Inspector Morse

1987 · 7 seasons · Crime
7.9 Popular

Series finished

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Crime Drama Mystery

Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis, as well as a large cast of notable actors and actresses.

Country of origin
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Year
1987
Created by
Tony Warren, Colin Dexter
Channel
ITV1
Studio
Carlton UK Productions · GBH · ITV Central · Zenith Entertainment

Trivia & behind the scenes

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Origins

Producer Kenny McBain, who had previously produced Boon for Central Independent Television, insisted the series occupy a two-hour slot, making it the first British drama to try a two-hour feature-length format.

Casting

Author Colin Dexter made uncredited cameo appearances in all but three of the 33 episodes.

Origins

The character of Sergeant Lewis was transformed from the elderly Welshman and ex-boxer of the novels into a much younger Geordie police sergeant with a family, to serve as a foil to Morse's cynical streak.

References

Morse's first name, Endeavour, is revealed only once in the series, when he explains that his father was obsessed with Captain James Cook and named him after HMS Endeavour.

Trivia

Morse's death in the final episode 'The Remorseful Day' is caused by heart problems exacerbated by heavy drinking, whereas in Dexter's novels his death is diabetes-related.

Music

Composer Barrington Pheloung built the theme and incidental music around a motif spelling 'MORSE' in Morse code, and in some episodes he secretly encoded the killer's name (or a red herring character's name) into the music.

Filming

The series was filmed on 16 mm film stock, and ITV later restored many episodes in high definition from the original negatives, with some later episodes reframed into 16:9 widescreen for ITV3 HD.

Filming

Fictional Oxford locations were represented by real colleges: Brasenose and Exeter College stood in for Lonsdale College, Corpus Christi for Beaumont College, New College for St Saviour's College, and Christ Church for Wolsey College.

Filming

At Wadham College, the production was allowed to film actors walking on the college's grass in the main quad, a privilege normally denied to students.

Trivia

The Regency red 1960 Jaguar Mark 2 2.4L driven by Morse (number plate 248 RPA) was suggested by John Thaw himself; impressed by the idea, Colin Dexter subsequently changed Morse's car from a Lancia to a Jaguar in reprints of his novels, even though the books never explain the change.

Reception

The Jaguar Mark 2 used in filming was given away in a competition a year after production ended, later auctioned for £53,200 in 2002, and resold for more than £100,000 in November 2005.

Reception

In 2018, Radio Times readers named Inspector Morse the greatest British crime drama of all time, and in 2000 it was ranked 42nd on the British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes.

Memorable quotes

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Adele Cecil: This anagram, "around eve" — I've tried and I've tried, but all I can come up with is "Endeavour". And no-one's called Endeavour, surely?

Adele Cecil discovering Morse's real first name through an anagram

Morse: Thank...Lewis...for me.

Morse Morse's final words before dying

Lewis: Goodbye, sir.

Lewis Lewis's farewell to Morse

Morse: No, that's not 'Morse's Law'. 'Morse's Law' is there's always time for one more pint ... except there isn't.

Morse joking about 'Morse's Law' over a pint

Morse: Beer is food

Morse defending his fondness for beer

Morse: Isn't it your round?

Morse asking about a pub round near the end

Morse: Go home, Lewis. Kiss your children. See your wife

Morse telling Lewis to go home to his family

Morse: I'm sorry - it isn't beer, it's coffee. But then again, it isn't coffee!

Morse joking about his drink not being beer or coffee

Morse: They don't spell Australian beer with four X's out of ignorance!

Morse commenting on Australian beer

Chief Supt. Strange: Hello Morse, bearing up are we?

Chief Supt. Strange greeting Morse with concern

Chief Supt. Strange: Angel of Death flutters it's wings over his head has it?

Chief Supt. Strange joking darkly about death following Morse

Morse: I've gone and arrested the WRONG man!

Morse realizing he's arrested the wrong man

Morse: Cat got your tongue, Lewis? Getting all too much for you, is it? A coded letter; stolen money; violence.

Morse teasing Lewis about a complicated case

Morse: Oh, God! What an inheritance!

Morse reacting to the Hanbury family's decadence

Morse: Keep tugging at your forelock, Lewis, and we may be back in Oxford by lunch-time

Morse mocking upper-class deference

Morse: The people who live in places like this think that the rules don't apply to them

Morse commenting on the wealthy thinking themselves above rules

Morse: We're being led up the garden path, Lewis. A very picturesque garden and a very pretty path

Morse suspecting they're being misled

Morse: People's lives, Lewis. People's lives. And loves. It was love's old sweet song all along!

Morse reflecting on love and human lives during a case

Morse: Almost operatic. Greek Tragedy. You should try the Classice sometime, Lewis. Sex is never simple there: there's pleasure, then there's payment. Retribution.

Morse comparing a case to Greek tragedy

Morse: Watch the mouth: it gives away what the face is trying to hide.

Morse observing a suspect's expression

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