Actor John Nettles received his OBE award from the Queen on Tuesday and said that the honour was “lovely and very kind”.
At one time, Nettles looked destined to be forever linked with Jersey, the location for the detective series Bergerac, in which he took the lead role from 1981 to 1991.
But it is South Oxfordshire, the picturesque location for Midsomer Murders, which his most recent work will always be associated with.
Nettles landed the role of Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby in Midsomer Murders in 1997 and will have appeared in 75 episodes by the time the character makes his final bow early next year.
Rumour has it that one member of the royal household will be particularly disappointed at the character’s retirement.
So did Nettles find out whether Her Majesty really is a Midsomer fan when he picked up his gong?
He said: “The story is that she is, and I hope that’s true. I’m told that the Queen Mum and Princess Margaret used to have discussions about the pronunciation of Midsomer.”
DCI Barnaby would like to think that the OBE was recognition of his brilliant forensic mind.
But Nettles has a different theory, saying: “The Barnaby character is always two steps behind the game, that’s his charm I think.”
Nettles isn’t the only actor to have received an honour after playing an Oxfordshire-related sleuth. The late John Thaw, who starred as Inspector Morse, was awarded a CBE in 1993.
Visit Wallingford, the town central to DCI Barnaby’s life and adventures.