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The book is only available from Amazon and can be purchased on Amazon.com. Click HERE to visit the Amazon page.
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SPOILERS AHEAD!
Where’s Colin?
Colin appears at 1h13m.
Directed by Charles Beeson (1957-2021). This episode is Charles Beeson’s only connection to the Morse Universe.
Written by Julian Mitchell (1935 – ). Other connections to the Morse Universe: The Last Morse: A Documentary; The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn; Service of All the Dead; The Wolvercote Tongue; Ghost in the Machine; Masonic Mysteries; Promised Land; Cherubim and Seraphim; Twilight of the Gods; The Daughters of Cain.
First broadcast in the UK on 19 November 1997.
SYNOPSIS
With Chief Superintendent Strange’s discussion on retiring ringing in his ears, Morse attends the scene of Rachael James’ murder. With very few obvious suspects, Morse and Lewis concentrate their efforts on Julian, Rachael’s much older paramour and his wife Angela Storrs. Both appear to have the perfect alibi, engaging in early morning ‘rumpy pumpy.’
As Morse and Lewis continue their investigation another murder is committed; next door to the home of Rachel James. Is the murderer working their way through Bloxham Drive house by house? Did the murderer misidentify Rachael James as their intended victim. Was, Geoffrey Owens, the second victim, the real target?
But not all is darkness within the episode. Morse meets the fragrant and attractive, Adele Cecil. Will love blossom?
Morse, on being asked by Strange if he isn’t sick of investigating “shootings, stabbings, stranglings” replies that “Work. That’s the secret of life. You have to buckle down and give it your best. ” Will Morse ‘buckle down’ or will Adele prove too much of a distraction and blind him to the fact that she is a viable suspect?
Meanwhile, Morse leaves Adele with a cryptic crossword clue as to what his Christian name is: A whole life’s effort has revolved around Eve. (9 letters)
REVIEW.
(warning, this review will contain some spoilers)
Jags out of ten:
MUSIC.
15m40s
The Marriage of Figaro ‘non so piu’ by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
51m10s
Morse is listening to music on the radio. Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G Minor.
01h11m58s
Gloria by Antonio Vivaldi.
LITERARY REFERENCES.
At around the 4m mark Strange says that he hates this time of the month. Morse replies, “April is the cruellest month.” This quote is the opening line to T.S. Eliot’s most famous poem, The Wasteland.
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
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A little obscure reference but…
Morse enters Adele’s place of work.
Bottom right there is a flyer for An Ideal Husband. A play by Oscar Wilde.
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At 34m Clixby says, “Nymph and Shephard and a crystal Lake.” This may be a reference to The ‘Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd’ a poem by Sir Walter Raleigh. Or, a reference to ‘Nymphs and Shepherds’ a song by the English composer Henry Purcell, from the play The Libertine by Thomas Shadwell.
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At around 34 and a half minutes, Clixby and Shelly Cornford are having tea. She says, “Experience and innocence, you know?” A reference to William Blake’s, ‘Songs of Innocence and of Experience.’
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After Denis returns from jogging at around 42m he hugs Shelly. She says, “This first fine careless rapture, it’s supposed to wear off.” This is reference to a line in Home-Thoughts, from Abroad BY ROBERT BROWNING.
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
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At 1h37m Morse, in Strange’s office says; ‘That which we are, we are. One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.’
From the poem Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
ART
At around 8m.
Firstly, the painting on the far right.
Charles Lancelot Shadwell, DCL by George Fiddes Watt (1873–1960)
Next the painting on the far left;
Sir David Ross, DLitt, Provost (1929–1947) by Herbert James Gunn (1893–1964)
Finally the portrait in the middle;
Lancelot Ridley Phelps, Hon. DCL, Provost (1914–1929) by Briton Riviere (1840–1920)
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At 10 and a half minutes we are back in the same location as above but this time looking behind Clixby Bream.
Firstly, the large portrait on the right;
Edward Coplestone, DD by Thomas Phillips (1770–1845)
I’m unsure of the portrait on the left.
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In Clixby Bream’s room at 1h6m.
Top screenshot. On the far right is;
Sir Walter Raleigh, Aged 34 in 1588 by UNKNOWN.
The bottom screenshot, the portrait on the left;
Sir William Seymour, Chief Justice of Bombay by Thomas Phillips (1770–1845)
The other painting is:
This is the Sibyls and the Angel or also known as Sibyls and Prophets by Raphael Sanzio. It is a fresco that can be seen in Florence.
