First transmitted in the UK on 18th January 1989.
This is episode 3 in series 3. Chronologically this is episode 10.
This episode is not based on a Colin Dexter novel but on an idea by him.
Colin Dexter can be seen at 47 minutes 29 seconds walking behind Lewis and Roland.
Directed by Anthony Simmons. He directed only one episode.
Written by Anthony Minghella. He also wrote the episodes; ‘The Dead of Jericho’, ‘Driven to Distraction’. He of course went on to direct movies such as, ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’, ‘The English Patient’ and ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ to name only a few.
Episode jag Rating (out of 10)
SYNOPSIS
Morse receives an unexpected call from an Anthony Donn, a one time flatmate of Inspector Morse during their College years. Anthony Donn is in Oxford as part of the Arnold College old boys Claret Cricket Team. Morse meets with him and realises there is something troubling Anthony Donn but cannot get him to relate what that problem is. Anthony Donn phones the next day to talk to Morse but he is too busy interviewing suspects in the deaths of three people who ran an ‘alternative’, ‘liberal’ bookshop.
Before Morse has time to return the call Anthony Donn is found dead in his college room apparently by his own hand. Morse suspects murder and believes that one or more of the eleven remaining Claret Cricket team members are the murderer or murderers.
Meanwhile a couple, Peter and Phillipa Foster, who are visiting from Brussels doing research for a book Peter is writing appear to be also investigating the Claret Cricket team.
REVIEW
This particular episode is in my top ten favourite episodes of the Morse series. It has many things going for it and one of those is the amount of time we see Morse smiling.; at least four times in the episode. My favourite scene of Morse smiling is when Lewis is acting undercover as a porter to try and obtain any information on the Claret Cricket team. The cricket team are returning from practice and visit the Porter’s Lodge for their key and any messages that may have been left for them. One of the team, played by Charles Collingwood, asks Lewis if he could put some money in the meter for him should any traffic wardens saunter past. The cricketer passes Lewis what looks like a high denominational note. So, Morse comes up to the window where Lewis is and:
This episode has a lot of wonderful and revealing scenes. One scene that reveals more information about Inspector Morse is where he is meet by Roland Marshall who doesn’t at first recognise his former college friend. Not until Kate Donn introduces Marshall to Morse does he realise who Morse is. It is then that we learn Morse’s nickname during his Oxford college days at Lonsdale; Pagan, because of his reluctance to reveal his Christian name.
Another interesting revelation about Morse was that he shared a flat with Daniel Massey’s character, Anthony Donn during their college days. I’m not sure why but I never imagined Morse sharing a flat with anyone. But, unlike the older Morse the younger man appeared to be more sociable. I suppose I always think of Morse living alone and being very content with his own company.
It is a well written episode and not surprising as it was written by the talented Anthony Minghella. I love the little reveals mentioned above but also we learn a little more of Morse’s philosophy, the way he thinks about his work as a detective;
There is one thing that doesn’t work in the episode or at least doesn’t make sense, to me at least, and that is the arson attack on the alternative’ bookshop. I can’t fathom how this relates to the rest of the episode other than being a distraction for Morse. We never learn if anyone is prosecuted for the killing of three people who were trapped inside the shop as it burned. Was it there to show that Grayling Russell is still coming to terms with the kind of job she is doing? Was the sub-plot there to show the hate some people have for other human beings and that misogynistic illustration is played out further when its revealed who the drug dealer was at the end of the episode? People from different aspects of the social spectrum but still capable of feeling the same kind of hatred. A hatred that destroys people’s lives. Well that is my ten cents worth regarding that sub-plot.
This episode finds two women flirting with Morse but ultimately both women are simply using their womanly wiles to keep tabs on Morse and his investigation. Was Morse aware that he was being used? I think he was regarding Phillipa Foster. He certainly, I believe, had an inkling that her interest in him wasn’t purely attraction. As for Kate Donn, I don’t think Morse was aware of her duplicity. I think of the two women he was more disappointed at Kate Donn’s deception. However, I do think Morse was himself being a little indiscreet, flirting with a woman whose husband has just died. Not only that but her husband was an acquaintance of Morse.
As I have already written above, Morse smiles and laughs quite often in this episode. In fact he does so more often than Lewis. Lewis even shows his grumpy, disciplinarian, Morse like side when he reprimands DC Hilaire for listening to the cricket on his portable wireless even though Lewis had just borrowed it to listen to said cricket commentary.
Humour, if not the backbone of the episode it is certainly the feet upon which it stands. From Lewis going ‘undercover’ as a porter to Morse enjoying watching Lewis go through the whole charade. One of the funniest and endearing moments in the episode is when Morse and Lewis meet in the gent’s toilet to discuss the case:
Apart from the above mentioned niggle regarding the arson attack my other niggle with the episode is the scene where Morse gives Kate Donn a lift to the railway station. Once he leaves her on the platform he drives around to the other side of the railway tracks, to the opposite platform and then proceeds to go up the stairs and walkway that span the railway line. The intention being to follow Kate Donn to London. But surely she would have seen his big red car drive around to the other side and then notice Morse walking on to the other platform and possibly over the walkway? Picky? Probably. All in all it doesn’t diminish the episode one iota.
