Midsomer-themed walks were launched in Thame in 2017. The town has been a long-running backdrop for the detective series, with hotspots including Thame Town Hall as the fictional Causton Town Hall or the Spread Eagle Hotel seen as The Morecroft Hotel. Thame Town Hall Before the pandemic, these locations were familiar sights for tourists and TV fans to explore on weekly tours. The ITV series, which launched in 1997, first starred John Nettles as DCI Barnaby and he was then replaced in the role by Neil Dudgeon in 2011. Tony Long, coordinator for the new tour guides, who are all volunteers, said in 2017: The tours have been in development for several months, and follow on from the original tour which was created by David Dodds of Thame Museum.