While Neil Dudgeon has no plans to leave Midsomer Murders anytime soon, Tala Gouveia and Jason Watkins have both said they'd be interesting in stepping in to take over as the formidable detective in charge, should that ever happen.
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Dudgeon currently stars as as DCI John Barnaby, having replaced John Nettles as the lead in 2011, and he'll be sticking round for as long as he can.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Dudgeon said: "I'm very happy in the countryside, it's very nice. And no, I assume that at some point I'll get the hook.
"They'll all come and sort of drag me off into the wings, and they won't want anymore, but they haven't done it yet, so I'm gonna keep going to work until I get the hook."
Nick Hendrix as DS Jamie Winter and Neil Dudgeon as DCI John Barnaby in Midsomer Murders. Bentley Productions for ITV and ITVX
When asked who he thinks could take over as the lead, stars of McDonald & Dodds (Gouveia and Watkins) joked that one of them would be a good replacement.
At the Radio Times Covers Party 2025, Dudgeon said: "Jason, obviously, unless they needed to go for somebody, well, you're quite a bit younger than me.
"You've been a detective, it's in the lovely countryside. So that would be great, we've got two good options."
Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