My last point is my belief that the cricket is being used as a metaphor for the detective work carried out by Morse and Lewis. During the episode when Morse is sitting with ‘the handsome’ Phillipa Foster he remarks on cricket that it is, “Men in uniforms, incomprehensible rules, nothing happening for hours on end. “Phillipa replies, “It’s war without guns…Deployment of men, psychology, bravery, great skill, camaraderie, tactics, tension.” All those things that Morse and Phillipa mention could easily be describing the Police Force. (Though, unfortunately guns now play a part in the British Police Force).
That’s all I have to write about the episode and I hope I have given you all something to think about.
Music
We have three pieces of classical music in this episode and the first is at the very beginning where we see Anthony Do arriving at the University and ends when we find Morse in his office. The piece is the ‘Emperor’ Quartet by Joseph Haydn, (1732-1809).
00h03m27s
The second piece of music is again being played on Morse’s radio in his office at the police station. Meanwhile Lewis wants to listen to the cricket commentary 🙂 . The piece is by Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) and is the second movement of his Concerto for Cello in A minor. I couldn’t find a video of just the second movement so I have used the video below which has all three movements.
01h21m30s
The third piece of music is being played in Morse’s house where we find him discussing the case with Lewis. This piece of music is by Robert Schumann (1810-1856). It is called Third String Quartet.
Literary References
00h57m35s
During the scenes of the criket match Morse has brought along two books with him. He picks up one of the books which is titled ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’.
This book is a 1970s classic and it was a bestseller. Of the title the author Robert M. Pirsig has said, “it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It’s not very factual on motorcycles, either.”
01h27m01s
Our next book is ‘Zen Flesh, Zen Bones’ by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki.
It was first published in 1957 and is a Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings. Morse finds this book on Kate Don’ns bookshelf.
01h38m23s
Our last literary reference is related by Morse when he and Lewis visit Kate Don’s London flat. Morse quotes E.M.Forster, “Only Connect”. The quote is from Forster’s wonderful novel, Howard’s End. Margaret Schlegel, the novel’s intellectual heroine, is kissed by Henry Wilcox for the first time. She reflects on what happened,
“It did not seem so difficult. She need trouble him with no gift of her own. She would only point out the salvation that was latent in his own soul, and in the soul of every man. Only connect! That was her whole sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die.”
ART
00h04m41s
Our first piece of art is via a poster on the wall of Anthony Donn’s college room.
As an aside we of course meet the young Anthony Donn in the series three episode ‘Ride’ of the Endeavour series.
The painting depicted is section of Paolo Uccello‘s famous ‘Hunt in the Forest‘. Morse fans will recognize this painting form the Lewis episode, ‘The Point of Vanishing‘ (Series 3, Episode 3).
This painting is housed at the Ashmolean in Oxford.
00h19m52s
Morse and Lewis are discussing the latter’s holiday plans during the investigation of Anthony Donn’s death. On the wall of the university room we see a familiar image that can be found in elsewhere.
The poster depicts a painting by Camille Pissarro (1830-1903). The painting is ‘Peasants Planting Pea Sticks’, (also known as Peasants planting in the field), 1890.
The above painting can be seen at the Ashmolean in Oxford. If the painting looks familiar that is because we saw another painting by Pissaro based on his works of women working in the field in the episode ‘The Dead of Jericho’.
The above painting is called ‘Peasant Women Planting Stakes‘, (1891). We saw a poster of the above painting on Anne Staveley‘s kitchen wall.
00h29m01s
The next painting is hanging on the wall of a university room. The scene is where Morse and Roland are discussing the murder of Anthony Donn.
The above painting is called ‘Dante Lecturing to a Group of Followers (Six Tuscan Poets)’ by Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574). Below is a better representation of the painting.
Interesting Facts
1. – Daniel Massey who appears in the episode as Anthony Donn is the brother of Anna Massey who appears in the Inspector Morse episode, Happy Families, (Series 6, Episode 2) and the Lewis episode, Whom the Gods Would Destroy, (Series 1, episode 1).
Anna Massey in Happy Families (left) and in Lewis episode Whom the Gods Would Destroy.
2. – During the episode Kate Donn takes a sip of coffee and says, “I hate coffee”. This appears to be an intentional joke as it plays on Sharon Maughan appearing in famous and very popular adverts for Gold Blend coffee in 1987 and 1988 alongside Anthony Head.
3. – Morse refuses sugar in his tea at 1hr6mins. Maybe he decided to listen to his dentist after all after his toothache in the episode, ‘The Last Enemy’.
4. – We see Lewis’s home and his son for the first and I believe the only time in all the Morse episodes. Or at least we see the back garden and the back of the house.
5. – Daniel Massey and John Thaw starred together in a Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production of Twelfth Night in 1983.
John Thaw was Sir Toby Belch, Daniel Massey (on the far left of first picture) played Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Co-incidentally,Zöe Wanamaker also starred in the production as Viola. Zöe Wanamaker appeared in the Morse episode, ‘Fat Chance’.
