"Inspector Morse" (1987) TV series 1987-2000

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

Release Date:

4 February 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

A grouchy but cultured police detective and his easy going partner investigate crimes around the British community of Oxford.

Plot Keywords:

Oxford | Police | Detective | Inspector | Police Detective

Awards:

9 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

John Thaw	...	Chief Inspector Morse (33 episodes, 1987-2000)
Kevin Whately	...	Detective Sergeant Lewis (32 episodes, 1987-2000)
Colin Dexter	...	College porter showing Morse and Lewis to John Brewster / ... (30 episodes, 1987-2000)
James Grout	...	Chief Superintendent Strange (22 episodes, 1987-2000)

Runtime:

120 min (33 episodes)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG (some episodes) | Australia:MA (some episodes) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Abersoch, Gwynedd, Wales, UK

Company:

Zenith Entertainment

Trivia:

Colin Dexter named his two main characters after his favourite crossword compilers, Sir Jeremy Morse and Mrs. B. Lewis. Some of the other characters and places are named after local streets in Summertown (north Oxford) where Colin Dexter lives: Rawlinson Road (Ruth Rawlinson in "Inspector Morse: Service of All the Dead (#1.3)" (1987)), Aldrich Road (Phil Aldrich in "Inspector Morse: The Wolvercote Tongue (#2.1)" (1987)), Hobson Road (Laura Hobson, the pathologist in Series 8-12) and Lonsdale Road (Lonsdale College which features in several episodes).

Quotes:

Morse: Drink that, Lewis, and loosen some brain cells.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Doctor Who Confidential: Alter Ego (#3.8)" (2007)

Morse isn't grouchy--he's prickly--and witty--and brilliantly portrayed

One of the things that has sustained my wife and I through half a century is our mutual love of mysteries. Our appetite for that fare has never been sated, but perhaps it came closest during a trip to England when fortunate circumstance led to our spending an afternoon at lunching and then strolling through Oxford in the company of Colin Dexter. The gracious nature and prickly wit of Morse seems a reflection of the author, whose tastes in the arts are expressed irreverently and inevitably through Morse. The intellect of the author is spelled out in the character, and though the books aren't autobiographical in plot,they seem to be in terms of the characterization of the central figure. Mr. Dexter uses his scholarship and his intellect in life in much the way Morse does--his wry comments on Oxford and its denizens during our visit seemed akin to Morse's views of them. John Thaw, Colin Dexter and Inspector Morse are to me the holy trinity of the mystery genre. Audiences have rarely been so fortunate in the bringing together of an author, a central character and a portrayer each of whom so brilliantly fulfilled his destiny in the same series of performances.