Hello everyone, I hope this post finds you all well mentally as well as physically.
Welcome to the second part of ‘All the Oxford Colleges Used as Locations in the Inspector Morse Series/
As the title suggests this post is about all the Oxford colleges used as locations in all 33 episodes. I will only mention those colleges which were used as a location internally. However, I will mention a college if someone is simply exiting or entering a college. At the end of the post there is an alphabetical list of the colleges used, plus which episodes were filmed therein. I will not mention a college used as a location unless I can 100% identify it as correct.
This part includes all episodes from Second Time Around to The Remorseful Day.
If you enjoy the post leave a like at the end of the post.
I plan to also create a post about all the Oxford colleges used in the Lewis and Endeavour series and then a post with a list of all three series combined. I have added all the new information into my review posts.
Here is a link to the first part; Oxford Colleges as Locations PART ONE
At the end of this post I have combined the college locations from part one and two.
Let’s get started.
The times are based on the British DVDs. The times stated are not exact but are within the minute the location appears.
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Second Time Around (Series 5, Episode 1).
No colleges used as locations.
Fat Chance (Series 5, Episode 2)
Beginning of episode –
New College Chapel. All the college scenes are set in New College unless otherwise mentioned.
2 minutes –
Women are walking through New College front quad. You can see the chapel in the background.
11 minutes –
Hilary Dobson is in a room with Lewis.
In the background we can see an archway. This is an exit/entrance to New College front quad.
15 minutes –
Morse and Lance Mandeviulle at the entrance to the New College chapel.
The statue is called Lazarus by Sir Jacob Epstein.
39 minutes –
Emma Pickford meets Dobson.
The above is Nuffield College, New Inn Hall Street, Oxford.
1 hour and 6 minutes. –
This is still Nuffield College.
1 hour and 22 minutes.
Front quad, New College.
1 hour and 28 minutes –
Morse enters New College via New College Lane.
Who Killed Harry Field (Series 5, Episode 3).
1 hour and 4 minutes. Morse meets Matthews.
The location used is Wadham College, (front quad) Parks Road, Oxford.
1 hour and 8 minutes –
Morse and Lewis walk through Tom quad in Christ Church.
Greeks Bearing Gifts. (Series 5, Episode 4)
17 minutes – Long external shot.
This is Magdalen College.
17 minutes – Morse enjoying a college meal.
I’m not completely convinced the above is Magdalen College.
25 minutes – Morse leaves.
This is St John’s Quad, Magdalen College.
52 minutes – Morse meets with Jerome Hogg.
This is Magdalen College Library.
Promised Land (Series 5, Episode 5)
No college locations.
Dead on Time. (Series 6, Episode 1)
23 minutes. – After the recital attended by Morse and Susan.
It is difficult to make an accurate identification as we the viewer do not get to see much of the location. With all that ivy in the background it could be Exeter College or Lincoln College but I think it’s Hertford College. I have looked through the scene slowly and careful and I am close to 100% in believing it’s Hertford.
36 minutes – Susan and Morse talk.
The river is the Cherwell and we are looking at Magdalen College in the background.
Happy Families – (Series 6, Episode 2)
46 minutes – Morse meets Joshua Masterson.
This is the cloisters of New College.
The Death of the Self (Series 6, Episode 3)
No college locations.
Absolute Conviction – (Series 6, Episode 4).
No Oxford college locations.
Cherubim and Seraphim (Series 6, Episode 5).
No College locations.
Deadly Slumber – (Series 7, Episode 1).
13 minutes – Morse waits to talk to Jane Foley.
This is Oriel College.
29 minutes – John Brewster goes into Jane’s rooms.
This location is not Oriel College. Unfortunately, I can’t identify it. I can’t even be sure it’s an Oxford College. The only clues to it’s identity are what you see in the three pictures above.
1 hour and 16 minutes – Morse and Lewis go looking for John Brewster.
