Nettleton was born on February 5, 1929 in London, England. He is an actor, known for A Man for All Seasons (1966), Oliver Twist (2005) and Longitude (2000), according to IMDb."Orchis Fatalis," co-starring John Nettleton and Harriet Walter, finds the detectives on the trail of an extremely rare orchid, smuggled into Midsomer Malham from Borneo, which triggers off murderous passion and jealousy among collectors. The Rt Hon Munro Hilliard (Nettleton) lives in style with seams of old money and a liveried butler at Malham Manor. He is a zealous collector and chairman of the Midsomer Orchid Society. It’s the annual flower and orchid show hosted by Hilliard and judged by charismatic Professor Margaret Winstanley (Harriet Walter) and her research student Jonathan Makepeace (Geoffrey Streatfeild). In the orchid marquee, competition is intense. Here, Nettleton talks about what it's like to be murdered on show.

“Munro Hilliard ends up with a garden fork through his back which was quite an unusual murder. There was a dummy sat up next to me with my same clothes on and the coat was wrapped around a sack of garden compost. The fork was stabbed into the back of the deck chair, together with a blood bag, so when the prongs went into the compost, some blood came out through the holes in the bag! “It was quite an unusual murder and I’m not sure Munro quite deserved it, even though he is vain and unpleasant.”

Munro Hilliard is the wealthy owner of Malham Manor and chairman of the Midsomer Orchid Society. “Because he is rich he has some very good clothes, like a smart sports jacket, which I liked so much I bought [it]. But I’m sure the orchids cost more than the actors on the show. I didn’t know anything about orchids at all so it was an amazing education to see all the different varieties. They were very exotic and attracted a lot of wasps.”

John was delighted to meet up with John Nettles who plays DCI Barnaby. “I knew John but hadn’t seen him for many years, but because our names are so familiar I’ve often received his fanmail. Once when I was in Eastbourne on tour an elderly man came up to me with an autograph book, which I duly signed, before he asked me what the Channel Islands were like. I had to own up.

“I also enjoyed seeing Jane Wymark and Laura Howard again. Jane is an old friend, she played Ophelia and I was her father back in 1977, and I was in Chichester four years ago with Laura. I’ve had a lot of friends who have done Midsomers. They all told me it would be the most enjoyable job and I enjoyed it immensely.”

Nettleton's previous credits include Yes (Prime) Minister, Bomber Harris, A Perfect Spy, Brideshead Revisited, Upstairs Downstairs and Elizabeth R. Films include Black Beauty and American Friends, and his extensive stage work includes the role of Mr Kipps in The Woman in Black during the 1990s.