In pictures: John Nettles

"Are you sure this is the best view Jersey has to offer?" It's John Nettles as Jim Bergerac, in the BBC1 detective series which ran for 10 years until 1991. Jersey is a lovely place. Terrible crime problem, though, eh Jim?
Photograph: BBC

Ah yes, here is Nettles as Jim Bergerac in his famous 1947 Triumph Roadster, I seem to recall. Not entirely suitable for driving at speed around the winding roads of Jersey, but then again if he caught the crooks too early on the storylines would have been so much less interesting
Photograph: BBC

In the style of BBC1's Before You Were Famous, here's Nettles in 1976, on stage in a play called Destiny. The chap on the right is trying to explain to him the basics of police detective work. Some 35 years later, Tom Barnaby would still struggle to get the hang of it Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Barnaby's grown a beard! Of course, he hasn't, that would be more than the nation's housewives could accept. Here is Nettles in a 1992 episode of Boon, in which he played Joe Green. Hence the number plate
Photograph: ITV

This was in the second series of Midsomer Murders, when Barnaby was relegated to a patrol boat after he infuriated his bosses. Oh no, that was Jimmy McNulty in The Wire
Photograph: ITV

A rare picture of Nettles playing neither Barnaby nor Bergerac, he starred in an episode of the Agatha Christie drama The Fourth Man on ITV in 1982 Photograph: guardian.co.uk

There's been some dastardly deeds going on, and the chap in the hamster ball behind Barnaby may have something to do with it. A classic, and frankly slightly weird, episode of Midsomer Murders from 2005, when the villagers of Midsomer Mere apparently had the ability to predict the future. Scary stuff
Photograph: ITV

Midsomer Murders never had a problem attracting big name guest stars. The only problem was they tended to detract from the mystery. In Midsomer the butler rarely does it - the most famous person does. This episode was called A Talent For Life, and co-starred Honor Blackman and Philip Franks.
Photograph: ITV

"Joyce? Did you have curry last night?" No, of course not, it's the most loving couple in a long-running ITV detective series starring John Nettles, it's Tom and Joyce Barnaby! Beware if Joyce, played by Jane Wymark, ever turns up to your club/society/school reunion (delete as applicable), because someone invariably ends up being murdered
Photograph: ITV

"I'm Det Chief Insp Barnaby and this is Det Sgt Ben Jones. We have had reports of a number of unidentified four-legged beasts on the loose. Could be alpacas, could be llamas, buggered if I know. Can you help? Can't find the bloody things anywhere."
Photograph: ITV

"Fore!" Four is also a good bet if you are trying to guess the number of deaths in a typical Midsomer Murders episode. Jones is played by Jason Hughes, who you may remember from This Life. Hughes was Barnaby's third – and longest running – sidekick, following Gavin Troy, played by Daniel Casey, and Dan Scott, played by John Hopkins.
Photograph: ITV

The proud father of the bride with his daughter, Cully, played by Laura Howard. Rumour has it she was named after the village on Lake Geneva in Switzerland in which she was conceived when her parents were on honeymoon. Frankly doesn't sound like Barnaby's style. Maybe all will be confirmed in Nettles' farewell with a hugely expensive flashback episode. Probably not
Photograph: ITV