at least three scenes to resume. Which I find charming and very funny. A few people on set find it less charming [Il rit]. By working for so long over such a long period of time, we have forged a bond that we no longer even realize.

You had already appeared in the series in another character, how were you chosen to succeed John Nettles in the role of Inspector Barnaby?

I was a fan from the start and my agent told me that John Nettles was leaving and that the broadcaster and the producers, who wanted to continue making the series, were thinking of me. I thought that would never happen! The following year I received occasional calls and one day they told me that they would be happy for me to accept the role as long as they couldn’t find someone better. [Il rit]. I thought of course they would find someone better than me but amazingly, that was not the case. I had to shoot an episode with John Nettles [L’acteur qui jouait l’inspecteur Barnaby dans les 13 premières saisons, ndlr] whose cousin I was. I thought this episode was a very long audition actually. Six months later, they ordered eight more episodes so I could relax and take some time to settle into character.

Would you like John Nettles to do another trick in an episode?

It’s something a lot of people talk to me about. It would be great but I don’t know if anyone has already offered it to him or if he would be interested. But I would love for John Nettles to come back for an episode!

“Mr and Mrs Barnaby should retire somewhere in France” tells us Neil Dudgeon on the end of Inspector Barnaby

Are you nervous reading the scripts at the thought of the little surprises the writers have concocted for you?

In one episode, we had costumes like in the romantic fictions of Jane Austen and there was a ball. Originally in the script, Barnaby and Winter were to go there in their usual costume. I insisted that they be disguised. When there’s an opportunity for Barnaby and Winter to investigate undercover, it’s something unique to our series that other crime dramas rarely can do. We have this lightness and this eccentric side in Inspector Barnaby. You can get away with just about anything. This is very fun.

You shot an episode in Denmark, is there a chance to see you in Paris?

I would love it ! In Paris or in another city in France. My dream would be for the British, German and Danish productions to come together for a Barnaby tour in Europe. That would be wonderful. Why not organize a cruise too. A killer tour of Europe would be fantastic.

We obviously want Inspector Barnaby to last for many more years, but do you already have an end in mind?

I don’t know… It depends if the series ends or if I leave. In the event of a departure, I believe that Mr. and Mrs. Barnaby would have to retire somewhere in France to open a pastry shop in a small village, on the outskirts of Paris, where murders would start to occur and the couple would team to solve these crimes.