152. Series Reviews – 20

 More Series reviews….

This week I am writing about a Series that has been running since 1987😊!  Yes 1987!!.  The series started in 1987 as Inspector Morse and the 6th series ended in 1993.  Then from 1995 to 2000, one episode per year was released.  Mind you, each episode is of around 1 hour and 40 minutes in length, an actual film itself!  So, there were 33 episodes of this series from 1987 to 2000.  In the last episode, the protagonist dies.  In 2018, this series was named the greatest British crime drama of all time by Radio Times readers.  All the stories are set in Oxford, UK.

In Inspector Morse, a character named Lewis was the Sergeant to Inspector Morse.  In 2006, Lewis debuted featuring the same Lewis character, now promoted to Inspector.  This ran till 2015 for another 33 episodes.  ITV announced that the show would end after its ninth series, following the decision made by Kevin Whately (Lewis) and Laurence Fox to retire from their roles in the series. Whately announced that the show had gone on long enough, with his character having done many stories between Morse and Lewis after he took on the role 30 years ago😊!!

In 2012 there was a pilot episode of Endeavour and then in 2013 the series started.  Morse’s first name was Endeavour😊 which the viewers got to know only in the last season of the series!!  So, this series is of a younger Morse and is set in 1960’s and 1970’s in Oxford!!  The 7th season was telecast during February 2020 and the 8th season has been commissioned.

As of now, I have seen the complete Inspector Morse series, that took me about a month to complete😊!!  I have also seen 4 seasons of Lewis.  Rest to follow😊!!

Inspector Morse – It is based on Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse novels.  Every episode involved a new murder investigation and depicts a complete story.  John Thaw as Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis. 

More from Wikipedia…

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.

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. 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. 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.

Morse is a highly credible detective and a 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, although in the books his death is diabetes-related.

Excellent series and acting by the main cast.  During childhood, I used to see the German series, The Old Fox.  Seeing Inspector Morse, took me to my childhood days when I used to eagerly wait each week for seeing the next episode of The Old Fox.  Even after searching for a lot time, I am yet to find this series😊!!  Coming to the series review, Morse’s and Lewis’s quirkiness also add to the entertainment quotient!  Lewis plays second fiddle to Morse and is always at the receiving end from Morse.  He gets to come on his own in the Lewis series where he takes his revenge by doing to his sergeant what he got from Morse😊!!  I will review Lewis and Endeavour once I have seen them in full!

Cheers till next time!

Today’s Observation

If you want to know how your girlfriend will treat you after marriage, just listen to her talking to her little brother!