My Critique of Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse elevated the British crime drama beyond procedural convention, centering on John Thaw’s irascible, cultured detective in Oxford. Its feature-length patience, literate scripts, and classical allusions yielded an austere beauty that peers like The Bill rarely matched.
The series found tension in Morse’s loneliness and moral fastidiousness, a darker counterpoint to its picturesque city vistas and convivial pubs. However, its glacial pacing and fetishistic long shots may feel mannered today, and the canon’s reliance on singular genius can seem indulgent.
From the bleak “The Wench Is Dead” to the final “The Remorseful Day,” the show proved television could sustain quasi-literary depth without sacrificing suspense. For modern viewers it remains an essential study in character-driven mystery, though its formal constraints may challenge those weaned on frenetic editing.
Principal Characters & Performances
Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse
John Thaw’s portrayal of Endeavour Morse is the definitive heart of the series. He created a detective who was a mass of compelling contradictions.
Morse was irascible and often rude, yet possessed a deep, melancholic sensitivity. He was a brilliant intellectual, fluent in opera, poetry, and art, yet perpetually lonely and prone to romantic missteps.
Thaw’s genius was in making this difficult man not just believable but profoundly sympathetic. The character’s physicality—the weary slump, the pained expression when confronted with vulgarity—spoke volumes.
His investigation style was not about brute force but relentless intellectual curiosity, often seeing patterns others missed. Thaw allowed Morse’s vulnerabilities to surface, particularly in his interactions with Lewis, crafting a portrait of a genius isolated by his own mind.
This was not a heroic figure in a conventional sense. Morse was flawed, sometimes bitter, and his personal life was a series of quiet disappointments.
Thaw’s performance ensured we cared about him anyway, investing fully in his pursuit of truth and his fragile humanity across three decades.
Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis
Kevin Whately’s Robbie Lewis served as the essential counterweight to Morse’s cerebral intensity. Where Morse was university-educated and cultured, Lewis was pragmatic, down-to-earth, and often baffled by his boss’s esoteric references.
This dynamic was the engine of the show’s character drama. Lewis was not a sidekick but a vital partner, grounding Morse’s flights of fancy with common sense and dogged legwork.
Whately’s performance charted Lewis’s growth from a somewhat green sergeant to a confident and capable detective in his own right. The relationship evolved from one of simple hierarchy to a deep, unspoken friendship.
Lewis’s loyalty was absolute, even when he was the target of Morse’s impatience. Their conversations in the classic Jaguar Mark 2 became the series’ backbone, where clues were discussed and their unique bond was solidified.
This partnership, built on mutual respect despite surface differences, set a template for detective duos. Lewis’s humanity and decency provided the emotional anchor that made Morse’s world relatable.
Notable Support and Guest Stars
The world of Inspector Morse was populated by a remarkable roster of supporting and guest actors who elevated every story. James Grout was perfectly cast as Chief Superintendent Strange, Morse’s frequently exasperated superior.
His blustery presence provided both bureaucratic obstacle and, in later episodes, a glimpse of paternal concern.
The pathologists, played by Peter Woodthorpe (Dr. Max DeBryn), Amanda Hillwood (Dr.
Grayling Russell), and Clare Holman (Dr. Laura Hobson), offered dry, scientific counterpoints to Morse’s intuition.
Guest stars read like a who’s who of British acting talent. Episodes featured performances from luminaries such as Gemma Jones, Patrick Troughton, Simon Callow, and Ian McDiarmid, who often brought a theatrical weight to their complex, morally ambiguous roles.
A unique recurring presence was Colin Dexter himself, the novelist, who made uncredited cameo appearances in almost every episode. This playful meta-element delighted fans, weaving the creator into the fabric of his own fictional Oxford.
The consistent quality of these performances ensured that even standalone episodes felt rich and fully inhabited.
Key Episodes & Defining Stories
The Dead of Jericho
This inaugural episode, scripted by Anthony Minghella, established the series’ DNA with remarkable confidence. Morse becomes personally invested in the death of a woman from his choir, refusing to accept her apparent suicide.
The investigation into the tight-knit community of Jericho introduces his method: intellectual persistence in the face of official conclusions.
Guest stars Gemma Jones and Patrick Troughton bring depth to a story of blackmail and quiet desperation. Beyond the mystery, the episode introduces the core dynamic with Lewis, the atmospheric use of Oxford’s streets, and Morse’s melancholic romanticism.
