DCI Banks star Stephen Tompkinson appeared on Alan Titchmarsh's ITV show Love Your Garden on Sunday15:05, 31 May 2026DCI Banks star Stephen Tompkinson joked that the ITV show has 'ruined television for me'.‌Stephen, 60, appeared on Alan Titchmarsh's ITV show Love Your Garden on Sunday, where he opened up about his career and new series This is Not a Murder Mystery.‌Stephen is known for many roles over the years with one role being detective Alan Banks in DCI Banks from 2010 to 2016.‌The ITV series sees veteran Detective Chief Inspector, Alan Banks, played by Stephen, along with his assistants DS Annie Cabbot, played by Andrea Lowe, and DI Helen Morton, played by Caroline Catz, investigate murders committed in the town of Eastvale, Yorkshire.Talking about the role on Love Your Garden, Stephen admitted it's 'ruined television for me' as he can usually figure out whodunnits instantly now.‌He said: "It's a bit of a double-edged sword. It's ruined television for me, in a way, because I can watch something and immediately go, 'I'm pretty sure it's them.'"To which Alan, 77, asked: "Are you usually right?" to which Stephen replied: "Usually, yes, I usually ruin six episodes by waiting for four in between."It comes as Stephen is returning to his detective character roots with This is Not a Murder Mystery.‌A synopsis for the show reads: "Set in the flamboyant 1930s, world-renowned Surrealist artists, including young Dalí and Magritte, find themselves trapped in a lavish mansion with a mysterious serial killer on the loose."Stephen plays DCI Thistlethwaite who is called to the estate to investigate the murder.‌Talking about his character, Stephen said: "Yes, John Thistlethwaite, there's no nonsense with him."He's been through the First World War and turned his hand to detectives. It's set in 1936, yes, in a beautiful English country estate, which was actually in Ireland."It's one of those joint Belgian-Irish productions you hear so much about."Article continues belowOther cast members in the show include Pierre Gervais as René Magritte, Iñaki Mur as Salvador Dalí, Florence Hall as Lee Miller, Frank Bourke as Man Ray and Mike Hoffmann as Max Ernst.Love Your Garden with Alan Titchmarsh airs on Sundays on ITV and ITV X.