Detective sergeants · broadcast order
Barnaby's Sergeants in Order: Every Midsomer Murders DS
The five principal sergeants who partner Tom and John Barnaby, shown in the order their cases first appear in the catalogue.
| Sergeant and actor | Series span | First case | Last case |
|---|---|---|---|
| DS Gavin TroyDaniel Casey | Series 1–7 | The Killings at Badger's Drift | The Green Man |
| DS Dan ScottJohn Hopkins | Series 7–8 | Bad Tidings | Midsomer Rhapsody |
| DS Ben JonesJason Hughes | Series 9–15 | The House in the Woods | Schooled in Murder |
| DS Charlie NelsonGwilym Lee | Series 16–18 | The Christmas Haunting | Harvest of Souls |
| DS Jamie WinterNick Hendrix | Series 19–present | The Village That Rose from the Dead | Top of the Class |
DS Gavin Troy
Played Barnaby's original partner through Series 1–7, returning as Inspector Troy for a guest appearance in Series 11. An English stage and television actor also known for Our Friends in the North, Steel River Blues, EastEnders and Emmerdale. He later returned to the Midsomer world to play Tom Barnaby in the first professional stage adaptation.
Actor profile: Daniel Casey →DS Dan Scott
Played Dan Scott during Series 7–8, taking over after Troy's promotion and departure. An English actor with extensive stage, screen and voice work. His credits include the Royal Shakespeare Company, Poldark and Alice in Wonderland, as well as prominent game performances in Horizon, Hitman and Assassin's Creed.
Actor profile: John Hopkins →DS Ben Jones
Played Ben Jones from 2005 to 2013, becoming the only principal sergeant to work regularly with both Barnabys; he returned as a guest in Series 19. A Welsh actor who first became widely known as Warren Jones in the BBC drama This Life. His later television work includes Marcella and The Pact, alongside substantial theatre work at venues including the Donmar Warehouse and Royal Court.
Actor profile: Jason Hughes →DS Charlie Nelson
Played Charlie Nelson throughout Series 16–18, including the programme's 100th case in Copenhagen. A British actor whose screen career includes Jamestown, The Great and Top End Wedding. International audiences may know him best as Queen guitarist Brian May in the film Bohemian Rhapsody.
Actor profile: Gwilym Lee →DS Jamie Winter
Joined as Jamie Winter in Series 19 and remains John Barnaby's current and longest-serving regular sergeant. An English actor trained at the University of Exeter and RADA. His theatre work includes the National Theatre, Old Vic and West End, while his screen credits include Black Mirror, Marcella, The Crown, Legend and Suffragette.
Actor profile: Nick Hendrix →How the five partnerships fit together
Troy, Scott and Jones work with Tom Barnaby; Jones continues into John Barnaby’s period, followed by Nelson and Winter. The order follows the start of each principal partnership. The ranks and episode links let you distinguish a regular run from a later guest return, and the actor links lead to the performer’s separate page.
A table is useful for finding the boundary between teams, but the first case gives that boundary its character. Watch the introduction and then a later investigation from the same period. Compare who takes the immediate initiative in an interview, who makes an assumption and how the other officer responds. The comments below are the Casebook’s reading of the existing character descriptions, supported by the linked cases.
Joining, serving and leaving Causton
DS Gavin Troy — Daniel Casey
Troy begins with Tom Barnaby in The Killings at Badger’s Drift. Daniel Casey’s character is ambitious and impatient, while Tom is more measured in interviews. That contrast is part of the first partnership’s character: Troy often voices an immediate response, leaving Tom to test what lies behind it. The existing character guide also singles out his hazardous driving as a recurring comic feature. These are useful points to notice on a rewatch without opening any episode’s solution.
The Green Man is the final regular Troy case identified in the character data. His promotion and later Series 11 return as Inspector Troy belong to different stages of the role. A first-and-last table for regular sergeants therefore needs to distinguish the end of a partnership from a later guest appearance. Follow the character guide for the selected cases, and the actor page for Daniel Casey’s other work and published episode credits.
