Ben Jones

Ben Jones
Occupation	Detective Sergeant
Series	9 - 19
First Episode	The House in the Woods
Last Episode	Last Man Out
Status	Alive
Location	Causton Brighton Lower Pampling
Family	Betty Barnaby - Goddaughter Unnamed Grandfather Unnamed Grandmother Several unnamed uncles
Actor	Jason Hughes

Ben Jones was a main character of the popular ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders.

Biography

Ben Jones is a Detective Sergeant, originally working with Tom Barnaby, and later John Barnaby. He is the longest serving deputy, having started in 2005. He joined CID as an acting Detective Constable as temporary replacement for DS Daniel Scott in the episode entitled The House in the Woods. His transfer to CID became permanent in the episode Dead Letters. Jones was promoted to DS at the conclusion of Last Year's Model after passing his sergeant's exam.

Jones is considerably less naive than his predecessors, often possessing an insight into cases that neither Scott nor Troy would have.

He is Welsh by birth as confirmed in The Axeman Cometh, and remarks about his love for Wales when he and Barnaby travel there in the episode "Death and Dust".

However he was mainly raised in Midsomer in the village of Dunstan and returned there during the events of Left for Dead. He is familiar with Midsomer Barton having attended the 'Oak Apple Tree Week' festival as a boy as recalled in Dead Letters.

Having grown up in Midsomer, Jones has a strong local knowledge, he knew of the supposed haunting of Monks Barton Woods and knew Trevor Gibson, the sergeant at Midsomer Mow station. He is however surpassed in his knowledge by his often mentioned still living grandmother, whose gossip regarding Midsomer Parva was key to solving the case in Dark Secrets. He also refers to a grandfather and several uncles at various points. This grandfather took him to see Teddy Molloy, and potentially was a cabinet maker.

He is formerly a Freemason, as revealed in King's Crystal. In the episode Death in Chorus Jones exhibits a remarkable vocal talent and is recruited to sing as a tenor in the Midsomer Worthy choir. In Death in the Slow Lane it is revealed that he was interested in replacing Tom Barnaby upon his retirement, and was a little put out by John Barnaby being transferred to the position instead.

In Murder of Innocence it is revealed that the murder of youngster Daniel Denning was Jones' first murder case as a Police Constable. His sympathy lay with Daniel's dad, who owns the Binwell Estate. The murder took place in 1994 which meant between that time and 2005 meaning that he'd been a PC for twelve years by the time of his first meeting with DCI Tom Barnaby in The House in the Woods and perhaps beyond 1994.

In They Seek Him Here, Jones mentioned that he had one grandfather who was a cabinet maker.  In Vixen's Run, Jenny Down the cook's daughter clearly liked Ben but he remained non-committal. In series 15 he was in a relationship with fire fighter Susie Bellingham but this was clearly looking like it was not going to last either. In the series 16 opener, The Christmas Haunting, it was revealed that Jones had been promoted to Inspector and transferred to Brighton. He sent a Christmas card to the Barnabys, though it was addressed to their dog, Sykes.  

Personality and appearance

As with Barnaby's previous two sidekicks, Jones is shown to be quite good-looking and has a cheeky personality. He is a good singer, with a baritone voice, as he sings O Sole Mio in the shower, and has a place in the Midsomer Worthy Choir. He is also shown to be slightly older and is less inexperienced than Troy or Scott, and appears to spend less time chasing after women and gets on with the job instead. He is like-able and mostly gets along with nearly everyone in Midsomer, including the two Barnabys, Tom and John, and other members of their families or their colleagues.

Relationships

DCI Tom Barnaby

They have a close bond, making fools of themselves at parties.

Joyce Barnaby

Ben had a long kept secret that he had a crush on Joyce, he said he would flee to Sweden if Tom ever discovered his secret, and never come back. Cully had discovered his secret, and promised to keep it to herself.

Cully Barnaby

She saved his life from a level crossing disaster and since then they have become good friends.

John Barnaby

Ben seems to have a prickly start with new DCI, John Barnaby. In the episode, Dark Secrets, he snippily referring to Barnaby as 'Superman' while in Echoes of the Dead, Barnaby implied he did not understand Jones. Ben didn't seem to be very happy about not being promoted. As time wore on, they got on better and learned to rely on each other's strengths. In The Christmas Haunting, Ben sent John and Sarah a Christmas card, but addressed it to Sykes. The letter suggested that the Barnaby's consider using the name 'Ben' as the baby's name should it be a boy. Both Sarah and John like the sound of it. In Last Man Out, Sarah says she knew Ben was the right choice to be Betty's Godfather.

Relationships with women

Throughout his time serving with DCI Tom Barnaby, it seemed that Jones didn't have much of a private life and his relationships were few and far between. In Vixen's Run he danced with the cook's daughter, Jenny Down, but it went no furhter. He did seem to have a crush on DC Gail Stephens and did ask her out. Yet he ultimately decided that he didn't want to begin a relationship with a colleague. In Blood Wedding things heated up between him and housekeeper, Sally Fielding, of Bedlow Hall and she somehow attended Cully's wedding. In season 15 he has a relationship with the fire fighter Susie Bellingham. He subsequently became involved in a relationship with Kate Wilding,and in Habeas Corpus the Barnabys received a letter from Ben with a photograph of Ben and Kate together.

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Jones and Jenny in Vixen's Run.png