It matters because it proved a complex, character-driven mystery could command a prime-time slot, setting the high benchmark for all that followed. Fans remember it as the perfect introduction to Morse’s world—a world where tragedy is often found behind respectable doors.
The Wench Is Dead
This episode is a masterclass in format innovation. Confined to a hospital bed, Morse reinvestigates a Victorian canal murder from 1859, convinced of a historical miscarriage of justice.
It transforms the detective into a purely cerebral sleuth, piecing together clues from archives and period reconstructions.
The episode is a standout for its ambition, moving the series into meta-detective territory. It matters because it demonstrated the show’s capacity for intellectual play, exploring themes of evidence and judicial error without a contemporary crime scene.
Fans cherish it for its unique structure, its haunting depiction of Victorian Oxford, and its focus on Morse’s mind as his primary tool, even when his body fails him.
Masonic Mysteries
Often cited as the series’ darkest hour, this episode places Morse himself under suspicion for the murder of a former lover. Arrested and suspended, he becomes the target of a chillingly personal vendetta by Hugo DeVries, played with sinister calm by Ian McDiarmid.
Themes of Freemasonry, manipulation, and revenge are woven through a production of *The Magic Flute*, creating an atmosphere of paranoia. It matters for its bold inversion of the usual formula, making Morse the vulnerable subject of an investigation.
Fans remember the intense psychological pressure, John Thaw’s riveting performance as a man fighting to clear his name, and the episode’s unnerving, theatrical menace that pushed the series to its dramatic limits.
The World of Inspector Morse
The show is inextricably bound to Oxford. It is not just a setting but a character in itself.
The series makes profound visual and narrative use of the city’s architecture—the dreaming spires, secluded quadrangles, and shadowy cloisters of its colleges. Fictional institutions like Beaumont or Lonsdale College were brought to life using real locations such as Corpus Christi and Exeter College.
This world extends to the wood-panelled snug of the Randolph Hotel, a recurring haunt, and the traditional pubs where Morse finds both solace and clues. The surrounding Thames Valley provides a contrasting landscape.
This environment creates a unique atmosphere where high academic culture collides with base human motives, and ancient stones hold modern secrets. It is a meticulously realized world that feels both prestigious and intimately familiar.
Origin Story
Inspector Morse began as a television adaptation of Colin Dexter’s novels, developed for Central Independent Television by producer Kenny McBain. The first episode, “The Dead of Jericho,” was written by Anthony Minghella.
Produced by Zenith Productions, the series was structured as feature-length dramas, a format that allowed for deep, novelistic storytelling.
Key figures like executive producer Ted Childs and composer Barrington Pheloung, who created the iconic theme, were instrumental from the start. Filmed on 16mm film, it had a distinctive visual texture.
This careful, quality-driven production approach established the show’s sophisticated identity from its very first broadcast on ITV in January 1987.
Narrative Style & Tone
The series operates at a deliberate, investigative pace. It is a thinking person’s crime drama, prioritizing deduction and character over action.
The tone is often melancholic and introspective, reflecting Morse’s own worldview. Barrington Pheloung’s celebrated score, with its musical clues and melancholic motifs, is integral to this atmosphere.
Literary and classical references are woven naturally into the dialogue, never feeling like mere decoration. The visual style is grounded, shot largely on location to enhance realism.
The narrative balances intricate whodunit plotting with a deep exploration of its central character’s flaws, loneliness, and unwavering moral compass, creating a uniquely rich and satisfying dramatic experience.
How is Inspector Morse remembered?
Inspector Morse is remembered as a landmark of British television and a benchmark for quality in the crime drama genre. It transcended its format to become a cultural touchstone, credited with popularizing Oxford as a destination for crime fiction fans.
The character of Morse, as embodied by John Thaw, is frequently cited as one of television’s most iconic detectives.
Its legacy is evidenced by its enduring popularity in repeats and its topping of polls like the Radio Times vote for greatest British crime drama. The show’s success directly spawned the sequel series *Lewis* and the prequel *Endeavour*, creating a lasting television universe.
It is remembered not just for its mysteries, but for its profound humanity, its atmospheric depth, and its demonstration that commercial television could deliver drama of the highest intellectual and emotional order.
In Closing
Inspector Morse endures because it is more than a collection of cases. It is a profound character study set against a timeless city, a masterpiece of mood, music, and meticulous storytelling that continues to define excellence.