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In the Bath hotel at 1h31m.
This looks like a painting by John Charles Maggs called York House Hotel, Bath. However, it is, as you can see, not the same but certainly similar.
In the same hotel.
It looks like “A Bay Racehorse in Stable” (1832), oil painting by James Loder but in reverse.
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The statue in the gardens of the place where Morse meets Adele.
It is a statue of the Greek Goddess, Hebe. goddess of youth. Daughter of Zeus and Hera and the wife of the Greek hero Hercules.
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In Professor Storrs rooms.
On the wall, the larger of two prints is The Landing at Tanna (Tana), One of the New Hebrides 1775–1776 by William Hodges (1744–1797). It is depicting Captain Cooke.
LOCATIONS.
(For locations of colleges and pubs see the appropriate sections below).
Beginning of the episode.
This is St Nicholas Church, Marston, Oxford.
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Bloxham Drive is actually Brookside, Weston, Turville, Buckinghamshire.
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Radcliffe Square with University Church of St Mary the Virgin in the background.
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The newspaper office.
This is the offices of The Oxford Mail, Osney Mead.
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Where Adele was teaching the young student.
This is the Grove House, University of Roehampton, London.
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At 22m Geoffrey meets his girlfriend in a restaurant.
The above was then known as Le Petit Blanc. It is now the Brasserie Blanc. 101 Walton Street, Jericho.
The Storres’ home.
Unidentified.
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The Cornford’s house that is up for sale.
Unidentified.
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Clixby and American having tea.
Unidentified.
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At 40m the Storrs arriving at their hotel.
This is Royal Crescent in Bath.
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Denis returns after jogging.
Unidentified
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At 44 and a half minutes we get a view of the Oxford skyline.
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The camera pans down from the above skyline to
This is looking down from Carfax Tower onto the High Street, Oxford. The jag moves down the High Street.
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The Cornfords go shopping at around 48m.
This is Little Clarendon Street, Oxford.
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At 49m Strange is on the golf course.
This is FoxHills Golf Club in Surrey.
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At around 55m Morse is with Adele in his jag.
First picture is Catte Street. The Jag then turns into New College Lane.
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Adele and Morse take a walk at 56m.
The two white bridges are indicated.
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Morse and Lewis leaving the college at 1h17m.
Radcliffe Square.
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Morse and Adele arrive in Bath.
This is the Royal Crescent, Bath.
PUB LOCATIONS.
23m Lewis and Morse enter a pub.
This is The Crown in Bray.
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Morse and Lewis meet Adele.
This is again, The Crown, Bray.
OXFORD COLLEGES USED AS LOCATIONS.
Oriel College stands in for the fictitious Lonsdale College.
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.
Actors who appeared in Death is Now my Neighbour and/or Endeavour or Lewis.
Of course the obvious one is Roger Allam, who plays Denis Cornford in this episode.
He will go on to play the indomitable Fred Thursday in the Endeavour series.
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The waitress, played by Katie Harlow, who serves Morse in the Bath hotel around the 1h30m mark was also a trainee script advisor on this episode.
Katie would go on to be the script supervisor on three Endeavour episodes; Quartet, Zenana and Exeunt. Katie would also be the script supervisor on ten Lewis episodes.
CONNECTIONS OTHER THAN ACTORS TO THE LEWIS, ORIGINAL MORSE SERIES AND PREVIOUS ENDEAVOUR EPISODES.
At around nine and a half minutes, Laura says of the death of Rachel James, “It was instant, if that’s any comfort.” Morse baulks at this use of the word ‘instant’ for a death. In the episode The Walk Through the Woods (the episode where we first meet Laura Hobson) Lewis asked if death was instant. Morse replies, “Occurred instantaneously, Lewis, if you must. Coffee may be instant, death may not.”
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The phrase, ‘Hands, knees and Boompsadaisy’ turns up in the Endeavour episode, Quartet. In that Endeavour episode, Morse finds a newspaper cutting in files that Frazil sent him with the headlines, ‘Hans, Knees Und Boompsadaisy.
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At around 18+ minutes, Adele Cecil mentions taking Rachael to a concert at Lonsdale. Lonsdale is the fictional college Morse attended.
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The piece of music played around the 1h11m mark is Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria.’ This is famously the first piece of music we hear in the Morse series in the episode, The Dead of Jericho.
Miscellaneous.
