The Complete Inspector Morse

by David Bishop

  MORSE DECODED: The inspector lies to Lewis about Cluedo, claiming he’s only played the board game once.

  SOPHOCLES DID DO IT: Morse can’t help devising over-elaborate solutions to the simple clues in Lewis’ puzzle.

  SURVEILLANCE REPORT: This brief story of just over 600 words appears at the front of Cracking Cryptic Crosswords, a cheerful guide book written by Colin Dexter and published by Offox Press in 2009. The idea of alluding to character names from the board game Cluedo was also used in ‘The Dead of Winter’, an episode of the Lewis spin-off series broadcast in May 2010.

  THE VERDICT: ‘Clued Up’ neatly captures the dynamic between the inspector and his sergeant. It’s also notable for being the first new Morse and Lewis fiction by Colin Dexter since The Remorseful Day was published, ten years earlier. This is a slender snippet of a story, more slice-of-life than actual narrative – one for the completists.

  ON SCREEN

  This section analyses the 33 Inspector Morse stories first broadcast on British television between 1987 and 2000. There were more than 50 hours of Morse made for television – this section helps you reference them all without wearing out your remote control. Each episode is analysed using the following categories:

  TITLE: The name of each story, as it appears on screen.

  TRANSMISSION DATE [TX]: The date each episode was originally broadcast on British television. All programmes were first screened on the ITV network.

  SCREENPLAY: This lists the name of the writer credited with creating the screenplay. It also notes if it was based on material from Colin Dexter and whether that was a novel, story or just an idea. Fifteen writers scripted the 33 episodes broadcast.

  DIRECTOR: Twenty-one different directors helmed the television stories. Discover who did which with this listing.

  CAST: This details each actor given a screen credit, all of whom have speaking parts. It also notes in brackets the characters they portrayed, as listed in the closing credits. The actors named during the opening title sequence are listed first, followed by the others in order of appearance from the closing credits. Regular cast members like John Thaw and Kevin Whately are noted at the beginning of each series’ section. Recurring cast members (i.e. actors who appear more than once in a series but not in every story) are also noted at the beginning of each series.

  STORYLINE: A summary of the plot for each tale, picking out the crucial moments.

  THE MORE THINGS CHANGE: Where an episode adapts one of Colin Dexter’s novels, the significant alterations are noted here.

  THE MANY CAMEOS OF COLIN DEXTER: Morse’s creator makes an Alfred Hitchcock-like cameo in most episodes of Morse. This section helps readers spot the author.

  DRINK UP, LEWIS: Morse drinks beer and spirits like other people breathe. This section notes all the alcohol he imbibes, and how little Lewis sups.

  CRYPTIC CROSSWORDS: The Times crossword is not as prominent on television as it is in the novels, simply because it sits better in a literary medium. But it does make some significant appearances, as noted in this section.

  UNLUCKY IN LOVE: Witness Morse’s outrageous misfortunes in matters of the heart.

  LOCATION, LOCATION: Past editions of this book included brief notes on the real-life locations that appear in televised Morse tales. However, there are several excellent location guides now available (see Appendix 3 for further details), so this section is no longer included.

  PEOPLE JUST CALL ME MORSE: This notes Morse’s attempts to avoid revealing his embarrassing first name.

  LEWIS’ KITH AND KIN: Lewis’ family tree is a source of constant bemusement for Morse. This category details the many, many relatives the sergeant has spread around the world. It also notes Lewis’ personal history, attitudes and quirks.

  SOPHOCLES DID DO IT: Keep track of Morse’s many misfires, misapprehensions and mistakes with this helpful gathering of the detective’s greatest gaffes.

  ONE FOR THE MORGUE: A concise listing of the lifeless, who killed them and how. By the end of the television series, Morse had investigated some 70 murders and gotten too close for comfort to more than 100 corpses.

  YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN, LEWIS: Surely one of Morse’s most memorable catchphrases, this appears in many of the television tales, especially during the earlier series. Time and again the sergeant provides his boss with a major clue.

  MORSE DECODED: Many of the television stories reveal intriguing morsels of information about the great detective, although these sometimes contradict what had previously appeared in print. For example, the novels suggest Morse is the last of his line, yet on screen he has a stepmother and half-sister living in Oxford. Discover the dark secrets of his past and personality in this category.

  QUOTE-UNQUOTE: A selection of the funniest, wittiest and most moving lines of dialogue from the 33 shows. Alas, many had to be excluded because of space limitations, but plenty of your favourites should still be found here.

