The way ITV's Midsomer Murders is packaged can be confusing for fans of the series based on the stories by Caroline Graham. In a typical box set, the releases go by the season. In the case of Midsomer Murders, purchasing a set in the proper order can make for an interesting head trip.
The series stars John Nettles as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, who spends his days traveling the country of Midsomer knocking out crime with the ease of a Sunday morning drive. The crimes are often committed in picture-perfect towns inhabited by people who seemingly love to get into each other's belly lint and end up in danger as a result. Unlike other fictional detectives such as Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes or Colin Dexter's Morse, Caroline Graham's Barnaby is a bit more friendly and has a family of his own.
Despite this difference, Midsomer Murders still follows the rule of having a partner who is put in charge of the more bothersome aspects of investigating. Three partners have fought against crime with Barnaby; they include Gavin Troy (Daniel Casey), Dan Scott (John Hopkins), and Ben Jones (Jason Hughes). Set nine's collection of episodes come from the first four stories of the show's eighth season, which would have Dan Scott as the partner.
Having just replaced Daniel Casey's Troy, John Hopkins's Scott never seems to quite fit into the quirkiness of the series. No matter the situation, he always seemed to keep his cool. I'm sure if he had stayed on he would have developed as a character, but I suspect Hopkins could see the writing on the wall and merely exited when it was possible. After season eight's "Midsomer Rhapsody", his character didn't reappear for a farewell episode like Troy did with "The Green Man" in season seven. Instead, he was mentioned in the opening scenes of "The House In The Woods" (season nine) as having called in sick.
I sure hope they at least mention in the next season if he got better.
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