Photos taken during the shooting of the episode.
A picture of captain Cook on Julian Storrs desk in his rooms.
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Of course in the episode we get the famous cryptic crossword clue; “A whole life’s effort has revolved around Eve.” (9 letters). Morse’s Christian name is an anagram of ‘around eve.’
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Morse mentions his father, Cyril, in this episode. We meet Morse’s father in the Endeavour episode, Home.
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When Morse enters the building where Adele is teaching we see a noticeboard covered in flyers.
I have no way of knowing if these flyers were originally on the noticeboard or if the set designers placed them there. They are interesting in the way they connect with the Morse Universe. The music of Vivaldi, Faure, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Alligri, Purcell and Brahms have all been used across the Morse Universe episodes.
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Is it just me but doesn’t Mrs Adams
seem out of place in what appears a middle class, yuppie area. Also, why would she be “putting the ashes out” when none of the houses have a chimney?
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In this episode Lewis’s son is referred to as Ken but in the Lewis series his son is called, Jack.
IN MEMORIAM.
John Thaw (1942-2002).
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Susan Field(1932-2005)
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John Shrapnel(1942-2020)
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Richard Briers(1934-2013)
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James Grout (1927-2012)
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Charles Beeson, director. (1957-2021)
THE MURDERED, THEIR MURDERER/S AND THEIR METHODS.
Rachael James. Shot by Angela Storrs in error. Angela Storrs did not realise that there was not a house with the number 13 so miscounted when arriving at the back of the houses to shoot Rachael.
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Geoffrey Owens shot by Angela Storrs. Geoffrey was blackmailing Angela because she had been accused of murdering her first husband.
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Accident due to a fall down stone steps.
CAST
John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse.
Mark McGann as Geoffrey Owens
Julia Dalkin as Rachel James
James Grout as Chief Superintendent Strange
Roger Allam as Denis Cornford
Richard Briers as Sir Clixby Bream
Clare Holman as Dr. Laura Hobson
Susan Engel as Dora Hammersby
Maggie Steed as Angela Storrs
Holley Chant as Shelly Cornford
Judy Loe as Adele Cecil
Susan Field as Mrs. Adams
John Shrapnel as Dr. Julian Storrs
Lloyd Hutchinson as DC Jackson
Nicola Jeffries as Diane Cullingham
Kevin Whately as Detective Sergeant Lewis
Oliver Grig as Ken Lewis
Thank you, Chris, for your sharp eye and assiduous research. I’m especially impressed you were able to identify all these paintings. This episode enjoys a superb cast and a typically witty Julian Mitchell script. It’s on my Top 10 List, for sure!
You’re welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m actually more pleased at finding the location for the place where Adele and Morse first meet than identifying the paintings. Took me hours to identify where Adele was teaching a pupil.
I’m glad you enjoyed my review. Thank you for your kind comment.
Thank you, Chris, for a beautiful piece of research work and presentation. An interesting episode with some really despicable characters, but very well played, I think. I appreciate your meticulous work.
Thank you Francis. I’m glad you enjoyed my review.
There’s a lot about this episode which is excellent, first and foremost its cast. The late and so great John Shrapnel, Maggie Steed and Roger Allam are among my favourite actors. Richard Briers really showcases his versatility by proving he can do dramatic villainy as convincingly as the likeable comedy he was far more associated with.
The story is also much better paced than many in the Morse canon. It literally starts with a bang and as it means to go on, holding the viewer’s attention with every scene.
While there are plenty of plot threads and twists, things never get too complicated. There’s also time for well rounded characterisation and wonderful comic relief through Laura’s dry, dark humour.
However, I do think excessive airtime was given to the college master election. This has the effect of miring the episode in a bit too much sleaze around Clixby’s sexual blackmail of Shelly. An even worse taste was left in my mouth around her death.
Clixby was undisputedly vile but not responsible for Denis seeing fit to threaten his wife with violence. When it was fleeing Denis that caused the fatal staircase fall, surely he would have faced manslaughter charges in real life? Certainly he would not have been seen as the other innocent victim in a tragic accident.
It’s hard to believe as well that Clixby and Denis could have worked together all those years with no resentment or revenge rearing its ugly head. Logic wasn’t a strong point around the character of Angela, either.
She surely would have had to produce her first husband’s death certificate in order to marry Julian. The name would then have got alarm bells ringing and research going. Images of Angela and Diane must have accompanied newspaper or TV coverage, quickly giving the game away.
