by David Bishop
Three more Morse novels followed – The Daughters of Cain in 1994, Death is Now My Neighbour in 1996 and The Remorseful Day in 1999. Dexter was now in full control of the inspector’s destiny. He revealed Morse’s first name in the penultimate novel and killed off his creation in The Remorseful Day. TV could only follow the author’s lead.
AFTER TELEVISION
When ‘The Remorseful Day’ was broadcast in November 2000, it seemed Colin Dexter’s characters had come to a natural and fitting end. The TV series had finished on a high, still attracting huge audiences worldwide. In print, Morse had ended life as he began – in the imagination of his creator, Colin Dexter. The sad loss of actor John Thaw to cancer in February 2002 only underlined the end of Morse – or so it seemed.
Dexter has returned to his creations in prose several times since, penning stories that address Morse in one way or another. Sometimes they are playful works of meta-fiction, alluding to the success of the TV show and even to himself as author of Morse’s many investigations. Other stories have harked back to the character’s early days, delving into the past to find a fresh narrative for readers to savour and enjoy.
The decision to create a Lewis spin-off for television was an obvious one. Indeed, the idea was mooted in 2001, not long after Morse had died on screen. But actor Kevin Whately was reluctant to return to the character he’d played so well and for so long. The notion was quietly shelved, with Thaw’s untimely death making it even less likely.
But as much as broadcaster ITV tried to fill the gaping void left by the loss of Inspector Morse, nothing could match the success of such a beloved series. Various replacements were attempted, none of them took hold. So in 2004 ITV went back to the source and got Dexter’s permission to resume development of a Lewis spin-off. Whately was persuaded back into the role and approval gained from Thaw’s widow, Sheila Hancock.
Broadcast in January 2006, Lewis was a huge success. A regular series of mysteries for the newly promoted inspector to solve was inevitable. To date twenty episodes of Lewis have been broadcast, ample proof of just how enduring Dexter’s creations have been. The author even wrote a short story in 2006 for Lewis and his new television sidekick, Sergeant James Hathaway. The circle was complete once more, in print and on screen.
Morse has come back to life in another medium, taking to the stage in a 2010 play called House of Ghosts. It didn’t match the success of his other incarnations, but history shows the inspector is a resilient character, so a return to the boards can’t be ruled out yet.
Perhaps the most unlikely development came in May 2011 when Dexter confirmed he was in discussions with ITV for a Morse prequel. The project would focus on the character’s days as an Oxford undergraduate, long before he became a police detective. If it goes ahead, the one-off would be broadcast during 2012 to mark the 25th anniversary of Morse’s first television appearance. Dexter said the prequel was prompted by a short story he wrote for the Daily Mail – ‘Morse and the Mystery of the Drunken Driver’, later republished as ‘Mr E. Morse, BA Oxon (Failed)’ – published by the newspaper in 2008.
‘It was all about him coming to Oxford to study,’ Dexter told interviewers. ‘Morse did wonderfully at language and literate, but did not very much like philosophy or ancient studies, so he dropped out and joined the police. ITV came to me and said it would be marvellous if we could do something with those stories. I was not terribly enthusiastic at first, but I thought it would be a nice story to tell.’
Dexter noted Morse was already in his 40s when readers and viewers first encountered the character, but suspected the younger Morse would still display a lot of the same character traits. ‘I don’t really have any actors in mind who could play him. I have never really had much to do with casting.’ ITV confirmed the project was under consideration.
Delving into Morse’s past to tell new stories about the detective before he joined the police is certainly an intriguing prospect. Dexter has written very little about Morse’s background – and what he has written frequently contradicts itself – so the project would have a fairly free hand to craft new stories for the character.
Period drama is more expensive than shows with a contemporary setting. Happily, the historic nature of Oxford means parts of the city have changed little in the past forty to fifty years. A story set during Morse’s undergraduate days would naturally be set amid the ancient buildings and dreaming spires.
Perhaps the biggest challenge would be choosing an actor to play the young Morse. Finding someone capable of evoking the characteristics made so famous by John Thaw would be difficult, to say the least. Indeed, it is the recasting of Morse – even for a younger version – that makes Dexter’s approval for this project such a surprise.
