Furious Midsomer Murders viewers have insisted they “won’t watch again” as they slammed ITV for a “horrible and waste of time” finale.

ITV’s flagship crime series aired its final episode of its 23rd season on Sunday 10 November.

But the fourth episode of the season left dedicated fans wanting more, as they called it “the worst woke, box-checking episode they’ve ever watched.”

The finale, titled Dress To Kill, followed DCI detectives John Barnaby (played by Neil Dudgeon) and Jamie Winter (played by Nick Hendrix) as they delved into yet another murder mystery ahead of preparations for a charity event dragsters.

The event took place in the small village of Elverton-cum-Latterly, to support a terminally ill teenager.

Furious Midsomer Murders viewers insisted they ‘won’t watch again’ as they slammed ITV for ‘horrible and waste of time’ finale (picture: DCI John Barnaby)

ITV’s flagship crime series aired the final episode of its 23rd season on November 10.

But the region was already preparing for its prestigious domino competition, which sparked an unforeseen conflict.

Although die-hard fans are habitual lovers of the series, many have flocked to social media to share their displeasure.

One wrote: “Please stop ruining perfectly good shows… Last episode was terrible, bad acting, bad writing and too much irritating woke preaching.”

“Worst episode of Woke, Box Ticking I’ve ever watched. Playing the role was truly horrible #midsomermurders.’

“I’ve watched every episode of #MidsomerMurders, most of them multiple times, and this is the first one I turned off. It was beyond bad.

‘#midsomermurders I mean, can this program go even lower? It was great for years, now completely shocking.

‘Recorded and now deleted, it won’t bother. The final nail in this coffin shows #MidsomerMurders’

But the fourth episode of the season left dedicated fans wanting more, as they called it “the worst woke, box-checking episode they’ve ever watched.”

The finale, titled Dress To Kill, followed DCI detectives John Barnaby (played by Neil Dudgeon, left) and Jamie Winter (played by Nick Hendrix, right) as they delved into another murder mystery before the preparations for a charity drag event.

The event took place in the small village of Elverton-cum-Latterly, to support a terminally ill teenager.

But the region was already preparing for its prestigious domino competition, which sparked an unforeseen conflict.

Although die-hard fans are habitual lovers of the series, many have flocked to social media to share their displeasure.

“Worst episode ever: complete and utter guts #MidsomerMurders”

“My God, that was horrible…what happened?!” Terrible casting, acting, plot, lighting, lack of extras… the list goes on #MidsomerMurders’

“There should have been a ‘bad acting’ warning with this episode”

And it’s not the first time the show has faced criticism in recent weeks, with viewers mocking the show after it placed a witchcraft trigger warning.

Added to a 2004 episode of the popular British detective series, some viewers found the warning out of place in a series where hundreds of other characters faced far bloodier deaths over the course of the show’s 23 seasons.

The episode in question is from the seventh series of the murder mystery drama and is called The Fisher King.

In it, the residents of a fictional English town are plagued by a haunted Celtic sword that was discovered during an archaeological dig.

John Bentley (pictured), starred in ‘Midsomer Murders’ as DCI Tom Barnaby

Trigger warning appears on ITVX app in The Fisher King episode of Midsomer Murders

As this scene begins on ITV’s streaming service, a trigger warning appears at the top of the screen reading: “Contains several references to witchcraft.”

The episode, which features stalwart actors such as John Nettles as the series’ main character, DCI Tom Barnaby, sees four characters murdered as well as other references to Arthurian mythology.

Viewers ridiculed the leaders of the ‘nanny state’, with one asking: “If witchcraft starts now, how is anyone at ITV going to deal with Halloween?”

The confusing warning comes just months after ITV bosses were further ridiculed for their use of warning labels on other episodes of Midsomer Murders.

In this case, ITV has issued content warnings for the long-running series to ensure that viewers are fully aware that the “murders” being carried out are not of a gentle nature and that episodes may contain “violence” and even “crime scene footage”. .

The hit detective series has run for 23 seasons since it first aired in 1997.

The stars of the series were among those who ridiculed the decision, pointing out that the name of the series, which has been broadcast since 1997, and the titles of the different episodes make it clear what is going to happen.

Anton Lesser, an actor who appeared as “Eddie Darwin” in a 2003 episode of the series, commented on the warnings, saying: “I understand the good intentions of the broadcasters who take care to prevent effects like the images flashing.

“But I’m surprised something like Midsomer Murders warrants a warning.”

When asked to comment on its latest ‘witchcraft’ warning by Mail Online, ITV responded: “Programs containing potentially sensitive or distressing themes, content or terms have had appropriate warnings since our launch. We regularly review our catalog to ensure the right advice is in place for viewers.

Midsomer Murders is available to stream on ITVX.