Ghost in the Machine. A Review PLUS Music, Art, Literary References, Locations etc.

Chris Sullivan

10 years ago

First Transmitted in the UK on 4th January 1989

This episode is not based on any of Colin Dexter’s books but is based on an idea by Mr Dexter.

Colin Dexter can be seen early on, I think.

Directed by Herbert Wise (born 31 August 1924). He directed two other Morse episodes; Twilight of the Gods and The Daughters of Cain

Written by Julian Mitchell (born 1 May 1935). He also wrote the screenplay for The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn, Service of all the Dead, The Wolvercote Tongue, Masonic Mysteries, Promised Land, Cherubim and Seraphim, Twilight of the Gods, The Daughter’s of Cain, Death is now my Neighbour.

Jag Rating (out of ten)

Synopsis

In this episode Morse attempts to fight his way through “aristocratic flummery”. Sir Julius Hanbury, who is a candidate for the position of master at Courtney College, goes missing, along with his collection of erotic paintings. Morse discovers Sir Julius’s dead body in the family chapel, and it looks like murder. Dr Grayling Russell, the new criminal pathologist believes he killed himself. Another death occurs but what is the connection between the two deaths?

The title of the episode Ghost in the Machine may refer to British philosopher Gilbert Ryle’s description of René Descartes’ mind-body dualism. The phrase, Ghost in the Machine, was introduced in Ryle’s book The Concept of Mind (1949)[1] to highlight the perceived absurdity of dualist systems like Descartes’ where mental activity carries on in parallel to physical action, but where their means of interaction are unknown or, at best, speculative.

Of course their was a Police album of the same name in 1981 so it’s possible that Julian Mitchell is a fan of that group. 😉

There is also the non-fiction book by Arthur Koestler titled, Ghost in the Machine.

Review

I am going to start the review with a clip from the episode that never fails to make me smile:

Lewis does like to wind Morse up at times. Maria Callas singing in the musical Cats???!!!! I love Lewis’s wry smile as Morse face crumples at such a suggestion.

I do like this episode despite there being quite a few flaws. It does help that it stars the lovely Patricia Hodge whose cheekbones could cut glass. The flaws are I believe are as follows; firstly is the question of how the au pair Michelle managed to hear a conversation at the front of the house from the first floor of the building while the window was closed;

The second flaw is (major spoiler alert here, so don’t read on if you haven’t seen the episode) surely Lady Hanbury getting on to the train a stop earlier than her destination would have possibly resulted on her being seem by someone she knew. We know that Morse and Betty Parker were on the same train. A very risky plan.

The third flaw is the use of the overused murder ploy of cutting someone’s brake line. A very unreliable method surely.

So, I have got that off my chest and now on to why it is a good episode. Did I mention the lovely Patricia Hodge? Oh I have? Don’t be surprised if I mention her again.

The episode is littered with some great scenes. Apart from the Maria Callas sings from Cats scene there is the Morse’s first meeting with Dr. Russell when his chivalry cum old fashioned-ness cum non PC nature comes to the fore. I love how uncomfortable he gets when Dr. Russell is describing the damage done to the body. It is a mixture of being uncomfortable at the description of the ‘frenzied’ attack and also the fact that it is being related by a woman,

I loved Max as the pathologist but I believe Amanda Hillwood was an excellent substitute. It allowed the viewer to see Morse attempting to cope with a professional woman and one who is possibly on his intellectual level. In later episodes there was that frisson between them and though the plot device, ‘will they or won’t they, is hackneyed, it was welcome in the series. However, it was good that they never did get together as it would have been a difficult story-line to continue and would probably have been distracting. I did find it strange that they decided to have Dr. Russell named after the Grayling fish and not the Grayling butterfly.

Grayling Butterfly (Hipparchia semele)

As well as many great scenes in the episode there are many amusing ones. The scene below is not only amusing but it gives the viewer a glimpse of the hierarchical system that has developed between Morse and Lewis. It also shows that Lewis, unlike in earlier episodes, is no longer in such awe of Morse that he can’t speak his mind.

