Neil Dudgeon wants Dame Shirley Bassey to appear in ‘Midsomer Murders’.
The 55-year-old actor – who plays DCI John Barnaby in the TV detective drama – always looks forward to working with the guest stars and new actors who come into the programme and he is sure the ‘Goldfinger’ singer would be brilliant to have in an episode.
Neil also thinks folk singer Billy Bragg could make a brilliant cameo in one of the villages in the county of Midsomer.
When asked who he’d like to guest star on the show, he said: "I like music and musicals so people from those worlds are fun. Shirley Bassey would be great in it. Billy Bragg would be great in it, I went to see him a few months ago and think he’d be brilliant playing in a folk festival or something. Although we had a folk festival a little while ago, maybe we missed our chance."
Neil admits he sometimes has fanboy moments on set, and he particularly loved working with ‘The Day of the Jackal’ star Edward Fox when he guested in the episode ‘Dark Secrets’ in 2011.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I want all sorts of people to be in the show and I do have the habit of offering the opportunity to be in it to quite a lot of people. Because I like them. I can’t give you names because that would be betraying their confidence. And also if they do end up being in it then it spoils the surprise.
"The great thing, for me, about doing the show is when they tell me who is going to be in it I do feel like a fan sometimes. Like when I was told Edward Fox was going to be in it. I was thinking, ‘That’s Edward Fox from ‘Day of the Jackal’.’ Then lovely Edward Fox turns up and I’m acting with him, doing a scene with him. I feel like the 15 year old me watching television thinking, Isn’t he brilliant and then here I am shooting a scene with him. Thinking isn’t this fantastic. I love the older actors who I’ve seen on the telly and who are heroes of my youth who come in to ‘Midsomer’."
Neil was speaking to launch ‘Midsomer Murders CLUEDO’ which takes the classic murder mystery board game but puts players in the world of the TV show.
When he was told of the game, the actor was shocked no one had thought about teaming up CLUEDO with his series before.
He said: "I think is a perfect collaboration. As soon as you hear about it you think, ‘Why hasn’t someone thought about this before?’ It’s so obvious. It’s a perfect combination because you’ve got the characters from ‘Midsomer Murders’ and you’ve got to find the murderer. People keep saying to me there’s only six episodes so in a couple of weeks the show will end and then people will be bereft and deprived of new episodes but with CLUEDO they can sit down in the comfort of their own home and enjoy playing the ‘Midsomer Murders’ game with the same characters – which include DCI John Barnaby, Sarah Barnaby and Sykes the dog. And the locations are places like Badger’s Drift, Village Green and a Post Office. This is going to give you your fix of ‘Midsomer Murders’ when it’s not on the telly."
‘Midsomer Murders CLUEDO’ is available to buy now on Amazon.
Neil Dudgeon wants Shirley Bassey in Midsomer Murders
