DCI Tom Barnaby
Played by: John Nettles (episodes 1.1-13.8)
John Nettles as Tom Barnaby
- Agent Scully: One exception to his normal politeness is that he has very little patience for the paranormal and treats it with quite open disdain.
- Benevolent Boss: While Barnaby is not above lighthearted jabs at his Detective Sergeant's expense, especially when Troy puts his foot in his mouth or makes a particularly obvious comment about the crime scene, he wants the best for him and is genuinely happy to see the smile on Troy's face when he finds out he passed his Inspectors' Exam.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Cordial and genial he may be, but underestimate Tom at your own peril, as more than one murderer has discovered.
- Cool Old Guy: Older and wiser than all his sergeants, and he used to work for MI6 and be in a band.
- Deadpan Snarker: Very witty, often at the expense of his sergeants.
- Horrible Judge of Character: His only real blind spot is that he has a terrible habit of befriending or admiring people who later go on to be murderers, at which point he tends to discard them as suspects out of hand. He does actually acknowledge he's doing it in "The Noble Art", however.
- Nice Guy: Tom's an extremely polite and compassionate man, often getting suspects to open up to him simply because he's that likeable and showing empathy for the occasional Sympathetic Murderer.
- Old-Fashioned Copper: Tom isn't above bending or breaking the rules in the course of his investigations, most notably showing a casual disregard for search warrants, but he likewise overlooks a fair bit of minor crime and he makes it absolutely clear on several occasions that he doesn't tolerate Police Brutality on his watch.
- Papa Wolf: Joyce and Cully's safety is paramount to him; on the several occasions when he finds out one of them has ended up alone with a murderer he drops everything and rushes there with heavy backup each time.
Joyce Barnaby
Played by: Jane Wymark (ep 1.1-13.8)
Jane Wymark as Joyce Barnaby
- Fleeting Passionate Hobbies: Many an episode starts with her dragging her husband to some cultural event or other, resulting in him being present for the weird-crime-streak-or-the-week.
DS Gavin Troy
Played by: Daniel Casey (ep. 1.1-7.1, 11.2)
Daniel Casey as DS Troy
- Character Development: In early episodes Troy is quite prone to Captain Obvious and Ask a Stupid Question... moments, but they lessen over time as he grows more experienced.
- Drives Like Crazy: It's a wonder Barnaby kept letting Sgt. Troy drive.
- Hidden Depths: He questioned a South American Maid in Spanish in Strangler's Wood, much to Barnaby's surprise, and in Dark Autumn we learn that he's a pretty good dancer.
- Noble Bigot: While Troy is homophobic it never interferes with his work, and in Faithful Unto Death he even goes so far as to visit a lesbian woman in prison on his own initiative to make her aware that the woman she's Taking the Heat for very much doesn't reciprocate her feelings and has married her male partner in crime.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Very homophobic.Tom: You are as politically correct as a Nuremberg rally.
- Rank Up: He was ultimately promoted to DI in his own right.
Dr. George Bullard
Played by: Barry Jackson (ep. 1.1-14.4)
Barry Jackson as Dr. Bullard
- The Coroner: His role on the show.
- Deadpan Snarker: Always ready to make a snarky remark about the crime scene or the murdered person.
Dr. Dan Peterson
Played By: Toby Jones (ep. 2.2-2.3, 3.1, 3.3)
Toby Jones as Dr. Peterson
DS Daniel Scott
Played by: John Hopkins (ep. 7.2-8.8)
John Hopkins as DS Scott
- Chivalrous Pervert: Scott has quite an eye for women, to the point that Barnaby ribs on him for it.
- City Mouse: He's an officer from London, used to doing things very differently and quite thrown by how routine murder is in Midsomer, which causes a fair bit of friction with Barnaby.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Introduced an episode into one season and disappeared from the show after the end of the next, giving him the shortest tenure of any sergeant.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Scott very simply disappears after Jones is introduced, it's explained that he phoned in sick in Jones' introductory episode but he's never mentioned again after that.
DS Ben Jones
Played by: Jason Hughes (ep. 9.1-15.6, 19.3)
Jason Hughes as DS Jones
DC Gail Stephens
Played By: Kirsty Dillon (ep. 10.5, 10.7, 10.8, 11.1-13.8)
Kirsty Dillon as DC Stephens
DCI John Barnaby
Played By: Neil Dudgeon (ep. 13.1, 13.8-present)
Neil Dudgeon as John Barnaby
- Being Personal Isn't Professional: Off the clock, Barnaby is friendly with all of his assistants and is regularly shown having them over for dinner or other social occasions. However, he makes it clear to them that while on the clock, he is their superior officer, not their friend. Particularly evident when he tells Nelson not to refer to him as "Guv".
- The Stoic: He's a fair bit more reserved than his cousin.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He's brought into to replace his cousin Tom and performs the exact same role as him. This was more evident during his early seasons. Since then, the writers have managed to turn him into his own distinct character.
Sarah Barnaby
Played By: Fiona Dolman (ep. 14.2-present)
Fiona Dolman as Sarah Barnaby with Sykes the dog
- Happily Married: She and John are clearly still deeply in love and are shown to have a happy domestic life.
Dr. Kate Wilding
Played By: Tamzin Malleson (ep. 14.5-17.4)
Tamzin Malleson as Dr. Wilding
DS Charlie Nelson
Played By: Gwilym Lee (ep. 16.1-18.6)
Gwilym Lee as DS Nelson
Dr. Kam Karimore
Played By: Manjinder Virk (ep. 18.1-19.6)
Manjinder Virk as Dr. Karimore
DS Jamie Winter
Played By: Nick Hendrix (ep. 19.1-present)
Nick Hendrix as DS Winter
- Butt-Monkey: Winter is probably the most dissrepected of the DS characters, regularly getting humiliated or shown up by Barnaby.
- Cosplay: In season 20 Winter loves one comic character so much he cosplays the character in a full spandex costume.
- Fanservice: In universe and in the show. Nick Hendrix has a few shirtless scenes in season 21 and 22, even in a towel for more than one scene in season 22. In universe Winter is constantly hit on by women and some men.
- Hidden Depths: Winter is an accomplished singer, being able to join and perform as part of The Pirates of Penzance to draw out a killer.
- Will They or Won't They?: With Kam Karimore. They don't.
Dr. Fleur Perkins
Played By: Annette Badland (ep. 20.1-present)
Annette Badland as Dr. Perkins
- Expansion Pack Past: This is starting to happen to Dr. Perkins as each episode gives her another part of her backstory. Now she been married several times, in Vegas. When she first joined Causton CID she was dating an army vet. She drives a convertible, knows all about motorcycles, engages in cross-country rides with a biker gang called The Ladies of Leather, was once a Drag Queen and dated a doomsday prepper.