As recently as 2007, the author was telling interviewers he had written it into his will that nobody else would be allowed to play Morse on TV. Dexter considered Thaw’s portrayal definitive, never to be surpassed. If the young Morse project does go ahead, an exceptional actor will be needed to satisfy the character’s worldwide audience.
If nothing else, the reports about this putative prequel prove that Morse continues to intrigue and delight. The chief inspector may be dead, but there remain stories still to be told about him and his erstwhile sidekick Sergeant Lewis. Long may they continue...
IN PRINT
There are thousands of pages of Morse in print – this section enables you to reference them all without cracking the spines of your copies. The thirteen novels and twelve Morse-related short stories are presented in order of publication. (Dexter has also written a number of non-Morse short stories, these are listed in Appendix 3.) Each novel and short story is analysed using the following categories, where applicable:
FIRST PUBLISHED: Year of first British publication.
STORYLINE: A summary of the plot for each tale, picking out the crucial moments. This does not detail every single plot twist or red herring for two reasons – (a) brevity and (b) to leave some surprises for readers who haven’t enjoyed a particular story yet.
UNLUCKY IN LOVE: The inspector is famously unfortunate in ways of the heart. If he doesn’t fall for the murderer, he’ll swoon for the victim. Sometimes he’ll become besotted with both in the same story. Witness here the slings and arrows of Morse’s outrageous misfortunes in matters of the heart. Also, mention is made of the many women along the way who find him curiously attractive.
DRINK UP, LEWIS: Morse seems to survive on a diet of real ale, single malt whisky and the occasional glass of wine. Marvel at the man’s ability to imbibe enough alcohol to fell a rhinoceros. This section also notes the drinking habits of Lewis (orange juice seems to be his default setting) and the inspector’s inability to buy anyone else a drink.
ONE FOR THE MORGUE: A concise listing of the lifeless, who killed them and how. There is also an easy reference count of the number of murders and corpses in each story. However, trying to define whether a case is murder, just manslaughter or merely accidental can muddy the waters; equally, defining the body count is not an exact science. Deaths are included where they are significant to the plot or where the characters who die are significant. By the end of the novels and short stories, Colin Dexter was responsible for nearly 30 murders and close to 50 corpses – all in a purely literary sense, of course!
INCREASE YOUR VOCABULARY: Colin Dexter is fond of slipping words you’ve never heard of into his prose. This section isolates some of them, notes their context and gives a rough dictionary definition. Discover the difference between the pusillanimous, the pedagogues and the prolegomenon.
THE MANY LUSTS OF MORSE: When he’s not falling in love, the inspector is often stricken by lust. Observe here the objects of his desire.
CRYPTIC CROSSWORDS: The Times crossword and its less legendary counterparts play an important part in the mythos of Morse, often providing important clues. Witness the wordplay and ponder the puzzlers. Happily, you don’t have to wait for the next edition to get most of the answers either.
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br /> YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN, LEWIS: Surely one of Morse’s most memorable catchphrases, this appears in numerous stories. Time and again the sergeant unwittingly provides his boss with a major clue. Savour the triumphs as Morse celebrates the genius of Lewis.
MORSE DECODED: Almost every novel and story reveals some intriguing Morse morsel, a previously obscure fact about the inspector’s childhood horrors and the incidents that haunt him. What did his father do for a living? What furniture did the inspector inherit? What skill did Morse most admire in a school colleague? It’s all here, along with notes on the women who broke his young heart and made him into an eternal bachelor.
PORN TO BE WILD: The inspector has always maintained a lively interest in the erotic arts. In print, he takes almost any opportunity to savour the delights of hardcore pornography, a tendency that was, unsurprisingly, lost in the transition to television. See the sexploits of the chief inspector here.
SOPHOCLES DID DO IT: Morse is famous for solving crimes by incredible leaps of imagination. But his method is more than a little scattershot, as this selection of misfires, misapprehensions and mistakes proves. The title is inspired by perhaps his greatest feat of over-elaboration from The Dead of Jericho.