  SOUNDTRACK: The music of Inspector Morse is one of its most beloved elements. Barrington Pheloung composed the emotive incidental music for each episode. He also selected and recorded new versions of classical works, both famous and obscure, for use in the shows. Here is a definitive listing of the pieces you hear each episode. Special thanks go to Helen Roulston and Joy Roach who laboured tirelessly to identify many of these works and selflessly shared their research.

  IDENTITY PARADE: The production team on Morse had a policy of never employing the same actor in different roles for different stories. Coupled with the show’s quality of storytelling and high production values, this meant it attracted the cream of British talent in front of the cameras. Casting directors also had a knack for employing actors who would go on to illustrious careers after getting an early break on Morse. This category helps you identify the famous and familiar faces.

  SURVEILLANCE REPORT: This section notes points of interest and oddities about the stories, their broadcast and content.

  RATINGS: The official viewing figures for the first transmission of each episode, as estimated by the British Audience Research Bureau (BARB). These are the numbers used by UK broadcasters to assess the success of their programming. The numbers are in millions, rounded to two decimal places – i.e. 13.87m equals 13,870,000 viewers.

  THE VERDICT: Judgment is passed on the television chronicles of Morse, with each story’s merits and failings discussed.

  Additional categories appear as required. These should be self-explanatory.

  SERIES ONE (1987)

  Executive producer Ted Childs was head of drama at Central Television in 1986. The company was under pressure to commission shows with an appropriate level of regional identity, while Childs believed ITV as a network needed a quality crime drama. Young Scottish producer Kenny McBain suggested adapting Colin Dexter’s mystery novels featuring an Oxford police detective called Morse.

  Childs helped select actor John Thaw for the title role, having worked with him on a hit police drama for ITV called The Sweeney. The executive producer trusted Thaw to ensure the grumpy, fiercely intelligent detective was an engaging and emotionally vulnerable characters. While Morse was transferred from page to screen largely intact, McBain and Childs opted for a more comprehensive reinvention of Lewis.

  In the novels Morse’s sergeant had been a Welsh grandfather and older than his boss. The producers wanted a partner younger than Morse to create a teacher and pupil dynamic, verging on father and son at times. McBain suggested Newcastle actor Kevin Whately for the role, so Lewis’ family origins were relocated from Wales – little more than a throwaway element in the novels – to the north-east of England.

  One of Morse’s character traits from the novels didn’t make it to TV – his passion for pornography. “We decided it made him too grubby,” screenwriter Julian Mitchell recalled in an interview. “Morse’s yearnings were literary, artistic and spiritual, although he was very fond of women. They usually turned out to be murderers.”

  Series One is made up of three episodes,
one written by Anthony Minghella and the others by Mitchell. All are largely faithful adaptations of Dexter’s novels. As a result, they are more town than gown, offering a broad crosssection of life in Oxford with far less emphasis on the university colleges than subsequent series...

  Produced by Kenny McBain

  Executive Producer: Ted Childs

  REGULAR CAST:

  John Thaw (Chief Inspector Morse)

  Kevin Whately (Sergeant Lewis)

  Peter Woodthorpe (Max)

  RECURRING CAST:

  Norman Jones (Chief Inspector Bell in ‘The Dead of Jericho’, then as Chief Superintendent Bell in ‘Service of All the Dead’)

  Philip Voss (Coroner in ‘The Dead of Jericho’ and ‘The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn’)

  THE DEAD OF JERICHO

  ‘I’m a quite different kettle of fish, Lewis.’ Morse misses out on promotion and romance but acquires the services of Lewis in this debut story.

  UK TX: 6 January 1987

  SCREENPLAY: Anthony Minghella, based on the novel by Colin Dexter

  DIRECTOR: Alastair Reid

  CAST: Gemma Jones (Anne Staveley), Patrick Troughton (George Jackson), James Laurenson (Tony Richards), James Grout (Chief Superintendent Strange), Spencer Leigh (Ned Murdoch), Annie Lambert (Adele Richards), Richard Durden (Alan Richards), Charlotte Mitchell (Mrs Staveley), David Michaels (Pete), Paul Dixey (tutor), Christopher Guinee (Grimes), Richard Cubison (pharmacist), Souad Faress (hospital doctor), Wayne Morris (Constable Dixon), Gary Webster (Colin), Sally Cooper (receptionist), Rupert Holliday Evans (David), Charles Hodgson (Jack Hornsby), Irene Sutcliffe (Mrs Hornsby), Gary Powell (constable), Charlotte Stone (Charlotte)

  STORYLINE: Chief Inspector Morse’s red Jaguar gets dented when he helps a raid on a dodgy car garage. He arrives late for a choral society’s rehearsal. Afterwards he has a drink with fellow chorister Anne Staveley and walks her home to No 9 Canal Reach, in Oxford’s Jericho suburb.

