Inspector Morse (TV series)
Encyclopedia
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.
The series was first shown on Britain's ITV
network, was made by Zenith Productions
for Central Independent Television
. Later it was produced by Carlton
UK Productions between 1995 and 1996. Towards the series end, it was made by Carlton and WGBH
.
Anthony Minghella
scripted the first Morse episode, The Dead of Jericho
, which aired on January 6, 1987 and featured Gemma Jones
.
The series comprises 33 two-hour episodes (100 minutes excluding commercials) — twenty more episodes than there are novels — produced between 1987 and 2000. The series remains popular and is frequently repeated on ITV1
and ITV3
in Britain.
, and the faithful 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 isn't revealed except for the one occasion when he explains to a lady friend that his father was obsessed with Captain James Cook and for this reason his first name is Endeavour
. On the other occasions he usually answers "Morse. Everyone just calls me Morse" or dryly replies "Inspector," when asked what his first name is.
John Thaw had a special appreciation of the fact that Morse was different from classic characters such as James Bond
and Sherlock Holmes. Morse was brilliant but he wasn't always right. He often arrested the wrong person or came to the wrong conclusion. As a result, unlike many classic sleuths, Morse does not always simply arrest
his culprit; ironic circumstances have the case end and the crime brought to him. Also, Morse was a romantic - frequently mildly and gently flirting with or asking out colleagues, witnesses or suspects - occasionally bordering on the unprofessional - but had little success in love.
Morse is a character whose talents and intelligence were being wasted in positions which fail to match his abilities. Several references are made to the fact that Morse would have been promoted above and beyond Chief Inspector
at Thames Valley
CID, but his cynicism and lack of ambition, coupled also to veiled hints that he may have made enemies in high places, frustrate his progression despite his Oxford
connections.
Morse is a highly credible detective and plausible human being. His penchant for drinking, his life filled with difficult personal relationships, and his negligence toward his health, however, make him a more tragic character than previous classic sleuths.
Morse’s eventual death in the final episode "The Remorseful Day" is caused by heart problems exacerbated by heavy drinking, differing from the literary character's diabetes-related demise.
, classic cars, and cryptic crossword puzzles. When seen at home, Morse is usually listening to music, solving a crossword, reading classic literature, or drinking ale. While working, Morse subsists on quickly downed pints of ale in pubs, usually bought by Lewis who struggles to keep up. Many of his cases touch on Morse's interests and it is often his knowledge that helps him solve them.
In "The Death of the Self", the episode ends with Morse seeing one of the characters, an opera singer recovering from a long absence through stage-fright, make her 'comeback' performance at the amphitheatre in Verona
, while in "Twilight of the Gods" he investigates the life of one of his opera idols, Gwladys Probert, a world-famous soprano. In "Who Killed Harry Field?", the murder victim is a painter, and in "The Way Through the Woods", Morse researches the pre-Raphaelite movement to aid his investigations.
In several episodes, Morse's crossword-solving ability helps him to spot where people have changed identities by creating a new name which is an anagram. In "Masonic Mysteries" he is maliciously implicated in the murder of a woman when his Times
newspaper is placed in the victim's house, with his handwriting filling in the crossword. In the same episode, the writer names Morse's old Inspector from when he was a detective sergeant as 'Macnutt' in homage to D.S. Macnutt
, better known as the famous and influential Observer
puzzle setter 'Ximenes'.
In "The Sins of the Fathers" he investigates a murder in a brewery-owning family while in the first episode, "The Dead of Jericho", he compares the life of a dead woman with that of Jocasta
, the mother of Oedipus
. The same episode also introduced his Jaguar Mark 2
car (which is damaged at the start and end of the story). His interest in classic cars is also explored in "Driven to Distraction" where he suspects a car-salesman of murder. He so strongly seems to dislike Jeremy Boynton that he refers to Morse's own Jaguar as "she", which makes Morse convinced of his guilt.