6. – Nicky Henson who plays Vince Cranston in this episode was in one episode of John Thaw’s sit-com, ‘Home to Roost’. He starred as John Thaw’s younger brother, Edward Willows. It was series three, episode two of the sit-com. Aired on the 31st October 1987.
7. When Anthony Donn calls Morse to ask if he would like to meet up, Morse doesn’t at first realise who it is. When Anthony Donn relates his name, Morse replies, “What, St. John’s Wood Anthony Don.”
LOCATIONS
The opening scenes are outside Pembroke College. Referred to as the fictional Arnold College.
Anthony Donn arrives.
Anthony walks to the entrance of Pembroke College.
Entrance to Pembroke College.
20m –
Morse is walking through the quad of Pembroke College where they are moving Anthony’s body.
© Dave S.
24m –
Morse and Kate Donn meet Vince and Roland.
This is still in Pembroke College.
The steps behind Kate Donn in the screenshot can be seen in the above photo in the background.
Morse and Kate Donn go for a cup of tea.
29m –
Morse and Roland have a drink.
This is Oriel College.
39m –
Peter Foster collects his room keys from Lewis then walks through Pembroke College.
47m –
Lewis and Roland stagger through Pembroke College.
1h27m –
The cricketing team are ready to leave.
This is the entrance to Pembroke College.
Beaconsfield railway station, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. The location where Morse drives Kate Donn then follows her to London.
Kate and Anthony Donn’s house. Denham, Buckinghamshire.
All College scenes were filmed at Hertford College or Oriel or Pembroke College College, Oxford.
Mill Hill School, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London.
The burned out bookshop was filmed at St Anne’s Road, Shepherd’s Bush, London.
CAST
Daniel Massey as Anthony Donn. (Born October 10, 1933 – Died March 25, 1998)
Amanda Hillwood as Grayling Russell – (Born – 11th August 1962 – )
Andrew Paul as arson suspect. – (March 17, 1961 – )
Andrew Paul is a well known face to British TV viewers having played D.C. Quinnan in the long running cop show for thirteen years, ‘The Bill’. He also appeared in an episode of ‘The Sweeney’ when only sixteen.
Peter Amory as DC Hilaire. – ( November 2, 1962 – )
Peter Amory is well known to British soap fans having played Chris Tate in Emmerdale.
Sharon Maughan as Kate Donn – (June 22, 1950 – )
Sharon is married to the wonderful actor Trevor Eve who played a private detective in the great series ‘Shoestring’ in the 1980s. He also starred in one of my favourite shows of the early years of the 2000s, ‘Waking the Dead’.
Stephen Moore as a Radio Producer. – (Born – December 11, 1937 – )
Stephen Moore has been a mainstay of British television for many, many years. However, I will always remember him affectionately as the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android in radio and television adaptations of Douglas Adam’s ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. To the right of Stephen in the above picture is the actress Ann Bryson best known for her Philadelphia cream cheese adverts.
Nicky Henson as Vick Cranston – (Born May 12, 1945 – )
Norman Rodway as Roland Marshall – (Born February 7, 1929 – Died – March 13, 2001)
Geoffrey Beevers as Peter Foster – (Born 1941 – )
Bryan Pringle as Barker the Porter – (Born January 19, 1935 – May 15, 2002)
Bryan Pringle will be always be remembered by me for two roles; as the villainous milkman Austen in the Norman Wisdom film, ‘Early Bird’ and as Cheese and Egg in the sit com The Dustbinmen,
Charles Collingwood as Claret’s bowler. – (Born May 30, 1943 – )
Best known to me as Brian Aldridge in the long running BBC Radio Four series, ‘The Arches’.
Jane Booker as Phillipa Foster – (Born May 9, 1956 – )
Another mainstay of British TV.
Nathanial Parker as Jamie Jasper – (Born May 18, 1962 – )
Best known for playing Detective Inspector Lynley in the BBC crime drama series The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.
Elin Jenkins as WPC (No info)
Brian Johnston as himself (Voice only as cricket commentator) – (Born June 24, 1912 – Died January 5, 1994)
Brian was known to countless cricket fans for his Test Match commentary.
I’m so thrilled to have found your website, it’s brilliant! Just came across it today googling ‘The Wolvercote Tongue’. I really appreciate all the hard work that has gone into it, especially with regard to identifying locations, seeing the links is fascinating.
Alice, thank you so much for those kind words. I hope you enjoy the other posts on my blog.
Im re-aquainting myself with this story, as a much younger Anthony (Tony) Donn will be in new Endeavour series, the opening story in New Year.. of ..s 3, in Ride,
Hi Sue. It’s a great episode. That will be interesting to see what kind of relationship Anthony Don has with Morse as we already know form this episode they shared a flat at one time.
As I make my way through my third (I think) viewing of Morse, I find myself finishing an episode and coming here to see what you have to say. I did this in a way during my second viewing by going to the David Bishop book right after an episode. Great, great fun! I feel the same as you about this episode. It is one of my favorites, and has prompted me to buy a book on cricket – Cricket Explained by Robert Eastaway. It is such a beautiful sport to watch and I’m hoping the book helps me understand what is happening. I’m fond of the actress Jane Booker, though from IMDB it seems like I’ve rarely seen her in shows. Sometimes I wonder if they list everything. Nathaniel Parker is an actor I never find appealing. Isn’t it funny how we viewers respond to actors? He’s in the Mortmaigne Lewis episode – The Dead of Winter. Thanks for all the time you put into this work.