This is Worcester College. 1 Walton St, Oxford OX1 2HB.
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1h and 7 minutes.
Lewis and Morse talk to John Brewster in Worcester College Library. Colin Dexter is the porter.
Day of the Devil (Series 7, Episode 2).
13 minutes – Morse and Lewis visit Canon Appleton.
This is Exeter College. Below is part of my filming of Exeter College in the location shown in the picture above. I filmed the video in April 2019.
After Morse, Lewis and Appleton leave the dining hall where they first met, they move into the gardens of Exeter College.
This is part of Exeter College gardens that back onto the Clarendon Building that can be seen in the background.
34 minutes Morse and Lewis visit Mr Trevors place of work. Balliol College. Here they arrive to meet Maugham Willowbank. Location is Balliol College.
The area in the above photo is the main quad of Balliol College.
Morse, Lewis and Maugham Willowbank move on to meet Trevors.
The large stone work behind Morse and Lewis can be seen more clearly below.
Morse and Lewis after talking to Trevors.
Here is that area minus the ivy.
One hour and 14 minutes – Morse decides to visit Willowbank after the death of Trevors.
This is Balliol College.
In David Bishop’s excellent book, The Complete Inspector Morse, plus some other publications the location for the above is Christ Church. But it is quite clearly Balliol.
I believe these are also shot in Balliol College.
Twilight of the Gods. (Series 7, Episode 3)
Around the minute and a half mark we see the display for the proposed new college.
This was filmed in Brasenose College Dining Hall.
Six Minutes – the camera pans around Brasenose College as we listen to John Gielgud rehearsing his speech.
You can see Radcliffe Camera in the background.
19 minutes – we see Williams.
This is Magdalen College, Oxford.
————————————————-
At around the 21 minute mark as Andrew Bayden’s helicopter flies overhead we see people gathering together.
This is Brasenose College.
45 minutes – the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor are walking together.
This is Christ Church.
50 minutes – The luncheon.
This is Trinity College Dining Hall.
Around the one and a half hour mark.
This is Oriel College Dining Hall.
The Way Through the Woods (First Special)
The first two minutes – Morse attends a recital and meets Claire Osborne.
This is Exeter College. More specifically this is the Fellows’ Garden, Exeter College.
27 minutes. – Morse and Lewis meet Dr. Alan Hardinge
This is again Exeter College, Fellows’ Garden.
The Daughters of Cain (2nd Special)
1 minute and 34 seconds
This is Wadham College.
Two minutes and 10 seconds.
This is Wadham College Dining Hall.
14 minutes – Morse is walking with Brownlee.
This is Christ Church.
31 minutes – Morse with Brownlee again.
This is Christ Church. This is the entrance to Peckwater Quad.
Where Morse and Canterbury are walking is Canterbury Quad which can be entered via Canterbury Gate which looks onto Oriel Square.
Death is Now my Neighbour (Third Special)
7 Minutes – Denis Cornford gets out of his car and runs into a college.
This is the entrance to Brasenose College from Radcliffe Square.
We then see him running through a quad.
This is Oriel College front quad.
8 minutes – Fred Thursday, I mean, Denis Cornford hurrying to his meeting.
This is Oriel College.
The camera pans from Denis Cornford running to the meeting to the room where the meeting is being held.
14 minutes – Cornford and Dora Hammersby walk and talk after the meeting.
This is Oriel College but a different quad from the other two we have already seen.
26 minutes – Denis Cornford is on the telephone.
This is Brasenose College. The large building that is in the background is University Church of St Mary the Virgin.
27 minutes – Morse interviews Julian Storrs.
I can’t be sure of this location.
1 hour and 11 minutes – In a chapel.
This is Oriel College Chapel.
1 hour and 12 minutes – Morse calls for Dr Hobson.
This is Oriel College. The chapel is in the background.
Above is the entrance to the chapel.
One hour and 12 minutes we are at a dining hall.
