Season Analysis

Midsomer Murders

Season 23 Analysis

Season Woke Score

out of 10

Season Overview

The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.

Season Review

Season 23 of *Midsomer Murders* maintains its core formula of outlandish murders in a picturesque English setting, but it visibly continues the series' gradual shift towards incorporating contemporary cultural themes and increasing cast diversity. The season features four murder mysteries that delve into unique, modern village subcultures, including doomsday preppers and rivalries surrounding a new organic bakery. The show’s fundamental appeal, its cozy English traditionalism, is complicated by one episode that centers on a charity drag queen event, creating a direct conflict between traditional and alternative culture. While the central crime-solving duo remains steadfastly traditional in their approach, the supporting cast and themes reflect a clear push for modern cultural relevance. This season presents a significant departure for the 23-year-old series by overtly integrating a specific cultural and sexual ideology into one of its central mystery plots.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics6/10

The casting in guest roles is noticeably diverse, featuring non-white actors in principal positions across the episodes. This is a clear move away from the show’s traditional, ethnically homogenous village environment. The core narrative, however, does not overtly lecture on privilege or systemic oppression, and character value is still fundamentally tied to their involvement in the murder mystery, not their immutable characteristics.

Oikophobia3/10

The series remains deeply rooted in the aesthetic of the traditional English village, utilizing this cultural heritage as its setting. While the crimes often expose the greed and corruption inherent in these communities—a long-running trope of the show—the setting itself is never framed as fundamentally racist or corrupt due to its Western nature. The narrative explores conflicts between tradition and modernity (e.g., old businesses vs. an organic bakery), but this serves the murder plot rather than civilizational self-hatred.

Feminism5/10

The character of Dr. Fleur Perkins, the competent and authoritative female pathologist, continues her role as a professional woman in a high-authority position, which is a modern 'Girl Boss' element. DCI Barnaby and DS Winter are still depicted as capable male leads; there is no pervasive theme of male emasculation or bumbling incompetence. The traditional family unit of the DCI is still portrayed as a stable background element.

LGBTQ+9/10

One episode, 'Dressed to Kill,' makes sexual ideology a central conflict, pitting a traditional domino tournament against a charity drag queen event. This centers an alternative sexuality as a key narrative device, creating the 'friction' that leads to the murder and moving the story far beyond a normative or private portrayal of sexuality.

Anti-Theism2/10

There is no significant focus on religion. Plot lines center on secular eccentricities, such as doomsday preppers, police retirement homes, and artisan bakeries. No explicit or pervasive hostility toward faith, particularly Christianity, is detected, and moral law is generally upheld by the police protagonists in the pursuit of justice.