Midsomer Murders (1997)

The county of Midsomer has the prettiest villages and the highest murder rate in England, and the show knows exactly how funny that is. Fêtes, garden competitions, bell-ringing societies and village feuds supply the motives, while a steady Barnaby (John Nettles, then Neil Dudgeon as his cousin) and a younger sergeant sort the eccentrics from the killers. The body count per episode can be high and the methods inventive, but the tone stays wry rather than grim. Feature-length episodes make it a proper Sunday-night ritual.