This is Oriel College.
One hour and 35 minutes. Morse and Lewis are going to see Clixby.
This is Oriel College.
The Wench is Dead. (4th Special)
2 minutes – Drinks after the conference.
This is Trinity College Dining Hall.
40 minutes – Dr. Van Buren walks and talks with PC Adrian Kershaw.
This is Trinity College.
59 minutes – Dr Van Buren receives a call from Morse.
This is Wadham College. In the background of the above picture we can see what we see in the photo below.
1h and 16 minutes. Van Buren and Morse walk and talk.
This is Wadham College.
The Remorseful Day (5th Special)
1 hour and 18 minutes. A chapel being used for a rehearsal.
This is Exeter College Chapel.
1 hour and 24 minutes. Morse and Professor Sir Lionel Phelps talk.
This is the front quad of Exeter College.
1 hour and 28 minutes. Morse collapse.
The front quad of Exeter College.
1 hour and 28 minutes. The ambulance arrives.
This is the Broad Street entrance to Exeter College.
List of Colleges and the episodes filmed at those locations in alphabetical order.
Balliol College. (Oxford OX1 3BJ)
Day of the Devil.
Brasenose College. (Radcliffe Sq, Oxford OX1 4AJ)
Twilight of the Gods.
Death is Now my Neighbour.
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn.
The Settling of the Sun.
The Last Enemy.
Last Bus to Woodstock.
Christ Church. (St Aldate’s, Oxford OX1 1DP)
Who Killed Harry Field.
Twilight of the Gods.
Daughters of Cain
Corpus Christi College. (Merton St, Oxford OX1 4JF)
The Last Enemy.
Exeter College. (Turl St, Oxford OX1 3DP)
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn.
The Settling of the Sun.
Last Bus to Woodstock.
Day of the Devil.
The Way Through the Woods.
The Remorseful Day.
Hertford College. (Catte St, Oxford OX1 3BW)
Dead on Time. ( Not 100% certain but close to that percentage)
Magdalen College. (Oxford OX1 4AU)
The Dead of Jericho.
Greeks Bearing Gifts.
Twilight of the Gods.
Dead on Time.
Merton College. (Merton St, Oxford OX1 4JD)
Service of All the Dead.
The Infernal Serpent.
New College. (Holywell St, Oxford OX1 3BN)
The Wolvercote Tongue.
Fat Chance.
Happy Families.
Nuffield College. (New Rd, Oxford OX1 1NF)
Fat Chance.
Oriel College. (Oxford OX1 4EW)
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn.
Ghost in the Machine.
Deceived by Flight.
Deadly Slumber.
Twilight of the Gods.
Death is Now my Neighbour.
Pembroke College. (St. Aldates, Oxford OX1 1DW)
Deceived by Flight.
Trinity College. (Broad St, Oxford OX1 3BH)
Twilight of the Gods.
The Wench is Dead.
University College. (Oxford OX1 4BH)
Ghost in the Machine.
The Infernal Serpent.
Wadham College. (Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3PN)
Who Killed Harry Field.
The Wench is Dead.
Daughters of Cain.
Worcester College. (1 Walton St, Oxford OX1 2HB)
Last Bus to Woodstock.
Deadly Slumber.
UNCONFIRMED OR UNIDENTIFIED.
(If you can identify any of the following with certainty please let me know by contacting me either in the comments or via the ‘contact me’ link near the top right hand side of the page).
17 minutes – Morse enjoying a college meal. GREEKS BEARING GIFTS.
—————————————
23 minutes. – After the recital attended by Morse and Susan. Dead on Time.
It is difficult to make an accurate identification as we the viewer do not get to see much of the location. With all that ivy in the background it could be Exeter College or Lincoln College but I think it’s Hertford College. I have looked through the scene slowly and careful and I am close to 100% in believing it’s Hertford.
—————————————
29 minutes – John Brewster goes into Jane’s rooms. Deadly Slimber.