As a diabetic Angela would not have been able to drink so much alcohol without a hypoglycaemic episode. I’d have liked a better insight into the reasons for her addiction and distance from Julian, too. Did they result from her frustration with him or guilt and bad memories around Kenneth’s death?
Diane complained about having been bullied by Angela but no real evidence of how was depicted. This left me feeling her character or rather lack of it seemed a real wasted opportunity. What a shame the tunnel vision of Denis spread too much to his screen creator.
I think you are right, it would have been manslaughter at least, murder depending on what intent they could prove. Given Dennis would be unlikely to admit to his verbal threats and the witness probably only saw her fell it might be difficult to prove. But Morse states later they knew of the argument and pursuit so it is a major oversight. Perhaps plot wise they just already had enough in the episode or this was a late change of storyline, but I’m speculating!
Her accepting Clixby’s “offer” I find incredulous, can anyone be so stupid? Someone top flight educated? Whoring themself for their husbands career? It seemed beyond credibility to me.
Angela’s marriage makes sense to me though, unless it had been a really notorious case the name would hardly be likely to prompt anything and pre internet it would take much more to research someone than we take for granted. A man in love and wanting to marry seems unlikely to go to that effortor even have that train of thought in mind.
I think her drinking makes sense, murder your husband, get away with it, marry someone else, have strongdesires for their career – her head must have been a complete mess. Drinking would be the least of it if it were me! I agree the daughter wasnt fleshed out much, completely run by the mother.
Got to hand it to Briers, he played a great villain, I remember the impact that had when I saw it in the 90s after so many repeats of the Good Life. It was his utter selfish immorality, almost amorality that I think sets him apart – only that Reverend’s brother with the church episode springs to mind as someone so completely narcicisstic, but no doubt there are many more!
I did feel that yet again we have a beautiful, highly educated woman utterly throwing herself on the ground for a middle aged man. Something that litters the Morse series and as ever feels a deliberate fantasy for the latter.
Sarah Morgan’s comment is excellent and I had the same reaction to Shelly’s death.
Clixby was disgusting and vile, for sure. But he did not kill Shelly. Shelly met with Clixby for one reason and one reason only–to help her husband. Clixby was a prominent man with an important position and it was not unreasonable for Shelly to believe that his indecent proposal was legitimate.
It was not, as it turned out. Shelly was devastated and humiliated, but she was alive and well. What she needed was some comfort and support from her husband. Together, they could decide what to do about Clixby. That’s what you do when you’re married.
Instead, her husband Denis, played by Roger Allam, called her “stupid” and “a tart” and said he’d “kill her.” He physically attacked her. As a result of his threats, Shelly fell down the stairs and died.
This makes Denis easily more loathesome than Clixby. Poor clueless Morse then comforts and sympathizes with Denis, who moans about his “sorrow.” Denis won’t face any punishment, civil or criminal.
Clixby was nothing to Shelly, but Denis was her husband. How tragic for poor, practical, loving, American Shelly.
Sexual bargains of the sort Clixby made with Shelly are not unknown, in real life or in the movies. Some of you may know the American show “Mad Men.” In that show, the character played by Christina Hendrix agrees to a sexual liaison with a client of the advertising firm. In return, it’s agreed that the firm will get a new account. That new account is Jaguar, ironically enough. And Christina is made partner–a position worth millions of dollars.
Denis’s behavior, to me, is more upsetting than any of the rapes or murders or other crimes in the “Inspector Morse” series. Denis is not some random criminal. He’s a husband.
The character played by Roger Allam in “Endeavour” is not exemplary either. He is jealous of Morse, and it affects his behavior and judgment in quite a few of the middle episodes. He’s a weak man. I do think, though, that his character is the most interesting running figure in the series, and Allam is an extraordinary actor.
Shelly Cornford, R.I.P. You deserved better.
This is my favourite of all the Morse episodes. I recorded it from the TV and watched it many times even before I bought the DVD box set of all the episodes. I like Richard Briers’s portrayal of the slimy malevolent Clixby Bream – possibly the most evil character in the whole series, apart from the murderers of course.
Clixby is dreadful but for me there are people even worse than him and some killers in the Morse series. Prime example for me is Matthew Copley-Barnes – a totally remorseless rapist of children including his own daughter.
Certainly my sympathies are more with the murderer there as they also are in Death In Slumber. Wendy Hazlitt is pure evil manipulating a father’s anguish over his comatose daughter. And Claire Brewer represents the height of crass self pity acting like her family are more the victims!
