Midsomer Murders: Real reason DCI John Barnaby’s dog Sykes left ITV drama revealed

Midsomer Murders has been on screens for two decades, and DCI John Barnaby’s (played by Neil Dudgeon) pet companion Sykes was present for many series. But what happened to the dog? 

The British detective drama underwent a major change for its 14th series after fans said goodbye to DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles) and cousin DCI John arrived from Brighton as his replacement. 

DCI John didn’t make the move alone, as he was accompanied by his wife Sarah (Fiona Dolman) and their pet dog Sykes. 

Those watching at home soon became fond of the little animal, who was an integral part of the new Barnaby clan.

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Many will remember John’s loyal sidekick even having his own subplots, in season 14 episode “The Oblong Murders” when John and Sarah hired a dog minder to look after him. 

Then in the first episode of season 18, after John and Sarah welcomed a baby girl into the family, Sykes felt pushed out and strategically hid the child’s favourite teddy bear in protest. 

However, just one season later, the ITV show revealed Sykes would be hanging up his collar and be written out of the drama. 

Neil who plays DCI John told RadioTimes.com: “I will miss working with Sykes for many reasons. 

“He is the consummate professional and like most actors will do anything for a sausage.” 

Executive producer Jo Wright said: “When we were filming last year’s series our dog trainer, Gill Raddings called me and said it was time to retire Sykes from Midsomer at the end of the year.

“We were all very sad.” 

As for his exit, fans saw Sykes sadly die on screen, but  John and his family weren’t dog-less for too long as in the same episode they adopted a terrier puppy names Paddy who still appears in Midsomer Murders today. 

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But why was Sykes replaced? 

It came after real-life Skyes’ owner noticed his heading was depleting and decided it was time to retire from the limelight at the grand age of 13 – or 91 in dog years.

Gill said: “Sykes has had a marvellous time filming Midsomer Murders for the past five years but he is enjoying taking life easy now.‎”

However, last year, the news broke; Sykes had died in real-life aged 16. 

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Tonight, ITV viewers will see repeat of the second episode of series 18 “The Incident at Cooper Hill”. 

In the two-hour instalment, Midsomer has been attacked by aliens and it is DCI John’s job to find out what exactly happened. 

Midsomer Murders returns tonight on ITV at 8pm. 

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