Inspector Lewis (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Lewis is a British television
detective drama made as a spin-off from Inspector Morse
, and set in Oxford
. Kevin Whately
reprises his character Robert "Robbie" Lewis
, who had been Morse's Sergeant in the original series. Lewis has now been promoted and is assisted by DS James Hathaway
(Laurence Fox
).
The series is produced for ITV
. Following the airing of a pilot in 2006, a first series of three episodes was broadcast in February/March 2007. A second series of four episodes aired in early 2008. A third series of four episodes was aired on ITV1 and ITV-HD from March–April 2009, but this was not shown in Scotland
. A fourth series aired throughout the UK (including ITV1-HD where available) from 2 May 2010, and a fifth series from 3 April 2011, each again of four episodes. In June 2011, ITV announced that a sixth series of 4 episodes has been commissioned for airing in 2012. PBS
broadcasts the series, as Inspector Lewis, in the United States and British Columbia, Canada, as part of its Masterpiece Mystery
series.
, the author of the Inspector Morse novels, makes a very brief cameo appearance in several episodes, including one as a porter at Wadham College. The Lewis episodes in most respects scrupulously respect Dexter's approach, but each of their scripts is credited to one of several other writers including, most frequently, Russell Lewis
, Alan Plater
, and Stephen Churchett
.
The music for the series was composed by Barrington Pheloung
, who created the music for the original Morse series.
, London
owns the exclusive rights to both broadcast Lewis and to manufacture DVDs for North America. This is in contrast to Inspector Morse, which was commissioned by British company Carlton Television
(originally Central Independent Television) and which included all original broadcast footage, even if that footage was edited on North American TV stations. PBS edits 10 minutes out of every Lewis episode so that it fits into the 90 minute Masterpiece Mystery time slot; this includes a preview of the episode's contents narrated by Alan Cumming before the episode and commercials for other PBS programs at the end of this slot. Even Barrington Pheloung's end credit music is abruptly cut for this purpose. For the Pilot, Inspector Lewis 1, and Inspector Lewis 2 DVD sets, PBS Home Video releases what was broadcast on-air in the US as opposed to the UK DVD content. However, for the new Inspector Lewis 3 DVD set, PBS Home Video has released the unedited UK version of the programs contained in the set.
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
detective drama made as a spin-off from Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse (TV series)
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. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
, and set in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. Kevin Whately
Kevin Whately
Kevin Whately is an English actor.Whately is known for his starring role as Neville Hope in the British television comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, his role as Dr Jack Kerruish in the drama series Peak Practice, and as Robert "Robbie" Lewis in the crime dramas Inspector Morse and...
reprises his character Robert "Robbie" Lewis
Inspector Lewis
Robert "Robbie" Lewis is a fictional character in the Inspector Morse crime novels by Colin Dexter. The "sidekick" to Morse, Lewis is a Detective Sergeant in the Thames Valley Police, and appears in all 13 Morse novels. In the television adaptation, Inspector Morse, he is played by Kevin Whately...
, who had been Morse's Sergeant in the original series. Lewis has now been promoted and is assisted by DS James Hathaway
Detective Sergeant James Hathaway
James Hathaway is the Detective Sergeant working under Inspector Lewis in the ITV detective series Lewis . He is played by Laurence Fox.-Biography:...
(Laurence Fox
Laurence Fox
Laurence Fox is an English actor best known for his leading role as Detective Sergeant James Hathaway in the British TV drama series Lewis...
).
The series is produced for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. Following the airing of a pilot in 2006, a first series of three episodes was broadcast in February/March 2007. A second series of four episodes aired in early 2008. A third series of four episodes was aired on ITV1 and ITV-HD from March–April 2009, but this was not shown in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. A fourth series aired throughout the UK (including ITV1-HD where available) from 2 May 2010, and a fifth series from 3 April 2011, each again of four episodes. In June 2011, ITV announced that a sixth series of 4 episodes has been commissioned for airing in 2012. PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
broadcasts the series, as Inspector Lewis, in the United States and British Columbia, Canada, as part of its Masterpiece Mystery
Mystery!
