ITV Midsomer Murders star Neil Dudgeon reveals one storyline he thought 'went too far'

Neil Dudgeon has shared the one Midsomer Murdersplotline where he felt ITV chiefs might have pushed the crime drama "a bit too far".

ITV broadcast a rerun of James Martin's Saturday Morning on July 19, with the celebrity chef welcoming the actor into his kitchen.

The 64-yea- old is best known for his role as DCI John Barnaby in the crime drama since 2010, and James was keen to hear Neil's candid thoughts on the show.

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James queried Neil: "Do you ever look at some of the storylines and think 'it's a bit far-fetched'? Neil responded: "The only time I did think that a bit was when I was first reading the script and a UFO crashed and then me and the sergeant turn up and examine this site and I thought 'even we've gone too far'.

"You can say here's a place where all the people believe that there's UFOs and 'oh there's lights in the sky what does that mean?' but you can't actually go 'oh look i think there's a alien' it's just that bit too far", reports the Manchester Evening News.

Inquiring about the secret to enduring TV success, James asked: "What do you put it down to? Because we were talking about successful shows and 'successful' nowadays is about three or four years?

"I can't put my finger on this one, to be honest. 18 years I've been cooking on Saturday mornings. What would you put it down to?"

Neil jested: "If I may say so, the success of your show is even more of a mystery than the success of our show!

James shared a laugh with Neil as he succinctly responded: "Precisely." Neil then quickly elaborated: "The reason I say that is because, I think the great thing about Midsomer Murders is... the people who originally created the show.

"Neil offered an insight into the enduring series' structure, explaining: "I mean the formula of Midsomer is something - not necessarily a murder - happens in a rural location and two policemen turn up to see what's going on."

He further commented on the creative leeway given to writers, which allows for continuous narrative innovation within the show's straightforward yet adaptable format.

Discussing the charm of the series, Neil remarked: "You've got this wide formula for what the story of the show could be," highlighting that "You can have endless variety within it and - always there's something people find comforting about seeing the same thing over again - but the same thing is so different!

James Martin's Saturday Morning and Midsomer Murders are available to watch on ITVX