Midsomer Murders returns tonight — and Oppenheimer star has surprise guest role

Midsomer Murders is finally back on our screens tonight, with Oppenheimer actor Tom Conti guest starring.

Conti played Albert Einstein in the Hollywood blockbuster, having a conversation with Cillian Murphy's character in the final moments of the Christopher Nolan movie.

Now Conti, who famously starred opposite Pauline Collins in the 1980s romance movie Shirley Valentine , is guesting in the latest episode of Midsomer Murders , which airs on ITV1 tonight [Tuesday, July 16] at 8.15 pm. It will also be available to stream on ITVX.

In the episode titled "Debt of Lies" , Tom Conti plays Sebastian Cabot, the former boss of DCI John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon).

Annette Badland, who plays pathologist Dr Fleur Perkins, told us how excited she was that Conti was in the episode. She said: "I have to say, both Fleur and myself got a little hot under the collar! He's such an attractive, charismatic man and a wonderful actor. So I got a bit girlish and shy! But the one bad thing about playing a pathologist is that I don't get to perform with these guest stars unless they're dead, so they're usually lying on a bit of plastic on cold, wet grass or on the mortuary steel!”

The plot sees Barnaby and Sarah head to a party to celebrate the retirement of DCS Elaine Bennet. Conti's character tells the pair that Elaine is his new neighbor. And he also reveals that Elaine isn't that popular with everyone at the retirement community where they live.

You can see where this is going! Yes, Elaine ends up dead after apparently leaving the party and crashing into a tree. Fleur spots the brake cable has been cut and DCI John Barnaby must interview the murder suspects including of course Conti’s character.

Conti has a string of other notable TV and movie credits including Paddington 2 , where he famously had an unfortunate trip to the barbers as Judge Gerald Biggleswade. He also appeared in Donovan , Lark Rise to Candleford and played Emily’s dad Stephen Waltham in Friends .

Meanwhile, Midsomer Murders fans will be pleased to note that ITV is also screening another episode next week on Tuesday, July 23 at 8 pm on ITV1 and ITVX. That episode is called "A Grain of Truth". ITV has teased: "The world of organic baking begins to crumble after a series of incidents at the newly revamped Larkton’s Mill..."