Midsomer Murders star admits it 'wasn't easy' being John Nettle's on-screen wife
MIDSOMER MURDERS actress Jane Wymark opened up about the difficulties of playing Joyce Barnaby.
Midsomer Murders: Jane Wymark discusses her character's role
Midsomer Murders fans were in for a treat as a special anniversary episode was released on Sunday evening. Midsomer Murders - 25 Years of Mayhem gave fanatics a unique insight into the show as many of the cast shared their favourite episodes and how they got involved in the long-running ITV drama. Jane Wymark, who played Joyce Barnaby, the wife of DCI Tom Barnaby (played by John Nettles), opened up about starring in the show for 14 years and how her character developed.
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Jane starred in 81 episodes, and as the show progressed, she often found herself in a spot of bother, despite being a voice of reason and a well-natured character.
During the one hour special, she said: "Believe you me, it's not easy playing the nicest woman in the world."
Joyce was initially there to help give Tom a sense of normalcy and escapism from his troubled job.
Notorious for her bad cooking, she soon weighed in on her husband's cases and offered a fresh set of eyes.
Read More: 'Want to go and punch their lights out' Jane McDonald fumes as filming interrupted
"The bad cooking lasted for a while, but there are limits to how many lousy meals you can cook," she joked.
As Joyce's social life and appetite for hobbies increased, she found herself to be helpful with investigations, even if she didn't plan on it.
John said: "She became more and more involved in the actual cases as time went on."
Jane added: "It was very handy that Joyce didn't have a career because she could therefore have hobbies.
"That was quite a handy device for writers and nice for me to not always be sitting in the kitchen.
"For being out in the world, being blown up in a canal, or doing watercolour painting, that was a good one."
Her on-screen husband also paid tribute to how significant she was and how she "became a whole theme on her own," her involvement being vital to the show's success.
Involved in the show from the beginning, she was surprised her role lasted for as long as it did.
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Jane described: "I was right there from the beginning.
"In the pilot, we went to the then producer Brian True-May and we said to him, 'So you know, do you think this is going well? Do you even think we might get a series out of this?'"
Having no idea of what a staple to British television the programme would be, she recounted Brian said: "I've got plans for Midsomer Murders for 12 years."
Jane reminisced: "And we went straight to John and said, 'Do you want to hear something really funny? Apparently, we are going to be doing this for 12 years.'"
That 12-year goal post soon became 14 years, with her appearing in the show from 1997 until 2011.
The crime drama returned on Sunday, May 29, with an episode titled Scarecrow Murders.
It's the fourth episode of series 22, which first started to air last year.
Midsomer Murders - 25 Years of Mayhem is available to watch on ITV Hub.