LEWIS’ KITH AND KIN: The sergeant’s endless array of obscure relatives became a source of much comic relief in the television series. See the origins of that trend in this detailing of Lewis’ home life and very extended family. It also notes background information about his life, dislikes and passions.
PEOPLE JUST CALL ME MORSE: One of the greatest mysteries surrounding the inspector was his reluctance to tell anyone his first name. This section notes his many efforts to avoid revealing his embarrassing secret.
SOUNDTRACK: Music is one of Morse’s greatest passions, with Wagner his favourite composer in the novels and short stories. At last you can create the perfect music collection with this guide to the inspector’s idiosyncratic selection of operas, symphonies, concertos and sonatas.
QUOTE-UNQUOTE: A selection of the funniest, wittiest and most moving lines of dialogue and prose from the pen of Colin Dexter.
SURVEILLANCE REPORT: This section notes points of interest and oddities about the stories, their publication and content. It details the peculiar passions and problems of Morse and Lewis, and notes the nuggets of intriguing trivia hidden within each story.
THE VERDICT: Judgment is passed on the prose chronicles of Morse, with each tale’s merits and failings discussed. If something does not ring true, this section will not be afraid to point that out. You may not agree with the verdict, but it will nevertheless provoke you into making your own assessment of the stories...
Other categories appear as required. They should be self-explanatory.
LAST BUS TO WOODSTOCK
‘Lewis, I want you to work with me on this case.’ One of the greatest fictional detective duos since Holmes and Watson makes its debut in this engaging first novel by Colin Dexter.
FIRST PUBLISHED: 1975
STORYLINE: Two young women wait at a bus stop at 6.45 pm, trying to get to Woodstock, just north of Oxford. A woman, Mrs Jarman, says the next bus doesn’t go to Woodstock. One of the girls, Sylvia Kaye, decides to hitch. Her companion reluctantly agrees.
Later that night, John Sanders stumbles out of the Black Prince pub in Woodstock and discovers Sylvia’s murdered body in the car park.
Sergeant Lewis goes to the pub, where he is joined by Chief Inspector Morse. Sylvia was killed by a heavy blow to the head with a tyre-spanner. The spanner belonged to the pub landlord, who left it outside while fixing his car. Sylvia’s blouse has been ripped open, exposing her breasts. The barmaid says the murdered girl may have been at the pub a week ago, with the man who found the body. Sanders says he didn’t touch the body, and lies about knowing the dead woman.
Next day Lewis visits the Town and Gown Assurance Company in Oxford, where Sylvia worked. He interviews the manager, Mr Palmer, and Sylvia’s colleagues, including Jennifer Coleby.
Morse believes Sylvia hitched a lift to Woodstock and makes a televised appeal for information. An English don at Lonsdale College, Bernard Crowther, sees the appeal and agonises about whether to call the police. A truck driver reports seeing the girls getting into a red car driven by a man.
Mrs Jarman contacts the police. She tells the detectives about meeting Sylvia and the other girl at the bus stop. Sylvia’s words suggested she would see her travelling companion again the next morning. Morse believes the girls worked together.
Morse goes to Town and Gown Assurance where he gets permission to open and copy personal letters addressed to the staff. He notices that a letter sent to Jennifer is littered with errors and mis-spellings. Something rings false about the letter, so Morse goes to her home to investigate further. Jennifer shares a semidetached house with two other women. She lies about her movements on the night of the murder.
Morse discovers a coded phrase hidden in the letter: SAY NOTHING. He questions Jennifer again. She admits being mistaken about her alibi. She actually went to the Golden Rose pub at Begbroke. She also mentions receiving a confusing letter. The pub’s landlady identifies Jennifer.
Margaret Crowther attends an evening class on Classical Civilisation. She missed the previous class, held the same night Sylvia was murdered.
Morse, meanwhile, injures his foot doing DIY. He is ordered to rest for two days. The chief inspector decides to solve the case by finding the driver of the red car. He uses an elaborate process of elimination to deduce that the driver was an intelligent married man from North Oxford, aged between 35 and 50, who drinks regularly and can charm a woman. According to Morse’s calculations there is only one such man – he sets Lewis to work, finding the elusive driver.