I’m glad to have found this blog. I’ve been watching Morse, Lewis, and Endeavour for many years, and am a devoted fan. Deceived by Flight is one of my very favorite episodes, for all the reasons mentioned, and also for the delightful dialogue between Morse and Anthony Donn. Also, it was pure pleasure to watch Lewis enjoying himself playing cricket, and to get the glimpse of his home and little boy.
In regard to Lewis’ family, the only other time I know of that his son is seen is in the episode Death is Now My Neighbour, in which we see Lewis being called to school to deal with his angry and frustrated teenage son, who lashes out at him. We had an opportunity to see Lewis and his wife Val enjoying a night out in Greeks Bearing Gifts, and a glimpse of her in another episode I can’t remember the name of, in which Morse gave Lewis tickets to something Lewis preferred not to go to. And there was an episode whose name I’ve forgotten in which Lewis is sitting at home with his daughter, who is doing her homework.
In the days of long ago, I was a great fan of Daniel Massey’s father, Raymond Massey, the brilliant Canadian actor.
Thank you for this blog..
Hi Frances. Thank you for your lovely comments and welcome to my blog. I think the episode regarding the tickets to a show was Masonic Mysteries. The episode with Lewis sitting at home with his daughter is Cherubim and Seraphim. Raymond Massey was a great character actor. I loved him The Prisoner of Zenda and Arsenic and Old Lace.
Thanks! You have done and are doing a brilliant job of researching and cataloguing information from the various episodes.
Truly a labor of love.
Me, again. Watching the series again, and writing notes about which ones I like, and those I don’t – skipping over them this time. I felt Morse to be almost pathetic in his affection for Donn’s wife. And didn’t Daniel Massey have the most wonderful part in this episode. You probably know that the family is part of the Massey-Ferguson company.
Great insights, as always. The scene where Morse says he is surprised to find Roland Marshall in a wheelchair and then Lewis chastises DC Hilaire for listening to the test match, certainly appears to be Oriel College. I tried determining where Morse took Kate Don for tea, but the etched mirror only seems to say “Of St James’s” – which revealed little. However I did get result on the statue seen in the hallways outside the inquest (timemark 51:59-52:25). It’s The Reading Girl by Pietro Magni (modeled 1856). The statue is reading with a tear on one cheek, but that’s a bit of a bit of a stretch for the plot, since Anthony Donn would’ve been the one crying over his discovery in a book. More details can be found here:
http://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com/2015/11/Pietro-Magni-Reading-Girl.html
Is the reason Donn talks about the Zen book to Morse and mentions the lesson, One Hand Clapping, because he fears his wife and lower will murder him?
Hi Kathleen,
That is certainly part of it but the main reason is to point Morse toward the book when he is looking for clues.
Regards
Chris
The dedication in the book does not reveal who gave Kate the book. She says it was given to her by a girlfriend, and that could have been true, if the girlfriend (or Kate) was of the sapphic persuasion. There seems to me to be no reason why Kate should have lied, saying she did not have the book.
We have to assume she was neither bisexual or a lesbian. If the book had been from a platonic girlfriend then she would have written her name and not ‘from me’. She lied because of the inscription inside and knew this would be suspicious and be proof she was having an affair. The ‘from me’ part of the inscription is written to hide who it’s from. Anthony found it and guessed it was a sign Kate was having an affair.
Morse expresses a lack of interest in cricket in this episode, yet in the Silent world of Nicholas Quinn (around 28 minute mark) – and in another episode but I don’t have the reference to hand – you can see he has a collection of Wisdens.
My OH and I noticed this as well some time ago. I’m fairly sure its in “Last Bus To Woodstock”.
Perhaps he inherited them from someone and thought they looked nice on his top shelf?
I’d find it believable that he has Wisdens exclusively for crossword purposes…maybe a stretch, though
I’m fairly sure it’s “St John’s Road Anthony Don” rather than “St John’s Wood Road Anthony Don” – it’s mentioned they shared a house together in Morse’s undergrad days. They could hardly share rooms in St John’s Wood Road which is more than 6 miles from Carfax!
Depending on the timing of Morse’s and Don’s educations, it’s either correct as St John’s Road, in the wilds of northern Jericho – which was renamed St Bernard’s Road in 1961 – or it’s a mistake for St John Street, which leads off Beaumont Street. St Bernard’s Road does still have multiple-occupancy houses rented by undergrads, although the Georgian terraces of St John Street are a bit more exclusive/expensive nowadays, although I believe Michael Heseltine had rooms in a shared house there as an undergrad in the 50s.
I’m rewatching the whole Colin Dexter canon, and loving all of these reviews – thank you for all of your hard work. Just one point, I’m pretty sure that the railway station in this episode is Newbury, Berkshire. My in-laws live there so I know the station well.