The writer, Julian Mitchell, has given Lewis many great lines in this episode. When Morse and Lewis arrive at Hanbury House, Morse tells Lewis, “People like them, they think people like us are only here to keep the servants in order.” Lewis replies, “Does that mean we have to arrest the butler?” Continuing on the butler theme. When Lady Hanbury is relating to Morse all the staff who work at Hanbury House, Lewis interjects with a smile saying, “What? No butler.”

Though there is much in the way of references (music, an attendance of the opera by Morse and Lady Hanbury etc), to Puccini’s Tosca, there is really not much that binds the opera to the episode. The only elements of the opera that surface in the episode are the use of a balcony and the mock execution of Sir Julius which is rather tenuous. The opera begins in a church and it is there that Tosca’s jealousy becomes inflamed to the point where she vows vengeance. There is a significant scene in the episode that relates to a church but in no way relates to the opera. Though there is in the episode a need for vengeance by Lady Hanbury played by the lovely and high cheeked boned Patricia Hodge. (See, I told you I would mention her again).

Ghost in the Machine is the Downton Abbey episode of Morse. However, those ‘upstairs’ are not as friendly as the Crawley family at Downton. The episode is in a small way an indictment of the class system and how very little appears to have changed over the years. In this episode the gardener is posh and an ex Harrovian, (Pupil of Harrow School. Fees as of 2013, Harrow School charges £33,285)

Of course the most glaring allusion of this episode is to the D.H.Lawrence novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. In that novel the Lady of the house, Constance is married to Clifford Chatterley. Clifford is paralyzed from the waist down but apart from his disinterest in physical matters he has become emotionally distant from Constance. This is mirrored in Lord Hanbury’s attitude to Lady Hanbury. Though in the novel Mellors is a gamekeeper with whom Constance has a passionate affair it is no great leap to see John MacKendrick, the gardener, as the Mellor’s figure. Lawrence’s novel is also about the British class system which quite clearly Ghost in the Machine also alludes to.

As always, a good solid cast ably headed by the lovely Patricia Hodge. 😉 The little girl who played Georgina wasn’t very good but she was very young so can be forgiven. I wonder what became of her? With a surname like Dench I did wonder if she was any relation to the wonderful Judi Dench but after sometime scanning the internet it appears she is no relation whatsoever.

The Latin phrase that Morse says at the end of the episode is, “Et Ego in Arcadia vixi”. Which roughly translated means, devil or evil being even in the most idyllic places.

Music

00h05m05s

The first piece of music is played when Morse is returning, by train, from Covent Garden in London. It is from Giacomo Puccini‘s (1858-1924) opera ‘Tosca‘.

This is the final tragic scene when Cavaradossi is killed by firing squad watched on by Tosca.

00h14m18

The next piece is again from Tosca and is heard while Morse and Lewis are driving to Hanbury House. And no it’s not from Cats.😉

The singer is as mentioned in the episode, Maria Callas but I’m not sure form which section of the opera it is from. I think it is the same as above but i’m afraid my knowledge of opera is very limited. However, below is Maria Callas singing an aria from Tosca.

Thank you to Nick for pointing out that this piece of music is the end of “Vissi d’arte.”

00h53m49

The next piece of music is by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). The music is Quartet No. 14 in G Major for Strings. K.387:III. Andante cantabile.

If you enjoy all the music from the Morse series I have collected all the pieces I have identified thus far and have created playlists on YouTube. On how to access these playlists please read the relevant post by clicking here.

Literary References

01h38m52

I came across only one literary reference while watching the episode. It occurs while Morse and Lewis are standing on the steps of Hanbury House.

Morse – “You live in a place like this you think the rules don’t apply. Delusions of grandeur. Et ego in Arcadia vixi.”

Lewis – “Oh yes. What does that mean in English.”

Morse – “It means, more or less. there was a serpent even in the garden of Eden.”

‘Et ego in Arcardia vixi’ translates as ‘Even in Acardia I am there’. Acardians were Greeks who lived in the country away from any cities. Their lives were viewed as virtuous, moral and they lived an ideal life. But even they died. I think Morse is alluding to the principle that even in a seemingly perfect setting looms evil, death or a devil.

