Inspector Morse is a British detective drama television series based on a series of novels by Colin Dexter. It stars John Thaw as Detective Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. The series comprises 33 two-hour episodes (100 minutes excluding adverts) produced between 6 January 1987 and 15 November 2000. Dexter made uncredited cameo appearances in all but three of the episodes.
In 2018, the series was named the greatest British crime drama of all time by Radio Times readers. In 2000, the series was ranked 42 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute.
It was followed by the spin-off Lewis, and the prequel Endeavour.
Overview The series was made by Zenith Productions for Central Independent Television, and first shown in the UK on the ITV network of regional broadcasters. Between 1995 and 1996 the commissioning company was Carlton Television, and towards the end of the series it was a joint venture by Carlton and WGBH.
Every episode involved a new murder investigation and depicted a complete story. Writer Anthony Minghella scripted three, including the first, "The Dead of Jericho", which aired on 6 January 1987 and featured guest actors Gemma Jones, Patrick Troughton, and James Laurenson. Its other writers included Julian Mitchell (10 episodes), Daniel Boyle (five), and Alma Cullen (four), and its directors included John Madden (four episodes), Herbert Wise (three), Peter Hammond (three), Adrian Shergold (three), and Danny Boyle (two).
Inspector Morse is frequently repeated on the subsidiary ITV channel ITV3 in the UK,, Retrieved 4 August 2010, although repeat broadcasts also aired on Channel 4 during the show's original run. Repeats are also shown on television channels in other European countries, Australia and the United States.
Episodes
Cast and crew Main characters John Thaw as Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse Kevin Whately as Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis James Grout as Chief Superintendent Strange
Other recurring characters Peter Woodthorpe as Dr Max DeBryn (pathologist) in series 1–2 Amanda Hillwood as Dr Grayling Russell (pathologist) in series 3 Clare Holman as Dr Laura Hobson (pathologist) in specials Norman Jones as Chief Inspector/Superintendent Bell in series 1 Judy Loe as Adele Cecil in series 8
Main production credits Kenny McBain, producer of series 1–2 Chris Burt, producer of series 3, 7 and specials David Lascelles, producer of series 4–5 Deirdre Keir, producer of series 6 Ted Childs, executive producer Rebecca Eaton, American executive producer of episodes 31–33 Laurie Greenwood, associate producer
Notable guest cast and future stars EpisodeActors"The Dead of Jericho" (1987)Gemma Jones, Patrick Troughton, James Laurenson, Spencer Leigh, Annie Lambert, Richard Durden"The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn" (1987)Michael Gough, Clive Swift, Frederick Treves, Barbara Flynn, Roger Lloyd-Pack, Anthony Smee"The Service of All the Dead" (1987)Angela Morant, John Normington, Maurice O'Connell, Judy Campbell, Michael Horden"The Wolvercote Tongue" (1987)Simon Callow, Kenneth Cranham, Roberta Taylor, Robert Arden, Christine Kavanagh"Last Seen Wearing" (1988)Peter McEnery, Suzanne Bertish, Glyn Houston, Frances Tomelty, Fiona Mollison, Philip Bretherton, Elizabeth Hurley, Julia Sawalha"The Settling of the Sun" (1988)Anna Calder-Marshall, Derek Fowlds, Robert Lang, Robert Stephens, Avis Bunnage, Amanda Burton"Last Bus to Woodstock" (1988)Anthony Bate, Terrence Hardiman, Fabia Drake, Jill Baker, Holly Aird, Paul Geoffrey"Ghost in the Machine" (1989)Patricia Hodge, Clifford Rose, Bernard Lloyd, Michael Godley, Michael Thomas, Patsy Byrne, Irina Brook"The Last Enemy" (1989)Barry Foster, Michael Aldridge, Tenniel Evans, Beatie Edney, Siân Thomas"Deceived by Flight" (1989)Norman Rodway, Sharon Maughan, Daniel Massey, Jane Booker, Nicky Henson, Bryan