The Dead of Jericho is a work of English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 detective fiction

Detective fiction

Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...

 by Colin Dexter

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:...

, as part of the 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...

 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 hanging in her kitchen at 9 Canal Reach, Jericho

Jericho, Oxford

Jericho is a historic suburb of the English city of Oxford. It consists of the streets bounded by the Oxford Canal, Worcester College, Walton Street and Walton Well Road. Located outside the old city wall, it was originally a place for travellers to rest if they had reached the city after the...

, 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...

. Initially Chief Inspector Bell, from the closer Oxford Central station on St. Aldate's Street

St Aldate's, Oxford

St Aldate's is a street in central Oxford, England. It is named after Saint Aldate of whom little is known, although it has also been suggested that the name is a corruption of 'old gate', referring to the south gate in the former city walls. St Aldate's Church is on the west side of the street, in...

, is assigned to the case; but a fortnight later Morse takes over the investigation and subsequently both of Mrs Murdoch's sons, Edward "Ted" Murdoch and Michael Murdoch, as well as Anne Scott's former employers, brothers Charles Richards and Conrad Richards, and Charles's wife, Celia, come to the attention of Morse. As do Ms Scott's neighbours, including the nosy handyman George Jackson, and Sophocles

Sophocles

Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...

's Oedipus Rex

Oedipus the King

Oedipus the King , also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...

(the latter also figures in episode 3.1 of the spin-off

Spin-off (media)

In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 TV series Lewis).

Television adaptation

"The Dead of Jericho" is the very first instalment of the Inspector Morse TV series

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....

 starring John Thaw

John 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 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...

 (as Detective Sergeant Lewis). Filmed in 1986, it aired 6 January 1987. Anne's last name of Scott was changed to Staveley, and the part was played by 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 first names of the three Richards were changed to Anthony "Tony" (James Laurenson

James Laurenson

James Laurenson is a New Zealand actor, who has performed many classical roles on stage and television.Laurenson was born in Marton, New Zealand...

), Alan (Richard Durden), and Adele (Annie Lambert

Annie Lambert

Annie Lambert is a British actress, best known to fans of the science fiction television series Doctor Who for her role as Enlightenment in the 1982 serial Four to Doomsday....

), making the "C"s into "A"s. Edward "Ted" Murdoch was changed to Ned Murdoch (Spencer Leigh). Patrick Troughton

Patrick Troughton

Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...

  in one of his final roles, plays George Jackson. 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....

 wrote the episode and it was directed by Alastair Reid

Alastair Reid (director)

Alastair Reid was a British television director whose credits include the TV series Traffik and Tales of the City....

.