Mystery! is an episodic television series that debuted in 1980 in the USA. It airs on PBS and is produced by WGBH...
series.
Cast and crew
- Kevin WhatelyKevin WhatelyKevin Whately is an English actor.Whately is known for his starring role as Neville Hope in the British television comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, his role as Dr Jack Kerruish in the drama series Peak Practice, and as Robert "Robbie" Lewis in the crime dramas Inspector Morse and...
as DI Robert Lewis - Laurence FoxLaurence FoxLaurence Fox is an English actor best known for his leading role as Detective Sergeant James Hathaway in the British TV drama series Lewis...
as DS James Hathaway - Clare HolmanClare HolmanClare Margaret Holman is an English actress, perhaps most famous for her role of forensic pathologist Dr. Laura Hobson in the television series Inspector Morse and Lewis.-Acting:...
as Dr Laura Hobson - Rebecca FrontRebecca FrontRebecca Front is a BAFTA Award–winning English comedian and actress best known for her performances in The Thick of It in the late 2000s, and series of critically acclaimed satirical comedies in the early 1990s: On The Hour, The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You...with Alan Partridge...
as Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent
Writers
Colin DexterColin Dexter
Norman Colin Dexter, OBE, is an English crime writer, known for his Inspector Morse novels which were written between 1975 and 1999 and adapted as a television series from 1987 to 2000.-Early life and career:...
, the author of the Inspector Morse novels, makes a very brief cameo appearance in several episodes, including one as a porter at Wadham College. The Lewis episodes in most respects scrupulously respect Dexter's approach, but each of their scripts is credited to one of several other writers including, most frequently, Russell Lewis
Russell Lewis
- Career :Lewis began his career as a child actor, first appearing in the 1969 film adaptation of The Looking Glass War. He also starred as George Gathercole in The Kids from 47A...
, Alan Plater
Alan Plater
Alan Frederick Plater, CBE, FRSL was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s.-Career:...
, and Stephen Churchett
Stephen Churchett
Stephen Churchett is a British actor and writer.One of his most notable roles was as solicitor Marcus Christie in EastEnders, on and off from 1990 to 2004....
.
The music for the series was composed by Barrington Pheloung
Barrington Pheloung
Barrington Somers Pheloung is an Australian composer, now living in England. He is one of the most prolific television and film composers in the UK, known for his wide range of compositional genres....
, who created the music for the original Morse series.
Locations
The majority of the series is filmed in and around Oxford. Some scenes are also filmed at Brunel UniversityBrunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
, London
Ratings
| Date | Episode | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | ||
| 29 January 2006 | Lewis! | 11.31 |
| Series 1 | ||
| 18 February 2007 | Whom The Gods Would Destroy | 8.11 |
| 25 February 2007 | Old School Ties | 7.81 |
| 4 March 2007 | Expiation | 8.85 |
| Series 2 | ||
| 24 February 2008 | And The Moonbeams Kiss The Sea | 8.90 |
| 2 March 2008 | Music To Die For | 8.50 |
| 9 March 2008 | Life Born Of Fire | 8.19 |
| 16 March 2008 | The Great And The Good | 8.70 |
| Series 3 | ||
| 22 March 2009 | Allegory Of Love | 7.54 |
| 29 March 2009 | The Quality Of Mercy | 7.19 |
| 5 April 2009 | The Point Of Vanishing | 6.83 |
| 12 April 2009 | Counter Culture Blues | 6.61 |
| Series 4 | ||
| 2 May 2010 | The Dead Of Winter | 7.10 |
| 9 May 2010 | Dark Matter | 7.29 |
| 16 May 2010 | Your Sudden Death Question | 8.70 |
| 30 May 2010 | Falling Darkness | 8.23 |
| Series 5 | ||
| 3 April 2011 | Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things | 7.10 |
| 10 April 2011 | Wild Justice | 6.48 |
| 17 April 2011 | The Mind Has Mountains | 6.78 |
| 24 April 2011 | The Gift Of Promise | 6.33 |
Other countries
- In almost all Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, Lewis is aired on Film & Arts channel. - In AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Lewis airs on Channel SevenSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
, 7TWO and UKTV. - In The Netherlands, Lewis is aired on public channel Nederland 1Nederland 1Nederland 1 is the first national television station in the Netherlands, it was launched on 2 October 1951. It provides public broadcasting and currently exists next to sister channels Nederland 2 and 3. The several broadcasting organisations of the Publieke Omroep deliver programmes. A wide...