  Inside is Ned Murdoch, a law student who comes to Anne’s house to compose. Morse admires Anne’s turntable, which she says was a leaving present from Richards’ Audio Research. After Morse leaves, Ned asks Anne for money. He steals cash from her purse. The man living opposite in No 10, George Jackson, uses binoculars to watch Anne get changed.

  After the next rehearsal, Morse accompanies Anne home. She checks a pregnancy test in her bathroom cabinet – it’s positive. Anne tells Morse there is already someone important in her life. He leaves but says he will still give her a lift to the choral society’s performance.

  Morse arrives to collect Anne for the performance. A Mercedes is parked at the entrance to Canal Reach with a traffic ticket on it. There’s no answer but the front door is open. He ventures in but gets no reply. He notices a black umbrella on the staircase. After the performance Morse returns but the police are already there, responding to an anonymous phone call. Anne has hanged herself in the kitchen. Chief Inspector Bell believes it’s suicide. His assistant, Sergeant Lewis, finds a front door key under a mat.

  Adele Richards gets out of bed during the night and puts a black umbrella into the back of a Mercedes in her garage. Ned buys drugs from his dealer – for once he has lots of money. Adele hears a conversation between her husband and his brother about Anne.

  Lewis visits a hardware store in Jericho. The manager says he cut four keys for Anne, including one for Jackson. Adele, meanwhile, confronts the Richards brothers at work. She wants the truth about Anne, in return for which she’ll tell them the truth.

  Jackson tells Lewis there were a lot of night callers at No 9. He identifies Morse as one of them. Lewis catches Morse leaving Anne’s house that night. The chief inspector dismisses any ideas Lewis had about his involvement in Anne’s death.

  The Richards brothers receive a blackmail letter, demanding £1000.

  Morse asks Chief Inspector Bell to have the inquest into Anne’s death adjourned. She was pregnant when she died and had given birth before. Afterwards Mrs Staveley tells Morse that Anne’s first husband died in a car crash and Anne had given up her baby son for adoption.

  Jackson calls Richards from a phone box and demands money. Morse, meanwhile, goes to Ned’s room. Ned hits him with a shoe and runs off.

  One of the Richards brothers drops the blackmail money in a bin by a phone booth. Jackson collects the money and cycles home, followed by a car.

  Morse attends a talk about turntables by a man introduced as Alan Richards. On his way home Morse sees police cars rushing to a crime scene – Jackson has been murdered. The time of death is estimated at between 9.00 and 9.30 pm, when Morse was attending the talk.

  Chief Superintendent Strange visits Morse at home. Bell is being promoted to superintendent. Instead of a promotion, Morse is to take over the investigation, assisted by Lewis.

  Ned is in the Radcliffe Infirmary after taking a drug overdose. He had already been admitted when Jackson was murdered. Morse asks Lewis for a fingerprint report from Jackson’s house and wants the parking ticket on the Mercedes followed up. The ticket was paid the day after Anne died by A Richards. Forensics found two unidentified fingerprints at Jackson’s house. Adele says she paid for the ticket. She was at Canal Reach when Morse went in that day. Anne was already dead.

  Lewis theorises that one of the Richards brothers killed Jackson on behalf of the other. Morse wants the fingerprints of Tony, Alan and Adele Richards, but none matches the fingerprint found at 10 Canal Reach.

  Morse arranges for all the Richards to meet him and Lewis. The Richards deny any involvement in Jackson’s murder. Lewis arrives just as everyone is leaving. He introduces himself to Alan Richards because they haven’t met before. Morse realises Tony Richards has been pretending to be Alan ever since the turntable talk. Alan tries to escape but only succeeds in driving his Mercedes into the side of Morse’s just-repaired Jaguar.

  Afterwards Anne’s suicide note is found with one of Jackson’s fishing rods. It says she killed herself because Richards broke her heart.

