Ben Jones

CHARACTER BENJAMIN "BEN" JONES
File:Jason Hughes as DS Ben Jones in The House in the Woods.jpg Jason Hughes as DS Ben Jones in The House in the Woods
Episodes	No information
First episode	The House in the Woods
Last episode
Rank	Detective Sergeant Detective Constable

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 enitled 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, and remarks about his love for Wales when he and Barnaby travel there in the episode "Death and Dust". 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 Tom's cousin John 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 meeing with DCI Tom Barnaby in The House in the Woods and perhaps beyond 1994..

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 something of a barotine 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 fewer time chasing after women and get on with the job instead. He has a likeable personality and mostly gets on with nearly everyone in Midsomer, including the two Barnabys, Tom and John, along with other members of their families or their colleagues.

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 being far and few between. In Vixen's Run, it was clear that Jenny Down had taken a shine to him. The pair shared a dance at a salsa class and he walked her back to the shop. She asked where he had learned to dance like that and he joked that it was at Hendon Police College. When Jenny found that her door was open, she asked him if he would stay with her for a while. But Ben refused to get personally involved and decided to send someone over instead. In the latest upcoming episode, Murder of Innocence, it is revealed that Jones has been having a secret relationship with attractive firefighter Susie Bellingham. However, this is exposed when Barnaby finds out and Jones is embarrassed when he discovers in court that suspect Fred Burns is a former boyfriend of Susie's and she felt sorry for Grady Felton who was beaten by his father. Because of his relationship with Susie, he turned up late at a crime scene and was in bed but not at his own house. Barnaby followed him back to the flat to find out what was going on and looked Susie's name up on the computer. This was also the reason why he avoided training for the Chief Constable's fitness test. Ben asks Barnaby to keep quiet about it because their relationship is in the early stages. At the end of the episode, viewers are left wondering what will happen to the relationship but one would be given the impression that it will not last long. There was also a hint of a potential relationship with WPC/DC Gail Stephens during the Tom Barnaby era but nothing ever happened as he kept things professional and there is no doubt that one of them would have been transferred if anything like that had come about.