In "Cherubim and Seraphim
", he investigates the suicide of his niece and discusses with her English teacher about her interest in the poet Sylvia Plath
, who also killed herself. The teacher defends the teaching of Plath's poetry to students and says that her suicide will not influence students to do the same. In "Second Time Around", investigating the killing of a retired detective, Morse is haunted by an early case of his in which a young girl had been murdered and an obvious suspect could very well be innocent.
and utilises a motif
based on the Morse code
for "M.O.R.S.E.". In the documentary The Mystery of Morse, Pheloung states that he occasionally spelled out the name of the killer in Morse code in the music, or alternatively spelled out the name of another character as a red herring
. The series also included opera and other classical genres as part of its soundtrack, most notably pieces by Richard Wagner
and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(whose Magic Flute is a significant plot device in one episode).
car (with number plate 248 RPA) used in the television series became synonymous with the character, and in November 2005 sold for more than £100,000.
It was reported in May 2011 that ITV were planning a prequel series, Endeavour, with author Colin Dexter's participation. It will portray a young Morse in his university days, with Shaun Evans
playing Morse.
Colin 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:...
's series of Chief Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse is a fictional character in the eponymous series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, as well as the 33-episode 1987–2000 television adaptation of the same name, in which the character was portrayed by John Thaw. Morse is a senior CID officer with the Thames Valley...
novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in all but three of the episodes.
The series was first shown on Britain's 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...
network, was made by Zenith Productions
Zenith Productions
Zenith Productions was a British independent film and television production company which made a number of drama series including Inspector Morse for ITV, and several series including Byker Grove and Hamish Macbeth for the BBC...
for Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
. Later it was produced by Carlton
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,...
UK Productions between 1995 and 1996. Towards the series end, it was made by Carlton and WGBH
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
.
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella
Anthony Minghella, CBE was an English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007....
scripted the first Morse episode, The Dead of Jericho
The Dead of Jericho
The Dead of Jericho is a work of English detective fiction by Colin Dexter, as part of the Inspector Morse series.-Plot summary:Detective Chief Inspector E. Morse of the Thames Valley Police meets Anne Scott at a party hosted by Mrs Murdoch in North Oxford. Six months later Anne Scott is found...
, which aired on January 6, 1987 and featured Gemma Jones
Gemma Jones
Gemma Jones is an English character actress on both stage and screen.-Early life:Jones was born in London, England, the daughter of Irene and Griffith Jones, an actor. Her brother, Nicholas Jones, is also an actor...
.
The series comprises 33 two-hour episodes (100 minutes excluding commercials) — twenty more episodes than there are novels — produced between 1987 and 2000. The series remains popular and is frequently repeated on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 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...
and ITV3
ITV3
ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom that is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was launched on 1 November 2004. ITV3 is the second largest UK multi-channel, second only to ITV2.-History:...
in Britain.
Production
Morse was played by John ThawJohn Thaw
John Edward Thaw, CBE was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.-Early life:Thaw came from a working class background, having been born in Gorton,...
, and the faithful Detective Sergeant Lewis by 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...
. The character of Lewis was transformed from the elderly Welshman and ex-boxer of the novels to a much younger Geordie
Geordie
Geordie is a regional nickname for a person from the Tyneside region of the north east of England, or the name of the English-language dialect spoken by its inhabitants...
police sergeant with a family, as a foil to Morse's cynical streak.
Morse's first name isn't revealed except for the one occasion when he explains to a lady friend that his father was obsessed with Captain James Cook and for this reason his first name is Endeavour
Endeavour
- Organizations :* Endeavor , a non-profit organization based in New York, New York* Endeavour , a non-profit organisation in Queensland, Australia* Christian Endeavor International...
. On the other occasions he usually answers "Morse. Everyone just calls me Morse" or dryly replies "Inspector," when asked what his first name is.
John Thaw had a special appreciation of the fact that Morse was different from classic characters such as James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
and Sherlock Holmes. Morse was brilliant but he wasn't always right. He often arrested the wrong person or came to the wrong conclusion. As a result, unlike many classic sleuths, Morse does not always simply arrest
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
his culprit; ironic circumstances have the case end and the crime brought to him. Also, Morse was a romantic - frequently mildly and gently flirting with or asking out colleagues, witnesses or suspects - occasionally bordering on the unprofessional - but had little success in love.
