Inspector Morse - Series 1 (DVD)

...been a great fan of Inspector Morse and I used to video tape and keep as many episodes as possible. I now have every episode on DVD and regularly sit down to watch one.

For those of you that don’t know Inspector Morse is, in my opinion, one of the very best detective series ever made. It is based on the books by the author Colin Dexter and starred the late John Thaw in the title role with Kevin Whately as his long suffering sidekick, ...
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Detective Chief Inspector Morse is the older of the two and is unmarried, set in his ways and sometimes grumpy. He relies on his instinct often bending and sometimes even breaking the rules to get the results. He is honest and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. He enjoys real ale and opera and is often seen enjoying both at various points during the programme. He is also often seen completing The Times crossword and correcting Lewis on his ... more

I have always been a great fan of Inspector Morse and I used to video tape and keep as many episodes as possible. I now have every episode on DVD and regularly sit down to watch one.

For those of you that don’t know Inspector Morse is, in my opinion, one of the very best detective series ever made. It is based on the books by the author Colin Dexter and starred the late John Thaw in the title role with Kevin Whately as his long suffering sidekick, Lewis. The actors both give outstanding and completely believable performances in every episode.

Each episode lasts about 100 minutes and revolves around the solving of a crime, almost always at least one murder. The viewer is invited to follow the reasoning and logic of Morse and Lewis as they follow the clues to find the truth, which is usually very well hidden!

Detective Chief Inspector Morse is the older of the two and is unmarried, set in his ways and sometimes grumpy. He relies on his instinct often bending and sometimes even breaking the rules to get the results. He is honest and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. He enjoys real ale and opera and is often seen enjoying both at various points during the programme. He is also often seen completing The Times crossword and correcting Lewis on his poor grammar!

Detective Sergeant Lewis is a married man with two children and is very much a family man. He is the one who ends up doing the legwork, the paperwork and the traditional thorough police work. He enjoys cricket and spending time with his family, although Morse does sometimes find this difficult to understand especially when there is a murderer to be found!

A large part of the enjoyment for me is the relationship between Morse and Lewis. As viewers we get to see the way that they work together with Morse thinking that he is the brains behind the partnership but often having to concede that Lewis has come up with an excellent idea. They usually end up in a pub at some point during the programme for Morse to have a pint, as ‘it helps him think’, and poor Lewis having an orange juice because he is driving! The best of it is Lewis invariably ends up paying for the drinks as Morse doesn’t have any cash or he tells Lewis it is his round!

As with all good partnerships each has his strengths and weaknesses and each has a share of the success of solving the crimes. Although Lewis is often ‘put upon’ by Morse there is an obvious mutual respect between the two characters and Lewis is very protective of Morse.

The first series of Inspector Morse was originally aired in January of 1987 – good heavens that’s over 20 years ago! Now I do feel old!

I have taken a brief look around the various sites selling this sort of thing and the best price that I have found for Series One is £12.97 on Amazon, although it may be cheaper on EBay but of course it may not be brand new.

Series One consists of three separate episodes which all originally aired in January 1987.

The Dead of Jericho

This was the first ever episode of Inspector Morse and was based directly on one of Colin Dexter’s books and it introduced us to the characters. Incidentally this episode was written by the Oscar winning Anthony Minghella of English Patient fame.

Morse, who never quite finds romance, thinks that at last things will turn out differently when he meets beautiful Anne Staveley, played by Gemma Jones, at choir practice. Sadly it is a love destined not to be when Anne is found hanging from a beam in mysterious circumstances. Morse suspects murder and sets out with Sergeant Lewis to discover the truth.

The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn

Nicholas Quinn is a member of the examinations board until he is found dead at home. Quinn was deaf and it appears that his skill of lip-reading could have meant that he ‘overheard’ a conversation about cheating in examinations which ultimately led to his death.

This is another episode which is based on a specific book and I understand it follows it fairly faithfully although I have never read any of the Morse books so I am going by what I have read about the programme.

Service of All The Dead

This one begins with the body of a church warden being found with a knife in his chest in a quiet country church. As the mystery deepens, Morse has five bodies on his hands, the only link between them being that they were all at the same church service.

This episode doesn’t seem to have the same strength as the others although the twist at the end is good. It is also another episode based directly on one of Dexter’s books.

In Conclusion

In my opinion the first three episodes really just served to consolidate the partnership between Morse and Lewis. I find that the later episodes when the partnership has developed to be more interesting viewing. Having said that these three stories are good in their own right and show us where the characters came from and how the whole thing began.

A definite must have for the Inspector Morse fan especially if you have all the rest of the series too as I do!
 

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