  THE MORE THINGS CHANGE: The plot is essentially the same, but streamlined for television with most of the more outrageous coincidences smoothed out. Morse and Lewis meet for the first time, with Lewis taking the part played by Detective Constable Walter at the beginning of the novel. Anne Scott becomes Anne Staveley. Instead of German she teaches piano. The Richards brothers’ business makes high-quality stereo equipment, instead of publishing books. Charles and Conrad get new first names – Alan and Tony. The illegally parked car is a Mercedes, not a Rolls-Royce. The Murdoch brothers become a single character, Ned.

  THE MANY CAMEOS OF COLIN DEXTER: When Morse goes to Ned’s rooms in college, Colin Dexter walks past Morse in the cloisters.

  DRINK UP, LEWIS: Morse drinks a pint of beer at the White Horse pub after the first choral society rehearsal. After the next one Morse buys himself a pint of beer and a half for Anne at a pub serving what he calls ‘real beer’.

  When the police find Anne’s body, Chief Inspector Bell says he often wondered what Morse did at night, beside the booze. Morse goes home and drinks a bottle of Samuel Smith’s beer.

  After Lewis catches Morse leaving Anne’s house at night, they have a drink in the Bookbinders Arms pub, opposite the entrance to Canal Reach. Morse suggests they talk further at his house where he’s got a bottle of some very good Deserai, but decides they should stop at an off-licence instead. He says Lewis will have to lend him some cash.

  Morse drinks a glass of red wine at the lecture about turntables.

  Strange takes Morse out for a drink after telling him about Bell’s promotion. ‘At least you stop sulking when there’s a beer glass in front of you.’ Morse insists he should choose where they drink.

  Morse decides to celebrate Lewis’ birthday with a pre-lunch bottle of beer, but Lewis declines. Later he comments on Morse’s dependence on alcohol: ‘At least I can survive a half hour’s work without reaching for a beer glass.’ This reminds Morse about Lewis’ birthday and he takes his sergeant
to the Bookbinders Arms. Lewis has to pay and peers unhappily at his change.

  UNLUCKY IN LOVE: Morse makes a mess of asking Anne out several times. Eventually she says there is someone else, someone important in her life. Less than a week later she commits suicide.

  PEOPLE JUST CALL ME MORSE: Anne asks Morse for his first name. He declines, saying his parents were silly. His friends call him Morse.

  SOPHOCLES DID DO IT: Morse becomes convinced events have been inspired by Sophocles’ play Oedipus the King. He believes Anne and Ned were sleeping together when they discovered Ned was actually the son Anne had long ago had adopted. Upon discovering this, Anne commits suicide like her counterpart Jocasta in the play, while Ned tries to blind himself as Oedipus did. Lewis proves this is either wrong or just coincidence. Sophocles didn’t do it after all...

  ONE FOR THE MORGUE: Anne commits suicide by hanging herself. George Jackson has his head split open on a bedpost by Alan Richards.

  MURDERS: one. BODY COUNT: two.

  YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN, LEWIS: Lewis provides the vital clue when he introduces himself to Alan Richards at 9 Canal Reach. Morse realises the two Richards brothers have been swapping places.

  QUOTE-UNQUOTE: Lewis on Morse: ‘I’ve heard he’s meant to be a very clever man.’

  Strange sums up Morse: ‘You’re a clever sod but you don’t say the right things to the right people.’

  Morse is scathing about Lewis’ early morning enthusiasm: ‘You’re one of those people who has breakfast, aren’t you?’

  Morse learns that a constable found Anne’s suicide note while admiring one of Jackson’s fishing rods: ‘Where did this admiration of the rod take place?’

  SOUNDTRACK: The choral society is heard rehearsing and subsequently performing Parry’s ‘My Soul, There is a Country’. Morse listens to the Vivaldi Gloria when he goes to the dodgy garage in the opening sequence. The inspector plays a few notes of the Prelude to Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde on the piano when he visits Anne’s house for the second time. He plays the notes again when meeting with the Richards at Anne’s house. Anne gives a lesson to a student who plays Chopin’s Prelude in A Minor. Morse listens to Mozart’s Piano Concerto 14 when he drives to Canal Reach to collect Anne for the choir’s concert. He listens to Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro at home after learning of her death. Morse is playing a record of Mozart’s Don Giovanni when Strange visits him at home. Morse listens to the overture from The Marriage of Figaro after ransacking Alan Richards’ office. Morse listens to Chopin’s ‘Fantasie Impromptu’ when Lewis visits him at home. Shortly afterwards the inspector has Handel’s Concerti Grossi playing in his car while he drives into Oxford.