DS Dan Scott — John Hopkins
Dan Scott enters in Bad Tidings, after Troy’s promotion and departure. His transfer from London gives the partnership a different starting point: the character initially treats village policing as an unwelcome posting. The friction with Tom is part of Scott’s introduction rather than a sign that the programme has simply changed an actor without changing the relationship. John Hopkins plays a separate detective with his own response to Midsomer’s habits.
Scott’s run occupies Series 7 and 8. The last case in the table is drawn from the episodes that name him as the principal partner. The supplied character material does not establish a detailed on-screen departure explanation, so the end of the run is described through those credits rather than an invented farewell scene. Compare Bad Tidings with his later investigations to follow how the wary partnership becomes a working one.
DS Ben Jones — Jason Hughes
Ben Jones begins in The House in the Woods, initially under the Police Constable rank before becoming the familiar Detective Sergeant. Jason Hughes’s character later reaches Inspector. The changing rank matters when comparing an early introduction, the main regular run and a later return: they are stages of the same character rather than three different people. His regular work extends across the change from Tom to John Barnaby.
Fit for Murder is the final regular Tom Barnaby case, while Death in the Slow Lane begins John’s full lead period. Jones supplies continuity across that boundary. His own final regular case is Schooled in Murder, with a later guest appearance in Series 19. If you want to compare the Barnabys, following Jones through the handover gives you a common partner against whom to notice the new inspector’s style. The character data describes him as dependable, observant and adaptable; the linked episodes let you form your own view.
DS Charlie Nelson — Gwilym Lee
Charlie Nelson arrives in The Christmas Haunting and serves during Series 16–18. He is the first of the principal sergeants to work only in John Barnaby’s lead era. The character material describes a warmer, quietly confident introduction, with the partnership developing through shared work. That gives his opening a different flavour from Scott’s resistance to a rural posting or Troy’s early contrast with Tom.
The Killings of Copenhagen falls within Nelson’s period and gives that team the programme’s hundredth case. Harvest of Souls is the final regular Nelson case identified in the character data. Those points make a useful three-part viewing route: introduction, an unusual overseas investigation and the end of the run. The order table supplies the wider span, while the individual case pages keep the setting, cast and filming links attached to each story. No advance solution is needed to follow the team’s chronology.
DS Jamie Winter — Nick Hendrix
Jamie Winter begins in The Village That Rose from the Dead, opening Series 19 alongside John Barnaby. Nick Hendrix’s character is energetic and comfortable with the county’s increasingly digital evidence. The existing character summary contrasts that pace with John’s more reflective manner. Winter’s arrival therefore offers another way to compare partnerships without treating the sergeant as a neutral slot that can be exchanged without affecting the conversations.
The table’s latest Winter case is the latest one in the episode data used here, not an announced departure. That distinction is particularly important for a continuing role. The Ghost of Causton Abbey introduces Fleur Perkins during his partnership with John, while The Wolf Hunter of Little Worthy offers one of the later folklore-centred investigations. Use the series index to continue from those points and the character page to keep the actor, rank and selected cases together.
Who was Barnaby’s longest-serving sergeant?
By the number of episodes naming each principal sergeant in this site’s episode data, DS Ben Jones has the longest run, with 44 cases. This count follows the regular investigating-team field; later appearances under a different rank are kept separate. It measures included cases rather than years between an actor’s first and last guest credit.
- DS Gavin Troy: 29 principal-partner cases.
- DS Dan Scott: 14 principal-partner cases.
- DS Ben Jones: 44 principal-partner cases.
- DS Charlie Nelson: 15 principal-partner cases.
- DS Jamie Winter: 34 principal-partner cases.
Two comparisons can give different answers without describing the same measure. Jones works regularly with both Barnabys, while Winter’s long run belongs entirely to John’s period. Choose whether you are asking about the whole programme, one inspector’s partnerships or a performer’s total appearances, then compare the corresponding entries.
Choose a team to watch next
For the original partnership, start with the pilot and the early Troy cases. For the lead change, follow Jones through Fit for Murder and Death in the Slow Lane. For a later starting point, choose Nelson’s or Winter’s first case and continue through that series. Each route gives the new relationship time to settle before you judge its place in the programme.
The episode-order guide keeps the cases in sequence. The pathologists in order adds the medical colleagues, whose changes do not always coincide with a sergeant’s arrival. The German sergeant guide provides the same basic chronology in German.