A typical TV detective will exist on an appalling diet of takeaway food which they scoff while waiting around in cars outside suspects’ houses. No wonder they huff and puff so much whenever they have to give chase on foot!
However, times are changing and the recent episode of Midsomer Murders even had a plot which had Inspector Barnaby (played by Neil Dudgeon) reluctantly preparing to undergo a fitness test.
Barnaby tried to enlist the help of his sidekick DS Ben Jones (played by Jason Hughes) and his wife Sarah (played by Fiona Dolman). The trio should really be in tip-top shape considering all the walking trails and things to do in South Oxfordshire, where the series is filmed.
Neil Dudgeon seems to be rather fitter than the character he plays. He said: “The fitness scenes were okay because I try and keep healthy – I do go to the gym and I like swimming. But I don’t get much time because there is so much to do at home. I’m a hands-on dad and love doing the school run and making the tea.”
The struggle of juggling keeping fit with family life is something that Jason Hughes (DS Jones) is also familiar with.
In his youth, Jason was in the Welsh Boys Club for rugby and represented Glamorgan at football and cricket. He said: “I go to the gym and try to play tennis with mates when I can but it’s pretty energetic bringing up three children. I work for nine months and for the rest I do childcare!”
Fiona Dolman (Sarah Barnaby) devotes rather more time to her fitness routines than her male colleagues do. She said: “I am fairly healthy and I do speed walking for about five-miles-a-day. I also have a physio routine which is like a core strength workout, and I do that six days a week.”
New cast member Georgia Mackenzie probably had the most physical scenes in the new episode. Luckily, Georgia who plays red-hot fire-fighter Susie Bellingham, loves boxing in her spare time. Hopefully she won’t have to use her pugilistic skills to fight off the attentions of DS Ben Jones!