Why Do I Love Midsomer Murders?

There are only three television programmes I watch regularly: ‘Newsnight’, ‘Have I Got News for You’, and ‘Midsomer Murders’. The first two are somewhat predictable, the last-named probably less so. And to be frank, I can’t really explain its fascination. Tonight’s episode was singularly preposterous in plot, and the guest appearances of Donald Sinden and George Cole (both in wheelchairs) did little to patch over the threadbare story. Yet the two hours of the programme went by in a flash — far quicker than a normal feature film. I guess the answer lies in escapism. Some people find that in science fiction, or even in reading J.K. Rowling. I get it watching the quintessentially British, undeniably twee and frankly absurd ‘Midsomer Murders’, with its sanitised multiple slaughter. When’s the next episode, please?