25 Facts About John Nettles

John Nettles is best known for his starring roles as detectives in the crime drama television series Bergerac in the title role, and Midsomer Murders as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby.

John Nettles's birth mother was an Irish nurse who came to work in Great Britain during the Second World War.

John Nettles was adopted at birth by carpenter Eric Nettles and his wife Elsie.

The latter was set in Guernsey during the German occupation of the Channel Islands in the Second World War and John Nettles played a police detective ordered to work for the Germans, who is anguished over the conflict between his duty and collaborating with the enemy.

In 1981, John Nettles became a household name in the UK when Robert Banks Stewart cast him as States of Jersey Police officer Jim Bergerac in the crime drama Bergerac.

In 1995, John Nettles was approached by Brian True-May to play Tom Barnaby in a new murder mystery series he was to produce called Midsomer Murders.

In 2001 John Nettles guest-starred in an episode of Heartbeat playing fraudster Giles Sutton.

In February 2009, it was announced that John Nettles had decided to leave Midsomer Murders after two further series were made.

In 2016 and 2017, John Nettles had a recurring role as Ray Penvenen in the second and third series of the historical drama Poldark.

John Nettles later retired from acting, although would still provide voice work on television.

John Nettles turned down the offer for a cameo appearance in the 2025 reboot of Bergerac'.

In 1982, John Nettles was Raoul in the Agatha Christie Hour story The Fourth Man.

John Nettles narrated Wild Discovery in 1995 and the BBC documentary series Airport from 1996 to 2005.

In early 2010, John Nettles wrote, presented and produced a three-part documentary, Channel Islands at War, to mark the 70th anniversary of the German invasion and subsequent occupation of the Channel Islands.

John Nettles received threatening letters from some residents of Jersey, accusing him of implying that islanders were collaborators.

In 2020, John Nettles took over as the narrator on the Channel 4 television show Devon and Cornwall, a sister show to the network's The Yorkshire Dales and the Lakes programme.

John Nettles followed up with John Nettles' Jersey: A Personal View of the People and Places about the island's landscape, personalities and history.

In 2012, John Nettles wrote Jewels and Jackboots about the German occupation of the Channel Islands.

In 2019, John Nettles published an edition of the diaries of Reverend Douglas Ord during the German occupation of Guernsey during World War 2.

John Nettles edited the diaries as well as writing an introduction.

John Nettles joined the States of Jersey Police, working with officers who met her father during the show's filming.

John Nettles married his second wife, Cathryn Sealey, in July 1995 in Evesham, Worcestershire.

John Nettles was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

On 21 September 2012, John Nettles was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Plymouth.

John Nettles agreed to be a patron of Devon charity The Mare and Foal Sanctuary in July 2014.