I’ve looked at Newbury station on Google Maps, and I don’t think it looks like the station used in DbF, whereas Beaconsfield station does.
Thank you Bert I will look into that.
Very definitely Beaconsfield station, lived there and commuted from it for several years.
I think if you were on the Up (London) platform you’d be unlikely to see Morse’s car due to the platform bridge, station buildings etc – its more obvious in the show as the camera is raised above.
One flaw is the trains were 2-3 coaches max so it’d be tricky to follow her unseen.
Becaonsfield often appears in Morse, Lewis and Endeavour. I’m sure the Royal Standard pub at Forty Green is in an early one. It has the National Film and Television School plus is close to many studios past and present in the wider area N/W of London and smack on the London – Oxford A/M40 route.
Sadly, another Star of the Morse Universe passed away very recently. I discovered on the BBC News website that Stephen Moore unfortunately died this month. As detailed above, he played the Radio Producer in this great episode, “Deceived by Flight”. Here is the link from the BBC Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50035065
Hi James. Thank you for that. I actually mentioned Stephen’s death on my Facebook and Twitter account. I haven’t as yet found the time to write a post on his death.
Hello Chris,I had a chuckle towards the end of the episode when the anagram of Minghella is used(ellingham)just like it’s used for Doc Martin.
What an interesting blog you have written . Thank you.
I have been trying to figure out one animomily in this episode ( apart from the burned shop).
At the death of Foster a very guilty looking person is beside the body but no mention it looks like the nephew from Hong Kong…….left us confused
Cheers Warren
Hi Warren. The person found with Foster’s dead body is the nephew from Hong Kong, Jaime. I think he looks more shocked than guilty. But yes, we never see him being interviewed in regard to the death of Foster. Particularly when one of Morse’s laws is that ‘”there is a 50 per cent chance that the person who finds the body is the murderer”.
Hi Chris, thanks for your reply , that was definitely a continuity mistake because Jamie was finally arrested for the murder of Foster yet he was apparently allowed to wander around as if nothing was wrong until the end.
Are you watching the Uk or USA version? We are in USA but have found some UK shows get edited for length or content by some unknown person. The Dr Who series is defiantly cut up and the graham norton interview show is shortened and cut bits out as we are ortiginslly from UK and figured that out for sure.
Cheers Warren
This is (yet) another hole in this episode. The claim is that no player could have killed Foster because they were all on the field when it happened. So, Jamie was either on the field and he could not have killed Foster or he was not and, as such, he should have been the prime suspect. Yet, Morse doesn’t zero on him, we don’t even see Morse interviewing him (or the other players), Morse excludes them. Too many holes in this episode.
ati3414
The suspects were the fielding side, not the batting side.
I need context, John.
Donn rings Morse. Morse answers the phone, “Morse … Yes. That’s right. Who’s this?” Can we presume that Donn is confirming that he’s got the right Morse in that pause? Would that be by asking if it’s ‘Pagan Morse’ or ‘Endeavour Morse’? Either way, I would have expected Morse’s reaction to be a bit more expressive than a calm “Yes. That’s right.” Donn asks Morse if he’d like to meet for supper. Morse presumably asks “When?” when we are watching Donn. Donn replies, “Hm? I don’t know. What about tonight?” Morse replies “Sure. OK . Yes”. The pauses between the three words are not long enough for Donn to name a time or a place. Then Donn says “Goodbye,” and the call ends. Yet they manage to meet up on a bench in the University Botanic Garden after visiting a fish and chip shop. Is Morse the sort of man who would eat fish and chips out of a paper bag with his fingers? [I don’t think so.]
The title of the episode comes from Brian Johnston’s commentary on the radio just after this conversation. But I don’t see how the title refers to anything else in the episode. Can you offer an explanation? Everyone is deceived until the guilty parties are revealed, but isn’t that the case in every whodunnit [or whodonnit]?
Where and how did Donn obtain his gun? He was a lawyer, but not a criminal lawyer, we are told. He dealt with matrimonial and commercial cases, Kate tells Morse. We aren’t given any real reason (imo) why Donn would have a gun.
When she meets Morse for the first time, Kate says that students were supposed to write their name somewhere in the room, if they lived there. She had looked for it, but couldn’t find it. This matter is unresolved and seems a bit of pointless information when all is said and done. She was in the room while her husband’s body was still there. DC Hilaire says that they couldn’t really … put her anywhere else? Really?
How did Morse and Donn come to share a house in “St John’s Road” (which doesn’t exist in Oxord)? They were in different colleges (Lonsdale and Arnold). It’s not impossible to meet students from other colleges at Oxford, but I didn’t. The first year is usually spent in college accommodation, while the second and third years are spent in private lodgings. Morse left Oxford without taking a degree, but in what year?
When Morse and Kate meet Roly and Cranston, there is no sign that Kate and Cranston know each other (very well). As Kate and Morse leave to go for a walk, Roly shouts after them, “Chin up, Kate!” Is that really what anyone would say to a recently bereaved widow?
Roly is specifically included in Morse’s eleven suspects, yet moments later Morse confides in him and asks for his help in getting Lewis accepted in the cricket team.
That’s enough for now. I’ll write more later.