A police constable visits Crowther to ask about his red car. Crowther voluntarily makes a statement to Morse. He admits giving the two girls a lift but says he dropped them on the main street at Woodstock. Crowther says he was going to Woodstock to meet his lover, but refuses to name her.
Morse meets one of Jennifer’s housemates while in hospital for a check on his injury. Sue Widdowson is a nurse at the Radcliffe. She agrees to go on a date with him. Morse takes her to a dinner dance at the Sheridan Hotel, where his injured foot prevents him from dancing properly. He woos Sue but she is already engaged and they part, both full of sorrow.
Morse questions Sanders about Sylvia. He decides that Jennifer was having an affair with Crowther, and it was he who sent her the coded letter.
The policemen have a joint interview with Crowther and Jennifer. The two suspects admit knowing each other but deny having an affair. They say Jennifer was not the other girl hitching with Sylvia. Afterwards, Morse believes they are lying. Lewis disagrees and the two policemen have a shouting match.
Margaret Crowther commits suicide, gassing herself in her kitchen. When the police arrive, Crowther insists Morse is summoned. Crowther wants to tell the chief inspector something important but is overcome with grief.
Next morning Morse receives a letter from Margaret Crowther, confessing to the murder of Sylvia. Mrs Crowther thought her husband was having an affair and followed him to the Black Prince. She saw him with Sylvia in the back of his car. Once her husband had gone, Mrs Crowther attacked Sylvia. Morse dismisses this as untrue.
Crowther has a heart attack and is admitted to the Radcliffe. Lewis, meanwhile, gets Sylvia’s medical file; she was receiving twice-weekly physiotherapy on a recently broken arm. In hospital, Crowther remembers the events of the night Sylvia was murdered. He did know the other hitcher – it was his lover. He dropped her off at Begbroke before driving on to Woodstock with Sylvia. When he drove off, Crowther saw someone else in the yard. He thinks his wife was the killer.
Crowther has another heart attack. Before dying, he dictates a letter to Morse confessing to murdering Sylvia. But the chief inspector dismisses Crowther’s deathbed confession too. He then tries to phone Sue at work but the hospital will not allow outside calls to staff.
He goes to the hospital and asks Sue for a photograph of herself.
Morse interviews Mr Palmer and revisits Mrs Jarman. Next morning he explains the case to Lewis. Sylvia had sex with Crowther and was murdered soon afterwards. Sanders had been paying Sylvia for sex. He found her corpse and pulled open her blouse to look at her dead body. Morse also says that the other hitcher could not have been Jennifer. She was busy with her lover, Mr Palmer.
The other hitchhiker was Sue Widdowson – Crowther’s mistress. She met Sylvia by accident at the bus stop. They were due to meet the next day, when Sylvia went for her physiotherapy appointment. Sue made an excuse to leave Crowther’s car at Begbroke but then went on to the Black Prince where she knew Sylvia was headed. Sue saw Sylvia and Crowther having sex. Afterwards Sue attacked Sylvia.
Sue Widdowson is arrested and charged with murder.
UNLUCKY IN LOVE: Morse’s run of bad luck gets off to a flying start with Sue Widdowson. He finds her very beautiful. He kisses her and asks to see her again but Sue is engaged. He realises he loves her dearly and feels sick at heart. This feeling only grows worse when he realises she murdered Sylvia!
DRINK UP, LEWIS: Morse drinks whisky in the manager’s office of the Black Prince. He celebrates Lewis joining him on the case with a double whisky but says the sergeant can’t join him because he’s on duty.
Morse goes to the gentleman’s bar at the Minster pub to quench his thirst. Lewis joins him in the bar and Morse buys a round of best bitter for himself, Lewis and the barman. When Lewis leaves, Morse has another pint.
The chief inspector solicits a liberal dose of whisky from Mrs Jarman but again denies Lewis the chance of joining him. The sergeant mutters to himself darkly. Morse praises the whisky in order to get a refill.