Has Midsomer Murders been cancelled? Barnaby fans have been asking since series 25, and ITV has answered
Midsomer has survived 25 series and a body count that would empty most English counties. The latest scare didn't come from a murder at all. It came from the schedule.
Midsomer Murders has been on ITV since March 1997, and British viewers have spent the past year wondering whether its long run had quietly ended. New episodes exist. People in Britain just haven't been able to watch them, which is never a good sign for a TV show. ITV has since given its answer.
No, Midsomer Murders hasn't been cancelled
ITV recommissioned the show for a 26th series in October 2025, per TV Guide UK:
- The cast: Neil Dudgeon returns as DCI John Barnaby and Nick Hendrix as DS Jamie Winter.
- The episodes: Four new feature-length mysteries, the usual order.
- The production: Filming began on March 9, 2026, ITV announced on Instagram, per HELLO!. Annette Badland and Fiona Dolman are back as Dr Fleur Perkins and Sarah Barnaby.
Executive producer Michele Buck promised to "bring viewers more tales from the fascinating world of Midsomer Murders." ITV's drama commissioner Huw Kennair Jones promised "four brilliant brand new cases."
So why did fans think it was over?
Because series 25 premiered somewhere else first. Its four episodes were shot in spring and summer 2025 and debuted exclusively on Acorn TV in North America in December 2025, one a week, per Popverse:
- December 8: "Treasures of Darkness"
- December 15: "Lawn of the Dead"
- December 22: "Death Strikes Three"
- December 29: "Top of the Class"
The deal behind it is between the show's owners and AMC Networks, which owns Acorn. When filming on series 26 started in March 2026, series 25 still hadn't aired in the UK.
ITV's own murder mystery now premieres in North America. Viewers in Midsomer's home country are the ones waiting for spoilers to reach them.
The longest-serving Barnaby
Neil Dudgeon took over the show in 2011, when John Nettles' Tom Barnaby retired and his cousin John moved to Causton. He's now been Barnaby for 15 years, longer than Nettles' 14, and Nick Hendrix has been his sergeant since 2016.
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ITV hasn't announced when series 26 will air. Barnaby has outlasted villains in every village from Badger's Drift to Causton, and the show is now outlasting the rumors too. British fans just need patience with ITV's schedule.
Previously we wrote: MobLand: who is in the lake? The body may be an old Harrigan secret, not a new kill