” … my other niggle with the episode is the scene where Morse gives Kate Donn a lift to the railway station. Once he leaves her on the platform he drives around to the other side of the railway tracks, to the opposite platform and then proceeds to go up the stairs and walkway that span the railway line. The intention being to follow Kate Donn to London. But surely she would have seen his big red car drive around to the other side and then notice Morse walking on to the other platform and possibly over the walkway?” I have a niggle about that sequence too. Why does he drive all the way round to the other side of the station? So that his car will be on the right side when he returns? There are more parking spaces on the London-bound side of the tracks. As it happens, he gets another (police) car to take him back from Dover. I think it would be quite likely that she would not have noticed the Morsemobile driving down the road on the other side of the tracks, but it would only have taken a glance in the wrong direction for her to have seen Morse on the walkway.
It seems to be right near the end of the episode that Morse realises that Kate murdered her husband, but it is not explained at all how she managed it, or how Morse worked it out. He realised that she had a lover – whoever wrote the dedication in the Zen book. But he did not know about the fact that Donn had refused to an amicable divorce, which gave her the motive. When Donn’s body was discovered, or very soon after, Kate is in the London radio studio. So she left Beaconsfield or London the evening before, found Donn’s room (by asking Barker? or by good fortune? or perhaps she is psychic), murdered him and got back to London in time for her radio show without being seen by anybody. I suppose that’s what had to have happened, but it needed a lot of luck. The message that Donn left on Kate’s message recorder explains why he had the gun – to kill Cranston. At the Ferry terminal, Morse drags Roly out of his wheelchair and finds the drugs straightaway – almost as if he knew where they were. But how?
I think they often have to omit details in the interests of running time and audience interest. The phone call esablishes they will meet for supper and so they do. Unless the lack of detail is a plot point I think that is something we have to assume.
Otherwise when do they sleep, eat and so on 🙂
As for socialising between colleges? Your life must have been odd. I had as many freinds from other colleges as my own at Uni. Sports, bars/clubs, previous freinds/schoolmates and so on.
The station is odd I agree, he could easily have parked out of sight on the main side where he dropped her off then slip in the entrance more conventionally to follow her. Perhaps this was just doing it a little differently. Perhaps it (the suspicion and/or the plan to follow her) only really occurred ro him as he drove away.
The weird thing is Roly carrying on with their plan despite knowing Morse and Lewis were all over the place. I assume however that if one is in an international drugs ring then one cant just do nothing when others are expecting.
Her motive seems fairly easy to deduce, it was obvious from Donn that things were not good with his wife. An affair/planning to leave doesnt seem a leap. How she did it gets almost entirely left out I agree.
Also, fundamentally, if the motive was Donn wouldnt agree a divorce – did he actually need to? Not the case today legally but then?
And why if Kate has realised the omission of not checking the tape at the flat, which is clearly of signifciant impact upon her, then as she goes to London why wouldnt she prioritise doing that? Morse has time to spend in Kent and its still there to find.
The drugs in the chair, Morse has seen everything being checked and realises the chair hasnt been plus Roly hasnt until then used the chair indeed has been resolute about wallking plus its his nephew who os clearly the flyer who brings it in and he’s seen their close relationship outside of the team (indeed, they are technically opposition). The seat cushion is the first place you’d look (having searched for such things in my life).
I was intrigued by the squirrel in the potted plant.
I was intrigued by Emily’s comment. Was it a red or a grey?
Morse offered to drive Kate to the station before he found the book, which showed that she had perhaps lied about not having it any more, implying that Donn had taken it. [How lucky that Morse noticed the book in a shelf of at least 50 books, after Kate said,”I’ll just be a minute.” I hate it when whodunnits are solved by luck.] But she could have simply been mistaken. The dedication gave no clue as to the giver, nothing to say that it was Cranston and not a girlfriend. As far as Morse knew then, Kate was simply going to London to do her radio show. Why would he follow her there? Once in London, she changed trains and set off for Dover, where she met Cranston, observed by Morse. She presumably got the next train back to London, while Morse followed Cranston to the port of Dover, managing to get there before Cranston. We see Cranston boarding the coach. My father always used to notice how suitcases are almost invariably empty in TV plays (and in films too, as often as not), and I have followed his example. Cranston’s suitcase is obviously empty; you can tell by the way it swings and the way he lifts it effortlessly. Why can’t the props department think to put some padding into suitcases? When Morse charges Kate at the radio station, he cautions her, but incorrectly. He says, “You have the right to speak,” whereas the caution is worded,”You do not have to say anything unless you wish to do so.” As long as the gist of the caution is the same, minor deviations from the caution as printed do not constitute a breach of Code C of PACE, but most (all) police officers know the caution, as given in Code C of PACE, off by heart. Morse’s caution would not pass the test. It is also unusual that Moses charges her with the murder of her husband. It is usual for a person to be arrested before being charged. Once a person is charged with an offence they may not be questioned or questioned further, as the case may be, except in limited circumstances.
Bert is right on all accounts, I find this episode to be badly written (full of holes) despite benefiting from being written by the great Anthony Minghella.
