Julia McKenzie plays Ruby Wilmot in the third of four new Midsomer Murders Mysteries for 2006.

Julia McKenzie makes a stand for cleaners in MIDSOMER MURDERS.

“I play Ruby Wilmott who cleans for everyone in the village. In the script it said she was in overalls, but I felt that was putting cleaners down. Cleaners today are not like that. I have a lovely lady cleaner and she wears jeans and a clean shirt. So that’s what I insisted I wore, with a little bit of jewellery.

“But Ruby is very abrasive with the police so obviously I wasn’t basing her on my own lady, who’s a darling!”

Ruby is questioned by Barnaby (John Nettles) and Jones (Jason Hughes) after the death of an unassuming council clerk, Martin Barrett (Grant Masters). But they soon discover Barrett’s quiet exterior was a smokescreen.

Says Julia: “Because Ruby cleans for Barrett and lots of other people and she also cleans in the bar, she probably knows more than most people in the village. She’s a bit of a free spirit, though – an enigma.”

Julia was delighted to join the roll call of British actors who have appeared in MIDSOMER MURDERS.

“I’ve watched it and half the profession’s been in it so I was very pleased to get the call – eventually! I was told it would be a pleasant experience and at the risk of sounding like a corn ball I had a very good time. It’s like getting into a well oiled machine, because although there’s a lot of work to do they have it well under control.

“It was the Ashes while we were filming and we happened to be at a real pub, so every time we finished something we rushed inside, had a look at the test score and went back feeling very cheered.

“I knew John Nettles socially and we did a Christmas reading together one year in Chester Cathedral for Matthew Kelly’s charity. I was also very taken with Jason Hughes, the new sidekick – he’s charming and they have a lovely rapport.”

After filming MIDSOMER MURDERS, Julia worked on Richard Eyre’s new film Notes On A Scandal, with Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. She then narrated and directed a Stephen Sondheim concert with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Hackney Empire.

Julia kicked off the New Year with a role in an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Elephants Can Remember for Radio 4. Her other credits include Bright Young Things, These Foolish Things, Shirley Valentine and long-running TV drama Fresh Fields.