Frank Hopkinson is the author of The Joy of Pubs and the National Trust's book on beekeeping, as well as the photographer for Remarkable Village Cricket Grounds. All three subjects regularly occur in Midsomer Murders. He has worked on arable farms and hop farms, and in his final year at London University, he undertook a rural housing survey on the borders of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Hence, he recognizes many of the characters regularly encountered by DCI Barnaby.