-Kate is the one that steers Morse from considering suicide to outright murder (despite her being the perp)
-Kate lies about the book, yet she keeps it
-Morse finds the book (as Bert pointed out)
-Kate (this is the worst error) does not erase her husband’s phone message that clearly incriminates her
-Roly allows the charade with Lewis , in clear contradiction with his interests (he doesn’t even warn his nephew)
I would hive this episode only 5 Jags…..
Bert and Adrian nailed it. Not much to add by me, except that it’s hard to figure out how Kate managed to get in and out of the college lodgings unseen, kill her husband, etc.
I watched this episode last night again, for at least the third time, having first seen it when it originally came out. For me, the episode seemed unusually slow-moving, much more so than other episodes of Morse, in large part because of the cricket game that seemed to go on interminably, and without advancing the plot. I suppose the lengthy cricket game is part of the charm and enjoyment for watchers from the UK, but for us who were sadly doomed to have been born across the pond, it seemed like “filler” designed to made the episode long enough to fill its allotted time slot. I’d rate it only 5 Jags.
Agree Donald. One of my least favourite episodes. Not much by way of a storyline. The arson and murder is introduced and dropped. Morse seems to have endless time to spend not investigating it. way too much cricket which serves little purpose really. Very difficult to have sympathy for any of the characters or care much about them.
One little good I noticed: Lewis tells Morse that he has t to o paint his house while on vacation. But when we see him in his back yard with his son, the back of the house is brick.
Billie, he is talking about painting the interior of the house.
I don’t wish to disparage your fine and detailed work, Chris, but Lewis does say “I’ve got the outside of the house to paint…” Of course, this may refer to soffits rather than the brickwork, or he may have decided to paint the brickwork for the first time.which would explain the unpainted outside.
Nathaniel Parker appears as Philip Coleman, Selina Mortmaigne’s lover, the Lewis episode Dead of Winter.
Yes, I mentioned that in my book on the Lewis series. I will get around to updating all my old posts.;)
I always think that the biggest niggle of all in this episode is that the Customs people don’t think to look in the wheelchair. “Two year’s work” and the death of the senior investigator, and the smugglers would still have got away with it had not a policeman investigating another crime just happened to be there. You would think that this would be covered quite early on in training.
I’m glad you all agree that the arson attack has nothing to do with anything, though. I’ve always wondered whether I am missing something. But it is just more padding (though it adds to the body count), just like the cricket match.
The spelling alternates between “Donn” (correct) and “Don” (incorrect)
The way Morse flirts with much younger women is beyond creepy in this day and age. Even so, I love the show and your comments.
Kate Donn was around eight years his junior – he always looked older than his years
Agree, Inspector Morse is creepy around women. Why?
i agree that there are a lot of holes in this episode, but I still love it. The first appeal for me in any episode is in the cast, and I never tire of watching the brilliance of Daniel Massey and Norman Rodway, two long-time favorites. I’m American, but I thoroughly enjoy the cricket game, especially since I remember reading that it was included partly because of Kevin Whately’s love for it. I like the picnic basket, too. Love the scene of Lewis playing ball with his little boy, and Morse sitting in the swing chuckling. Love the scene of Morse and Anthony Donn, strolling and munching chips and chatting. And Lewis and Roly “helping” each other walk away from that dinner.
So many other little scenes here and there that liven up this episode for me. It’s always satisfying to watch yet again.
Thankyou for this blog! I was a fan or Morse when I was 11 years old and am now reliving my youth with the dvd box set of the original series. Love the actor and location information, as well as the reviews. Sorry to hear about your mum, but heartening to know you are embracing education later in life to pursue a goal.
Hello and welcome Dan. I’m glad you are enjoying my website. Thank you for the condolences.
An excellent episode – I don’t have anything to add to the comments and to Chris’ excellent review, except to say that I, an American, enjoyed trying to learn a bit about the rules of cricket.
I’ve always enjoyed this episode with the quality of the performances and the guest stars, but there are too many plot gaps that stretch credibility for me. Why did Kate kill her husband there? How did she get there in time, find his room, grab the handy electric cable (why kill him that way?), find out that he was luckily asleep with sleeping pills and then escape without being seen?
Why does Kate turn up at the cricket match, and then have a ‘meltdown’ on her own by Morse’s car?
To what extent is Cranston involved in the crime? That’s not clear. Also, didn’t any of the other players (all presumably intelligent, successful, men) not notice anything fishy about the cricket tour?
I don’t think the ‘Foster’ couple are particularly believable either.
I need to re-watch it, as I’ve probably missed the obvious, but it’s quite weak in terms of plot.
I’ve always enjoyed this episode for the aspect that Lewis goes undercover.
I realized while rewatching just now that I’m not sure what Anthony Donn wanted to tell Morse.
Was he planning to kill himself but his wife got to him first, was he afraid of her, or was he going to report to Morse about his teammates’ activities?
I didn’t realize until I read these comments that others consider the episode to be riddled with plot holes, and I don’t know what’s making me more critical of the episode tonight, but I’m glad I found this discussion.