A good episode but, as with most Morse episodes, with its share of plot holes. The most obvious one here is what Julian Storrs did and did not know.
It is obvious that he knew that his wife killed both Rachel James and Geoffrey Owens. He gave her a false alibi for both murders, including in the second case by being party to a deception involving his step-daughter (whom presumably he would have noticed if she were in his bed rather than his wife). But Angela Storrs’ motive for killing Owens was his blackmail of her over the alleged murder of her first husband, an incident that Storrs himself is supposed not to have known about. So why then did he think his wife had this propensity for early morning shooting sprees that he needed to indulge?
I wondered whether there is a line I had missed suggesting that Storrs had been made to believe that Owens’ blackmail was aimed at him and stood in the way of his obtaining the mastership. But this seems improbable for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we know that Storrs was not that ambitious for the mastership, so would he really have abetted murder in its pursuit, especially after round one had led to the death of an innocent woman who also happened to be his mistress (an improbable coincidence this BTW)? And, secondly, blackmailing Storrs over what? He is not supposed to have known about the first husband scandal. And his wife is not supposed to have known about his adultery with Rachel James, so she couldn’t have cited this as her reason for wanting Owens gone.
All in all it doesn’t add up.
I also never understood what Julian Storrs did and did not know about the 2 murders committed by his wife Angela Storrs.
John Shrapnel (Storrs) appears as Inspector Morse in a series of BBC radio plays produced in the mid 1990s. Some are available from BBC sounds.
https://morseandlewisandendeavour.com/2020/09/14/inspector-morse-radio-drama-last-seen-wearing-with-john-shrapnel-as-inspector-morse/
Hello Chris, I’m new to your website. I’ve been rewatching Morse and enjoyed this review. What a great episode. Unfortunately I discovered your website almost at the end of the series so I will need to go back and read your earlier reviews! Just wanted to add that Morse’s clue ‘A whole life’s effort has revolved around Eve’ is not only an anagram of ‘Endeavour’. The letters of the name also ’revolve’ around the middle three letters: eav = eve.
WHAT? NO DOWNBEAT ENDING?
Is this the first, and maybe even the only, episode of “Inspector Morse” that does not end with a downbeat or melancholy scene or dialogue?
I had been wondering if the writers had been under some rule that each episode had to have a melancholy ending that matched the melancholy tone of the “Morse Theme” that plays over the end credits.
But this episode ends with two upbeat scenes:
First, Adele guesses Morse’s first name, and Lewis hears it, but it is a happy scene, not an embarrassing scene for dear Morse.
Second, Morse and Adele are shown walking into a luxury hotel for an evening of romantic activities.
Nothing melancholy whatsoever in this ending!
Is this the first “Inspector Morse” with an upbeat ending?
Certainly, the majority of the endings of Morse episodes are downbeat or melancholy. Is it the first? I would reply, no. In Last Seen Wearing we do have the young girl, Valerie Craven, returning home to her parents. Fat Chance has an arguable upbeat ending when Morse is invited to drink with Hilary Dobson and Emma Pickford. Again, one could argue that Death of the Self has an upbeat ending with Morse and Lewis listening to opera.
DOES “INSPECTOR MORSE” DEFAME THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD?
“Death is Now My Neighbor” has three main characters who are professors at the University of Oxford, and all three of them are sleazy, corrupt, vile persons.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t this whole TV series persistently and routinely depict the professors, students, and staff of the University of Oxford as horrible people who are far, far worse than the common lot of people found in British society?
According to “Inspector Morse” the whole of the University of Oxford is, inside of its ever so beautiful buildings and landscapes, a sewer of treachery, betrayal, greed, lurid lust, blackmail, cheating, unseemly ambition, cynicism, misanthropy, nihilism, sloth, drug abuse, suicide, Machiavellian manipulation, and murder. Isn’t that true?
Can you think of one noble, decent, good-hearted major character in any “Inspector Morse” episode who is associated with the University of Oxford, other than Morse himself (and since he didn’t earn a degree, I’m not sure he even counts)?
Is the University of Oxford IN FACT a place populated mainly by vile people?
Maybe it is, in which case “Inspector Morse” isn’t guilty of defaming the University at all.
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” Lord Acton wrote that in 1887.