Pringle, Geoffrey Beevers, Nathaniel Parker"The Secret of Bay 5B" (1989)Mel Martin, Marion Bailey, Andrew Wilde, Philip McGough, George Irving"The Infernal Serpent" (1990)Cheryl Campbell, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Geoffrey Palmer, Tom Wilkinson, Pearce Quigley, Irene Richard, George Costigan"The Sins of the Fathers" (1990)John Bird, Isabel Dean, Lisa Harrow, Lionel Jeffries, Alex Jennings, Betty Marsden, Paul Shelley, Kim Thomson"Driven to Distraction" (1990)Patrick Malahide, David Ryall, Christopher Fulford, Mary Jo Randle"Masonic Mysteries" (1990)Diane Fletcher, Richard Kane, Ian McDiarmid, Iain Cuthbertson, Mark Strong"Second Time Around" (1991)Kenneth Colley, Pat Heywood, Ann Bell, Oliver Ford Davies, Christopher Eccleston, Adie Allen"Fat Chance" (1991)Maurice Denham, Zoë Wanamaker, Maggie O'Neill, David Gant, Kenneth Haigh, Peggy Mount, Nicholas Selby, Tilly Vosburgh"Who Killed Harry Field?" (1991)Geraldine James, Freddie Jones, John Castle, Nicola Cowper, Ronald Pickup, Trevor Byfield"Greeks Bearing Gifts" (1991)Martin Jarvis, Jan Harvey, James Hazeldine, James Faulkner, Richard Pearson, Eileen Way, Andrew Kazamia, Eve Adam, Carole Ashby, Jonny Lee Miller"Promised Land" (1991)Rhondda Findleton, John Jarratt, Max Phipps, Con O'Neill, Noah Taylor, Peter Browne"Dead on Time" (1992)Joanna David, Samantha Bond, David Haig, Adrian Dunbar, Richard Pasco, Dominic Keating"Happy Families" (1992)Anna Massey, Gwen Taylor, Alun Armstrong, Rupert Graves, Charlotte Coleman, Andrew Ray, Sukie Smith, Martin Clunes, Jonathan Coy, Jamie Foreman"Death of the Self" (1992)Frances Barber, Michael Kitchen, Georges Corraface, Alan Rowe, Jane Wenham, Peter Blythe"Absolute Conviction" (1992)Diana Quick, Sean Bean, Jim Broadbent, Suzanna Hamilton, Richard Wilson, Tony Steedman, Robert Pugh, Cheryl Hall, James Aubrey, Steven Mackintosh, Pete Lee-Wilson, Jonathan Firth, Phil Davis, Sue Johnston"Cherubim & Seraphim" (1992)Isla Blair, Sorcha Cusack, Jason Isaacs, John Junkin, Paul Brightwell, Liza Walker, Charlotte Chatton, Anna Chancellor, Christopher Benjamin, Larrington Walker"Deadly Slumber" (1993)Brian Cox, Janet Suzman, Penny Downie, Jason Durr, Carol Starks, Ian McNeice, Robert Swann, Patrick Godfrey, Penny Downie, Su Elliot "The Day of the Devil" (1993)Harriet Walter, Richard Griffiths, Keith Allen, Gilly Coman, Patrick O'Connell, Lloyd McGuire, Richard Graham, Patrick Drury, Jacqueline Leonard, Michael Culver, Gavin Richards, Kevin Stoney"Twilight of the Gods" (1993)Sir John Gielgud, Robert Hardy, Sheila Gish, Jean Anderson, Alan David, Rachel Weisz, John Bluthal, Julian Curry, Don Fellows, Joan Blackham, Allan Corduner, Brian Bovell, Julie Legrand, Doug Bradley, Billy Hartman, Iain Rattray"The Way Through the Woods" (1995)Nicholas Le Prevost, Malcolm Storry, Neil Dudgeon, Michelle Fairley, Gary Powell, Christopher Fairbank, John Malcolm, Robin Soans, Neil Dudgeon, Kay Stonham, Simon Scott, Alex Giannini, Shaun Williamson "The Daughters of Cain" (1996)Phyllis Logan, Gabrielle Lloyd, Tony Haygarth, Benjamin Whitrow, Amanda Ryan, Bernard Brown, Dominic Brunt, Lynn Farleigh, Nadim Sawalha"Death is Now My Neighbour" (1997)Richard Briers, Maggie Steed, John Shrapnel, Roger Allam, Mark McGann, Julia Dalkin, Susan Engel, Colin McCormack, Ben Caplan, Ashley Gunstock "The Wench is Dead" (1998)Lisa Eichhorn, Matthew Finney, Philip Quast, Jeff Nuttall, Michael Culkin, Juliet Cowan, Sarah Lam, Roger Llewellyn, Osmund Bullock "The Remorseful Day" (2000)Paul Freeman, T. P. McKenna, Anna Wilson-Jones, Jesse Birdsall, Helen Pearson, Aidan J. David, Colin Spaull, Barbara Lott, Annette Ekblom, Sharon Maiden, Barrington Pheloung
Production