I love this episode but it is riddled with plot holes. I’ve never been clear what Anthony Donn was trying to tell Morse either, plus I’ve never really understood how he linked the inscription in Kate’s book to Cranston. Also, the ending is very weak. How does Morse arrive at his conclusions about Kate Donn and Roland? It would appear to be guesswork as he produces no evidence at all, certainly about Kate Donn. And what has the sub-plot about the bombing of the bookshop got to do with anything? As with Anthony Minghella’s other scripts, the plots are shaky but the characterisations and dialogue are terrific
All good points.
As the bookshop thing, it was like they had some film about the bombing of the bookshops hanging around for some reason and decided to throw it in to take up a few minutes.
And how did Morse know with what looks like complete certainty that Roland was literally sitting on the drugs?
Finally, what was the point of killing Foster.? OK, they had sussed he was onto them – that must mean he was a C&E official, in which case he would hardly be working alone. Doing him in, would hardly allay suspicions. How about the supposed Mrs Foster for a start? To then carry on as if nothing had happened, notwithstanding Morse’s diversionary story, is hardly realistic.
As a cricket hater I only watched this episode when I’d run out of new ones to watch. As a lover of first impressions being proved wrong and strong characterisation I was so glad I did. It’s one of the best stories for combining drama with humour and I like that Lewis gets to strike out a bit more on his own. It’s funny to see him and Morse pretend they’re strangers to one another, especially around the parking of the Jag. It was about time Morse paid Lewis back for all those free drinks!
My favourite aspect of Deceived By Flight, though is the surprises it constantly springs on the viewer. The villain and victim roles swap so instantaneously but so believably, too. Roly provides genuinely great fun and comedy until the moment he’s unmasked as a drugs dealer. Then you can sense the bile so acutely you almost expect to see it pouring through the screen.
Likewise although you can tell Peter and Philippa are harbouring secrets, it’s a shock when you learn they’re actually on the side of right. Jane Booker does a tremendous job of switching from Philippa’s public persona to her real one. She’s a wonderful actress and I feel one of the reasons for making the 1989 series of Morse a benchmark for its female supporting roles.
She and Sharon Maughan carry on Patricia Hodge’s excellent work from its opener Ghost In The Machine (among my favourite episodes). They play strong, capable women with far more of an identity than Morse’s love interest/damsel in distress. However, it did annoy me that Morse was inviting Kate to dinner when her dead husband was still on the mortuary slab. As with Ruth in Service Of The Dead she could have had and did have criminal involvement within the case. At the least it was totally failing to keep the personal and professional separate as expected of Morse.
I would say, too that unfortunately it’s around Kate the main negatives of this episode lie. Tony demonstrated evidence of being emotionally abusive threatening to kill himself or Vince. Elaboration upon this would have worked much better than the arson subplot which went nowhere or the excessive cricket match airtime. As it was, Tony seemed to have got let off the hook far too much.
Kate was undeniably cold blooded in her playacting and in the way she murdered Tony. Yet surely she would have feared him turning that gun on herself or her children? Statement of that would have made her more realistic and sympathetic, not to mention been the script’s best confoundment of the victim and villain perceptions.
“Morse was inviting Kate to dinner when her dead husband was still on the mortuary slab.”
That kind of things often happens in murder stories – bereaved seem to move on very quickly. In reality the next days are spent contacting people and arranging the funeral – rarely is a victim’s funeral mentioned in a Morse episode. I suppose you could say the police often don’t release the body for a long time afterwards, but the real reason is that it would slow the plot down.
Good episode – I was stumped until the very end. As for the way those women made use of Morse, well it’s just not cricket…
Young Peter Amory – woof woof.
This is an enjoyable episode to watch, but there are so many plot holes it’s an episode best not to think about them too much.
I think the bombings are there to show that Morse has to get his hands dirty in different types of crimes other than just murders involving the rich and famous or the University. In addition, dealing with this meant he couldn’t talk to Anthony Donn.
I’m sure that when Roly first introduces Lewis to his nephew he says Sergeant Lewis, however no mention was made of it so assume it was just a filming error that wasn’t picked up. Just before Lewis starts his bowling over we see Roly and his nephew talk, I assume that with Roly umpiring he had a good view of the cricket club house and mentioned about seeing Foster creeping around. We assume the nephew killed him, whether it was on purpose or accidental certainly wasn’t clear.
I have a wee niggle – the head porter refers to the housekeepers (who found that the Fosters’ beds had been separated) as “bedders,” which is the term used at Cambridge. In Oxford, they’re “scouts.” Odd, that.
Well you can hardly expect an alumnus of the University of Hull (Anthony Minghella) to know his Oxford from his Cambridge. You would have thought though that someone on the production side would have corrected such an egregious error. Rather suggests that Colin Dexter never saw or bothered to read the script before it was filmed.
Why does Kate leave the gun in the dorm room?
The gun wasn’t anything to do with her and she didn’t know it was there. It’s not entirely clear why Donn had the gun anyway – the implication presumably that he was planning to kill himself or perhaps shoot Cranston. This episode is, in fact, a rare instance of Chekhov’s famous principle proving false. A gun appears at any early stage of the narrative but it never gets used or even plays much part in the succeeding action.