This location is not Oriel College. Unfortunately, I can’t identify it. I can’t even be sure it’s an Oxford College.
—————————————–
27 minutes – Morse interviews Julian Storrs. Death is Now my Neighbour.
I can’t be sure of this location. Brasenose or Oriel college.
——————————————
8 minutes – The tour group and Morse have dinner. I have read it mentioned that this is Brasenose College Dining Hall. But it isn’t. The Settling of the Sun.
—————————————
Beginning of the episode – A meeting of Fellows to decide the next master. Ghost in the Machine.
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.
All maps and street views © Google.
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I both marvel at and appreciate the substantial work that went into this post. My favorite travel memory is the time my husband and I stayed at The Randolph and explored all the Morse goodness we could find in Oxford. It was June and the weather was absolutely perfect. I did start to choke up a little when I came to the Exeter College locations from “A Remorseful Day.” I have never been able to rewatch that episode, despite having seen all other Morse and Lewis episodes multiple times. It’s silly, I know, but there you have it.
Thank you so much for your kind and lovely appreciation. It is far from silly Tamara in not wanting to watch the episode The Remorseful Day. I have watched it only four times. Not only is it difficult to watch one’s favourite character die but it’s also being aware that John Thaw died a year later. Let’s hope we can enjoy Oxford again sometime soon.
Many thanks for providing us with all this valuable information. Splendid. Such a gem when one visits Oxford – once this becomes possible again – and wants to know exactly which Morse scenes were recorded where.
You’re very welcome Tsjechov and I am glad you have found it useful.
I would like to echo the previous comments, above. Thank you Chris for all the diligence and hard work you must have put in, creating this informative post. I knew very little about the different beautiful appearance of each Oxford college, before I started reading your website. Thanks to you, I believe I can occasionally now, name a particular college, shown in an episode. This has led me to recognise a college, at the beginning of the Morse episode, “The Daughters of Cain”. In my view, it is Wadham college, and I hope this helps you, as you have not included it, in your post above. I presume there are reasons why you have not portrayed it.
Anyway, from the 1 minute, 43 seconds mark on my DVD, there is a brief showing of a reception on the Front Quad lawn of Wadham college. In addition, Verdi’s La Traviata Act 1 Prelude starts to play, during this scene. According to Bill Leonard, in his location guide “The Oxford of Inspector Morse”, this is Julian Mitchell’s old college. He of course, was the screenplay writer of this excellent episode, based on the Colin Dexter novel. At 2 minutes and 5 seconds into the episode, the party of distinguished looking gentlemen, walk up the steps into Wadham college dining hall. Finally, from 3 minutes and 11 seconds into my DVD, a speech is taking place in the dining hall. I have checked with Google, whether this is Wadham dining hall, and the pictures are a match for the scenes, I have just described in the episode. Here is the link to those pictures:
https://footprints-tours.com/oxford/things-to-do/galleries/wadham-college/attachment/wadham-college-dining-hall
It would be remiss of me, not to include a tenuous connection, wouldn’t it? The man giving the speech in Wadham college dining hall, Dr. Felix McClure, is soon afterwards found murdered. As I have said previously on the Twitch discussions, making a speech is a dangerous thing to do in the Morse universe!!! For instance, “The Infernal Serpent, (Dr. Dear didn’t even get to do his speech, and he was killed on the way) and the Lewis episodes, “Old School Ties”, “The Indelible Stain” and “Magnum Opus”. All these academic doctors and professors, should have called off sick, before delivering their speeches, they then might have survived!!!
I think the first picture “John Brewster goes into Jane’s rooms.” is in fact Oriel. It is the archway below the lamp seen at https://youtu.be/LcnZfn5dvXI?t=23 (since the original filming a glass door has been installed and the steps remodelled). The other two scenes may be from a room on the East side of Oriel Third Quad, though it’s difficult to be certain.