Does Lord Acton’s quotation describe the culture of iniquity at the University of Oxford, which has traditionally been (and still is?) a seat and center of immense power, prestige, and wealth in the UK.?
Does “Inspector Morse” simply show and tell us the truth about the rich and powerful (who some call the “oligarchs”) and their scholarly enablers, wherever they may be found?
Notice how “Death is Now My Neighbor” and “Twilight of the Gods” both show and tell how the University of Oxford is corrupted and controlled by its desire for big donations from the very wealthy.
[P.S. Please don’t interpret this comment and this inquiry as being pro-Socialist. In every form of Socialism that has ever existed, the same or worse iniquities, that we see among the Capitalist/Oligarchical/Aristocratic ruling class, have always been manifested among the Socialist ruling class. In commenting on this aspect of the perennial human condition, I imagine that Morse might, with a heavy sigh, quote to Lewis a certain ancient Latin phrase.
MORSE:
“Homo hominis lupus, Lewis.”
LEWIS:
“What sir?”
MORSE:
“Homo hominis lupus. Man is wolf to man. It’s Latin, from Plautus, later endorsed by Hobbes and Freud.”
LEWIS:
“Ah, yes sir.”
Hey, wouldn’t that Latin phrase be a pretty good title for an episode of the (wishfully) forthcoming “The Lost Cases of Inspector Morse,” executive produced by, and starring, Chris Sullivan, the one true Scotsman, and the one man on the earth today who knows and loves Morse and the Morse Universe better than anyone?]
Again: Does “Inspector Morse” defame the University of Oxford?
Hi Noisy. Unfortunately, many professors of Oxford University do appear to have a darker side. However, I have to disagree that Roger Allam’s character, Denis Cornford is “sleazy, corrupt, vile person.” I’m assuming he is one of the three you mention. Thank you for the lovely compliment at the end of your comment.
Thanks noisy, for all your interesting and thoughtful reviews of each episode of Inspector Morse.
Does it defame the University of Oxford?
If we were to take each story and episode as true fact, it might do? However, I’m not sure we’re meant to take it quite that far, haha!
The other caveat is; in the Morse, Lewis and Endeavour series, each College mentioned, is given a fictional name. The students, professors etc, involved and facing serious questions in the various murder investigations, belong to these fictional Colleges. Now, we can see the filming takes place at many of the well known Oxford colleges, and knowledgeable viewers will be able to identify their true names, which of course, Chris does a wonderful job of doing, here. However, they are not given their real College names in these episodes. Therefore, my understanding would be, to some degree, this prevents the University of Oxford being totally depicted and defamed as a rotten and corrupt establishment? Perhaps?
Do the episodes have a ring of truth about them, such as corrupt practices at the Oxford Colleges? Could these stories really happen?
There is a small possibility and that is a great irony, particularly, as we are talking about one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. The fact, time and again, highly esteemed individuals from the Oxford Colleges are under investigation by Morse, Lewis and co, does have the effect of making these stories more dramatic and the stakes even higher. The potential realisation to the viewer, that they could be brought to justice and brought down to earth from their lofty positions, represents quite an amazing fall from grace. Furthermore, (in the cases of gifted students) prevented from reaching their great potential, because of corrupt and deadly crimes, is quite a stunning juxtaposition to the beautiful and historic backdrop, that we think and see of Oxford. We must remember though, they are fictional stories.
Is this the only episode of “Inspector Morse,” or of “Lewis” or “Endeavor,” in which we hear Colin Dexter speaking?
In this episode Colin Dexter, the Morse creator, is reciting a prayer, in Latin (I believe), at a grand dinner being held at the University of Oxford.
Also in attendance at this dinner, and presumably with his head bent in prayer, is, I believe, the ultra-vile “Master” and Oxford professor, Clixby Bream.
I believe, Colin Dexter’s first (very small), speaking part was in the Morse episode, Deadly Slumber. As the porter in Worcester College Library, he utters the famous words, “Mr. Brewster”, showing Morse and Lewis to that character played by Jason Durr.
Thank you.
Colin speaks in the Morse episode, Deadly Slumber. He also speaks in the Lewis episode, Dark Matter.
Does anyone think it strange that Geoff Owens would spend 13 hours straight in the office?? He doesn’t seem the sort of man who would do that.
He would need to make contact with his leads, or people he was pursuing for a story. Or just to catch up with people over lunch.
As this story was set in the 90s, you wouldn’t find it easy to stay in touch online, or by text like people do today. You’d still need to catch up in person.