Parents' Guide to Midsomer Murders

Parents need to know that Midsomer Mysteries is a long-running British crime drama that first started airing in 1997 and follows police investigations through eccentric, close-knit rural villages in the English countryside. The series features depictions of murders and post-violence trauma, including characters dying from bloody gunshot wounds, stabbings, being bludgeoned, and killers holding bloodied murder weapons near dead or dying victims. Plot lines deal with some mature themes including blackmail, incest, and characters taking their own lives. Sexual behavior is present on screen, including couples kissing and scenes of characters having sex with implied nudity, alongside casual verbal commentary referencing things like "two people bonking." Though not overly gory or scary, the subject matter is also dealt with casually instead of thoughtfully. The dialogue includes occasional profanity such as "s--tless" alongside homophobic slurs like "arse bandits" used by a main sergeant character to describe a local undertaker. Early episodes of the series highlight dated, traditional gender roles where a detective's wife is shown almost exclusively making meals for him when he returns home from work.