Morse is a character whose talents and intelligence were being wasted in positions which fail to match his abilities. Several references are made to the fact that Morse would have been promoted above and beyond Chief Inspector
Chief inspector
Chief inspector is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police .-Australia:...
at Thames Valley
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley Region is a loose term for the English counties and towns roughly following the course of the River Thames as it flows from Oxfordshire in the west to London in the east. It includes parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, North Hampshire, Surrey and west London...
CID, but his cynicism and lack of ambition, coupled also to veiled hints that he may have made enemies in high places, frustrate his progression despite his 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...
connections.
Morse is a highly credible detective and plausible human being. His penchant for drinking, his life filled with difficult personal relationships, and his negligence toward his health, however, make him a more tragic character than previous classic sleuths.
Morse’s eventual death in the final episode "The Remorseful Day" is caused by heart problems exacerbated by heavy drinking, differing from the literary character's diabetes-related demise.
Morse interests
Morse had 'highbrow' passions: music (especially opera; Mozart and Wagner among his favourites), poetry, art, classics, British real aleCask ale
Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is the term for unfiltered and unpasteurised beer which is conditioned and served from a cask without additional nitrogen or carbon dioxide pressure...
, classic cars, and cryptic crossword puzzles. When seen at home, Morse is usually listening to music, solving a crossword, reading classic literature, or drinking ale. While working, Morse subsists on quickly downed pints of ale in pubs, usually bought by Lewis who struggles to keep up. Many of his cases touch on Morse's interests and it is often his knowledge that helps him solve them.
In "The Death of the Self", the episode ends with Morse seeing one of the characters, an opera singer recovering from a long absence through stage-fright, make her 'comeback' performance at the amphitheatre in Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, while in "Twilight of the Gods" he investigates the life of one of his opera idols, Gwladys Probert, a world-famous soprano. In "Who Killed Harry Field?", the murder victim is a painter, and in "The Way Through the Woods", Morse researches the pre-Raphaelite movement to aid his investigations.
In several episodes, Morse's crossword-solving ability helps him to spot where people have changed identities by creating a new name which is an anagram. In "Masonic Mysteries" he is maliciously implicated in the murder of a woman when his Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper is placed in the victim's house, with his handwriting filling in the crossword. In the same episode, the writer names Morse's old Inspector from when he was a detective sergeant as 'Macnutt' in homage to D.S. Macnutt
Derrick Somerset Macnutt
Derrick Somerset Macnutt was a British crossword compiler who provided crosswords for The Observer newspaper under the pseudonym Ximenes. He was one of the principal influences on the modern style of cryptic crossword.- Career :...
, better known as the famous and influential Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
puzzle setter 'Ximenes'.
In "The Sins of the Fathers" he investigates a murder in a brewery-owning family while in the first episode, "The Dead of Jericho", he compares the life of a dead woman with that of Jocasta
Jocasta
In Greek mythology, Jocasta, also known as Jocaste , Epikastê, or Iokastê was a daughter of Menoeceus and Queen consort of Thebes, Greece. She was the wife of Laius. Wife and mother of Oedipus by Laius, and both mother and grandmother of Antigone, Eteocles, Polynices and Ismene by Oedipus...
, the mother of Oedipus
Oedipus
Oedipus was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. He fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family...
. The same episode also introduced his Jaguar Mark 2
Jaguar Mark 2
The Jaguar Mark 2 is a medium sized saloon car built from 1959 to 1967 by the Jaguar company in Coventry, England, as successors to the Jaguar 2.4 and 3.4 models, manufactured between 1957 and 1959...
car (which is damaged at the start and end of the story). His interest in classic cars is also explored in "Driven to Distraction" where he suspects a car-salesman of murder. He so strongly seems to dislike Jeremy Boynton that he refers to Morse's own Jaguar as "she", which makes Morse convinced of his guilt.
In "Cherubim and Seraphim
Cherubim and Seraphim
"Cherubim and Seraphim" is an episode of the British television detective mystery show Inspector Morse dramatized on ITV. It was first broadcast in 1992. Cherubim and Seraphim are both Biblical words and their origin is described in Christian angelic hierarchy.-Set-Up:The story involves a group...