This television adaptation of the Inspector Morse novels was brought to the screen by Scottish producer Kenny McBain, who had previously produced the series Boon for Central Independent Television. He brought in a team of writers including Charles Wood, Anthony Minghella and Julian Mitchell, and insisted that the series occupied a two-hour slot in the schedule, making it the first British drama to try a two-hour feature-length format. Morse was played by John Thaw and his assistant, Detective Sergeant Lewis, by Kevin Whately. The character of Lewis was transformed from the elderly Welshman and ex-boxer of the novels to a much younger Geordie police sergeant with a family, as a foil to Morse's cynical streak. Morse's first name, Endeavour, is revealed on only one occasion, when he explains to a lady friend that his father was obsessed with Captain James Cook, so he was named after HMS Endeavour. On other occasions, he usually answers, "Morse. Everyone just calls me Morse", or dryly replies "Inspector", when asked what his first name is.
Thaw appreciated that Morse was different from many other classic detectives such as Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes. Morse was brilliant, but he was not always right. He often arrested the wrong person or came to the wrong conclusion. Morse was also a romantic, frequently mildly and gently flirting with or asking out colleagues, witnesses, or suspects — occasionally bordering on the unprofessional — but he had little success in love.
Morse is a character whose talents and intelligence are being wasted in positions that fail to match his abilities. It is mentioned several times that Morse would have been promoted above and beyond Chief Inspector at Thames Valley Police CID, but his cynicism and lack of ambition, coupled also with veiled hints that he may have made enemies in high places, frustrate his progression despite his Oxford connections. In the episode "Second Time Around", it is revealed that Morse opposed capital punishment and long sentences, which was upheld by his former superior who later became assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and his former colleague thought of him as "a poor policeman and a very good detective".
Morse's eventual death in the final episode "The Remorseful Day" is caused by heart problems exacerbated by heavy drinking, although in the books his death is diabetes-related.
Inspector Morse was filmed for ITV using 16 mm film stock. Since its production, a number of releases of the show on DVD have been made using various remastered editions of the episodes in the 4:3 ratio. In recent years, ITV has overseen a high-definition restoration of the drama from the original 16 mm negatives so as to boost the HD content on ITV3 HD. Many of these HD episodes retain the original 4:3 ratio, though some of the later episodes (including the series finale) have been opened into a 16:9 widescreen frame. These more recent remastered editions have not been released on Blu-ray.
Morse's interests Morse had diverse passions: music (especially opera, with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Wagner among his favourite composers), poetry, art, the classics, British real ale, classic cars and cryptic crossword puzzles. When seen at home, Morse is usually listening to music on his Roksan Xerxes record player,Simpson, Andrew (December 2011). "Roksan Xerxes 20plus(£6890 inc.)" Hi-fi News, pp 30–32. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013."DID YOU KNOW? — Xerxes & Inspector Morse" . Roksan Audio Ltd. solving a crossword, reading classic literature - for instance, Jude the Obscure in season 2, episode 2's Last Seen Wearing - or drinking ale. In his home, the living room had a chess set containing classical Staunton chess pieces, while the art on the walls includes etchings of Roman ruins by G.B. Piranesi from his Vedute di Roma series. While working, Morse subsists on quickly downed pints of ale (preferably real ale) in pubs, usually bought by Lewis, who struggles to keep up. Many of his cases touch on Morse's interests and often his knowledge helps him solve them.