Morse (My Rating: 5+)
Sets the gold standard for all subsequent brilliant but flawed detectives who sometimes gets it wrong.
It’s hard to know where to start with Morse, first broadcast between 1987 and 2000. To my mind, it set the gold standard for all subsequent shows featuring a brilliant but flawed detective who sometimes gets it wrong. Indeed, Morse was so good, it had two spinoffs that were almost as good, Lewis and Endeavour. But DCI Morse can sometimes make you wince.
Colin Dexter wrote 13 Morse novels plus a number of short stories. ITV made thirty-three, 100 minute, episodes from the books and stories. (I first saw them when they appeared on PBS.) Morse is a complex character, well educated – failed to finish at Oxford, ironically the scene of many of the shows – but not fond of academics or the upper class. He also doesn’t like his first name (and never uses it) and also hides his tender heart. He thrives on classical music and especially opera. Never married, Morse sometimes pursues relationships with attractive female suspects and co-workers. He likes to think himself logical and likes puzzles (and is addicted to crosswords). But in an early episode, in a burst of self-knowledge, he admits his great weakness: he indulges in guess work and leaps to conclusions “usually wrong.” His method is “inspirational,” sometimes getting things backwards (especially when blinded by infatuation with a suspect). He’s squeamish about blood but fond of his Jaguar, often driving faster than his sergeant finds comfortable. John Thaw captures all of this in his masterful portrayal of Morse.
Sergeant Lewis (played wonderfully by Kevin Whately) is a bit plodding and Morse can be condescending towards him. But they get along well and in his own way, Lewis is his match – Morse doesn’t get away scott free. I had never read any of the Morse books but recently tried the first, Last Bus to Woodstock. While in the TV version, Morse is older than Lewis, in the book it’s the other way around. I may not read any other of the series, but in this one, Dexter’s Morse comes off even more prone to dubious behavior than Thaw fortunately plays him.
Chief Superintendent Strange is Morse’s boss and a colleague from early days. He often has to reign Morse in a bit and caution him about his drinking. But Morse always gets to the solution. He’s dogged in pursuit of the truth even if he sort of stumbles into it after a couple more deaths.
I can’t leave this review without mentioning the theme music by Barrington Pheloung. It’s a haunting piece that imbeds the Morse Code for MORSE and always leaves me wanting more. Pheloung also did the themes for Lewis and Endeavour. You should give it a listen:
Great to see this. This is my Favorite and I couldn't agree more about it's status. I have read several of the books and would read more, even though they can get "dark". It's painful to see the sweet-faced Shaun Evans falling deeper into his dark side. But it had to be, of course.
Thanks for including the music link. I'd heard about, but forgotten the bit about using the MORSE CODE. Clever.
British mysteries and Jeopardy hold the keys to my heart.
This comment comes from a British reader: "A good and fair assessment.
As a Brit I seem to have lived with Inspector Morse for a very long time. There is no doubt that the original series, with John Thaw, was excellent. But, to be fair, the series ‘Lewis’ that followed was not far behind. Kevin Whatley had matured into his role as Lewis and his side kick Sergeant Hathaway (Lawrence Fox) was also very good and always a good watch. ‘Endeavour’, on the other hand, was very lacklustre. Maybe something to do with that there are only so many professors and students that Oxford can afford to lose!
Briefly I must look at the two main players.
John Thaw I first noticed in the TV cop series called ‘Sweeny’. That title being a short form of the London Cockney rhyming slang ‘ Sweeny Todd’ *. That being what most Londoners , especially the crooks, called the London Metropolitan Police special team entitled ‘The Flying Squad’. It was the first time that Brits had a glimpse of the sordid side of the classic ‘cops and robbers’ activities that existed in their country. If anyone has a chance to see it, do so. However put it in context of the period - 1970’s British TV. It was advanced TV for its day but somewhat ‘old hat’ these days.
But John Thaw had many other series and TV films that are worth seeing. One being the lawyer style TV series ‘Kavanagh QC’ where he plays a quite different character to that of Morse. It’s worth watching.
The one stand alone TV film of his which I think is outstanding is ‘Goodbye Mr Chips’. He plays a totally different character yet again. He is a country yokel in the last war who rescues a young lad from the London Blitz. It’s a lot more convoluted than that and is definitely worth watching. The whole film carries across the atmosphere of wartime Britain very well.
Then there is the ‘Lewis’ series. Kevin Whatley has become a very good actor. He originates from the English North East (Newcastle way) and has retained his accent and method which has limited him quite a bit to the roles he has played. But he is still a very good actor but more limited in range than John Thaw.
*Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the ‘penny dreadful’ magazine serial The String of Pearls (1846–1847)."