", he investigates the suicide of his niece and discusses with her English teacher about her interest in the poet Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer...
, who also killed herself. The teacher defends the teaching of Plath's poetry to students and says that her suicide will not influence students to do the same. In "Second Time Around", investigating the killing of a retired detective, Morse is haunted by an early case of his in which a young girl had been murdered and an obvious suspect could very well be innocent.
Music
The theme and incidental music for the series was written by Barrington PheloungBarrington 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....
and utilises a motif
Motif (music)
In music, a motif or motive is a short musical idea, a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition....
based on the Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
for "M.O.R.S.E.". In the documentary The Mystery of Morse, Pheloung states that he occasionally spelled out the name of the killer in Morse code in the music, or alternatively spelled out the name of another character as a red herring
Red herring (plot device)
Red herring is an idiomatic expression referring to the rhetorical or literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance...
. The series also included opera and other classical genres as part of its soundtrack, most notably pieces by Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
(whose Magic Flute is a significant plot device in one episode).
Locations
- Beaumont College (in the TV episode "The Last Enemy") and Lonsdale College (in The Riddle of the Third Mile, the book on which "The Last Enemy" was based) are both fictional Oxford colleges. The real Brasenose College and Exeter CollegeExeter College, OxfordExeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
were used to represent Lonsdale, while Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi College, OxfordCorpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
was used for Beaumont. Both fictional names are from real streets in Oxford. There is a Lonsdale College at Lancaster University. St Saviour's College in the episode "Fat Chance" is also fictitious, though New CollegeNew College, OxfordNew College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
was used as the location for it. MertonMerton College, OxfordMerton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
and University CollegeUniversity College, Oxford.University College , is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2009 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £110m...
were used for the fictional Beaufort College in the episode "The Infernal Serpent". Christ ChurchChrist Church, OxfordChrist Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
appears in "The Daughters of Cain" as the fictional Wolsey College.
- Eton CollegeEton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
was used extensively as an alternative set to depict various parts of Oxford through the series, notably the county court in the episode "The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn".
- Many of the generic locations used throughout the series, including Morse's house, were situated in EalingEalingEaling is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
amongst the residential streets to the north of Ealing Broadway.
- Some scenes were also filmed at Brunel UniversityBrunel UniversityBrunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
, London.
Props
The Jaguar Mark 2Jaguar Mark 2
The Jaguar Mark 2 is a medium sized saloon car built from 1959 to 1967 by the Jaguar company in Coventry, England, as successors to the Jaguar 2.4 and 3.4 models, manufactured between 1957 and 1959...
car (with number plate 248 RPA) used in the television series became synonymous with the character, and in November 2005 sold for more than £100,000.
Spinoff series
A pilot episode, Lewis, starring Kevin Whately as the now-promoted (and widowed, making the character's situation closer to Morse's) Inspector Lewis went into production in July 2005. This pilot was broadcast on ITV on 29 January 2006, and in the US it aired on PBS on July 31 of the same year under the title Inspector Lewis. A further three episodes were broadcast on ITV in February and March 2007. April 2011 saw the fifth series finish its run.It was reported in May 2011 that ITV were planning a prequel series, Endeavour, with author Colin Dexter's participation. It will portray a young Morse in his university days, with Shaun Evans
Shaun Evans
Shaun Evans is an English actor.Evans completed a course with the National Youth Theatre before relocating to London at the age of eighteen to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His first major role was that of gay French teacher John Paul Keating in the Channel 4 comedy-drama...
playing Morse.
External links
- Granada International's Official Inspector Morse website
- Official Inspector Morse website
- Inspector Morse at the British Film InstituteBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
- Inspector Morse at the MBCMuseum of Broadcast CommunicationsThe Museum of Broadcast Communications is an American museum that currently exists exclusively on the Internet and not in any physical capacity. Its stated mission is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain...
's Encyclopedia of Television - Inspector Morse episode guide
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092379/episodes guide