by broadcaster KRO - In BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Lewis is aired on public channel Canvas. - In DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, DR1 - the original public-service, non-commercial channel - the first three series (with Danish subtitles). - In NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, NRK1NRK1NRK1 is the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation's main television channel. Test broadcasts started on 12 January 1954, regular test broadcasts started on 13 April 1958 and regular broadcasts started in 20 August 1960. It is Norway's oldest and largest television channel...
– the country's largest TV channel (public broadcaster) – four series with NorwegianNorwegian languageNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
subtitles - In SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, SVT 1 and/or SVT 2 - public Swedish non-commercial channel - not all episodes shown yet (with Swedish subtitles). Later "Kanal 9" replayed the first 12 episodes, from episode "Dark Matter" (which followed the replay of "Counter Culture Blues"). This channel seems to have bought also the primary rights. "Kanal 9" is a commercial channel with a lot of British series. - In FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Lewis is aired on YLE TV1 - public Finnish non-commercial channel (with Finnish subtitles) - as Komisario Lewis (Inspector Lewis) - In EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Lewis is aired on public channel ETVEesti TelevisioonEesti Televisioon is the national public television station of Estonia. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955.The bulk of ETV's funding comes from government grant-in-aid, around 15% of which is in turn funded by the fees paid by Estonian commercial broadcasters in return for their... - In GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Lewis is aired on ZDFZDFZweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
(Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) - In FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Lewis is aired on public channel France 3France 3France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô.... - In New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Lewis is aired on Prime and UKTV - In Czech republicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Lewis is aired on different channels of TV PrimaTV PrimaTV Prima is a Czech private television station. Its channel is broadcast from Prague. Its current owner is FTV Prima, spol. s r. o., general manager Marek Singer....
group as Vraždy v Oxfordu (Murders in Oxford - the same TV group broadcasts Midsomer MurdersMidsomer MurdersMidsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
as Vraždy v Midsomeru). - In the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, all episodes of Lewis are and were aired on PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
on Masterpiece Mystery! except for the pilot, which was aired on the earlier series Mystery!Mystery!Mystery! is an episodic television series that debuted in 1980 in the USA. It airs on PBS and is produced by WGBH...
The numbering of the episodes on PBS is slightly different from ITV1ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
. Series 1 aired as "Series I." However, all of Series 2 and episodes 1-3 of Series 3 were aired as "Series II." Episode 4 of Series 3 and all of Series 4 were aired as "Series III." Series 5 will air as "Series IV" this fall.
Time edits
PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
owns the exclusive rights to both broadcast Lewis and to manufacture DVDs for North America. This is in contrast to Inspector Morse, which was commissioned by British company Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
(originally Central Independent Television) and which included all original broadcast footage, even if that footage was edited on North American TV stations. PBS edits 10 minutes out of every Lewis episode so that it fits into the 90 minute Masterpiece Mystery time slot; this includes a preview of the episode's contents narrated by Alan Cumming before the episode and commercials for other PBS programs at the end of this slot. Even Barrington Pheloung's end credit music is abruptly cut for this purpose. For the Pilot, Inspector Lewis 1, and Inspector Lewis 2 DVD sets, PBS Home Video releases what was broadcast on-air in the US as opposed to the UK DVD content. However, for the new Inspector Lewis 3 DVD set, PBS Home Video has released the unedited UK version of the programs contained in the set.