Midsomer murders news

John Nettles announces his retirement

Midsomer Murders' star John Nettles has decided that he will be leaving the series at the end of 2010.

Tom Barnaby will be with us on screen for a long time to come, leaving after his 13th series, and following more than 75 episodes of the popular drama.

John says: "It’s the end of an era for me, and while I’m very sad to be handing in Barnaby’s police badge, he has solved nearly 200 murders, which I think meets the targets of modern policing! I wish my successor, whoever he or she is, the very best."

John has two episodes to film early next year from series 12, and will then begin filming series 13, a further eight episodes will take him through to the end of 2010. The new DCI will appear in series 14