—————————————————–

Thank you to Alistair who noticed the following literary reference. The French nanny is Michelle Réage. “The episode focuses on pornography/erotica. Reage is the nom de plume of the author of The Story of O. And, for those unfamiliar with the Reage oeuvre, O’s story is of a young French lady given into bondage in a large country house and abused by an upper-class Englishman.”

Art

There was a lot of art in this episode and I have done my best to identify as many as possible. The episode was filmed at Wrotham Park, Barnet Hertfordshire. Many films and TV shows have been filmed at the same location: Gosford Park, Jeeves and Wooster, Sense and Sensibility, Bridget Jones’s Diary etc etc.

00h02m10s

The next group of paintings are all contained within the same scene. Lord Hanbury has received a call from the blackmailer and after putting down the telephone receiver he surveys the paintings in his room. The first painting we see is above where he is sitting;

The painting is titled ‘Pandora‘ by the English painter Ernest Normand (1859 – 1923)

Next we have a group of paintings from the same scene as the camera pans around Lord Hanbury’s study.

The painting marked number one is ‘In the Tepidarium‘ by the Dutch painter Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912). ( A Tepidarium is a warm room in an ancient Roman bath).

The painting marked number 2 is by the English artist William Etty, (1787-1849). The painting is called ‘Venus and Cupid‘.

Number 3 is by the French artist Henri Gervex (1852-1929). The painting is called ‘Rolla‘.

This second group of paintings are again on Lord Hanbury’s study wall. They are shown a few seconds after the above paintings are shown.

Number four is ‘The Cave of the Storm Nymphs‘ by the English artist Sir Edward Poynter, (1836-1919)

Number five is by Lord Frederick Leighton, (1830-1896)

The above painting is called, ‘Venus Disrobing for the Bath‘.

The next three are still within the same scene in Lord Hanbury’s study.

Painting number 6 is ‘Before a mirror‘ by English painter Robert Barrett Browning(1849-1912).

Number 7 is still unidentified.

Number 8 has been identified by Nancy as “Susannah without the Elders” by Frederick Goodall. Thank you Nancy.

01h22m55s

Morse asks Lady Hanbury where she was on the night of the so called burglary.

Number one is a Giovanni Antonio Galli titled ‘The Incredulity of Saint Thomas‘. Very little is known of this artist. He was probably born in the 16th century and died in the 17th century. He was a follower of the more famous Caravaggio and was colloquially known as Spaderino (Little Sword).

Giovanni Antonio Galli,s ‘The Incredulity of Saint Thomas

I’ve still to identify number 2.

01h25m02s

While Morse waits for Lady Hanbury to produce her train ticket, he studies the Gainsborough.

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788). The painting is titled ‘Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan‘.

LOCATIONS

Beginning of the episode –

A meeting of Fellows to decide the next master.

Other scenes in the episode show that Oriel College is being used as a location. Oriel is referred to as Courtney College. I cannot confirm this room is part of Oriel College. Someone on IMDB has written that this is University College.

11m –

Professor Ullman pulls up outside Oriel College.

12m –

Professor Ullman walks into Oriel College Front Quad.

27m –

Morse walks and talks with the Master.

This is University College Fellows Garden.

The gardens of Hanbury House were filmed at Stowe Landscape Gardens, Stowe School, Buckingham.

Oriel College, Oriel Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire was the stand in for Courtney College

Hanbury House was actually Wrotham Park, Barnet, Hertfordshire

A huge thank you to Tina Whiteside for identifying the pub where the Parker’s work. Morse and Lewis had a drink before Morse complained of the beer being sour. Of course the ‘sour’ comment was aimed at Mrs Parker.

The pub is the Rose and Crown, Harefield Rd, Rickmansworth WD3 1PP.

MISCELLANEOUS

Thank you to John and Cheryl for the following information, “We suggest the mention at 29 minutes of the Bishop of Banbury being the one who does not believe in God is a reference to David Jenkins, the Bishop of Durham, who held that office from 1984 – 1994 of whom it was said he did not believe in the Bible. There is an Oxford connection here. David Jenkins studied at Queens College, Oxford, graduating in 1954 and later lectured on theology there.”