ITV Midsomer Murders detective addresses replacement after 'big promotion'

Daniel Casey, the star of Midsomer Murders, has revealed his new role in a stage adaptation of the show. In it, he will play lead detective Tom Barnaby.

The actor, who originally played DS Gavin Troy alongside John Nettles' Detective Tom Barnaby in the hit ITV series, isgearing up to portray DCI Tom Barnaby in a fresh stage rendition of The Killings at Badger's Drift. However, during a chat on BBC Breakfast, Daniel remained tight-lipped about who would be taking on the role of DS Gavin Troy.

Speaking about his forthcoming role, Daniel referred to it as "a massive promotion."

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He expressed: "It's really exciting, really exciting. It's lovely to come back. I never thought that I would revisit this amazing, weird, wonderful, strange, old world again, but, but yeah, it's lovely to be embarking on a tour and bringing it to the stage.

"It's the original episode, The Killings of Badgers Drift. It's very faithful to that original, and that kind of the actuality that you have in the television series. It lends itself beautifully to the stage," reports the Express.

BBC presenter Jon Kay probed the actor about his "big promotion" and stepping into the role previously held by John Nettles.

"It's quite daunting, actually," Daniel confessed before adding, "It's amazing. It's really wonderful.

"John is such a lovely man, and it was such an important part of my early career, and he said it himself. He said, 'I learned at the feet of the master,' and actually, I did.

"He was amazing, and I stood next to him for what, seven years, so a lot of that has rubbed off, I hope."

Shifting his focus to the actor who will be stepping into DS Troy's shoes, Jon queried, "We talked about it. It must be a little bit weird for you getting the John Nettles role. Does this mean you have another colleague playing your old role?"

"Yes, there will be, and it is an interesting dynamic. They haven't been announced yet, but it's lovely," the actor explained.

"These characters are iconic now, but my only thing is, you have to do your own thing with this character, and whoever plays it will just have a ball. They'll love playing it, and they'll play it their own way."

Daniel and John were co-stars from the inaugural episode in 1996 until 2003, when Daniel decided to leave.

Sarah Campbell then discussed Daniel's departure from Midsomer Murders and asked if it was a "difficult decision."

"It was fairly easy, actually," the actor admitted. "I started when I was 24, and left when I was 30. Funnily enough, I was thinking about it, and I was watching a rugby match, and there was commentary.

"It was last-minute, and it was South Africa versus New Zealand, and New Zealand were three points behind, and they had a penalty, and I said, 'Oh, you should have kicked the goal'. They said, 'No, they kicked to the corner'.

"And I said, 'Well, that's a risk'. And the commentator said, 'Oh, the only risk in life is never to take a risk'.

"It felt like he was talking to me, and I thought I didn't come into this job to do the same thing year on year on year. So I thought, it's a nice time to just step off the cliff and see what else is out there."

BBC Breakfast is broadcast every day at 6am on BBC One.