Inspector Morse

Detective Chief Inspector Morse
Detective Chief Inspector Morse
First appearance	1975: novelLast Bus to Woodstock
Created by	Colin Dexter
Portrayed by	John Thaw(television) (1987–2000); Shaun Evans(television) (2012–2023)
Appears in	13 novels (1975–1999); Inspector Morsetelevision series(1987–2000); Endeavourtelevision series(2012–2023)
Also portrayed by	Andrew Burt(BBC Radio) (1985); John Shrapnel(BBC Radio) (1992–96); Colin Baker(stage) (2010); Neil Pearson(BBC Radio) (2017)
In-universe information
Title	Detective Chief Inspector
Family	Cyril Morse (father); Constance Morse (mother); Gwen Morse (stepmother); Joyce Garrett (née Morse) (half-sister)
Relatives	Keith Garrett (brother-in-law); Marilyn Garrett (half-niece); Wayne Garrett (half-nephew)
Nationality	British
Decorations	George Medal(television 1967)
Born	1930(television: 1938)
Died	1999: novelThe Remorseful Day(television: 2000)
Alma mater	St John's College, Oxford

Detective Chief InspectorEndeavour Morse,GM,is the eponymous fictional character in the series ofdetective novelsby British authorColin Dexter.On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama seriesInspector Morse(1987–2000), in whichJohn Thawplayed the character, as well as the (2012–2023)prequelseriesEndeavour,portrayed byShaun Evans.The older Morse is a seniorCriminal Investigation Department(CID) officer with theThames Valley PoliceinOxfordinEnglandand, in the prequel, Morse is a young detective constable rising through the ranks with theOxford City Policeand, in later series, the Thames Valley Police.

Morse presents, to some, a reasonably sympathetic personality, despite his sullen and snobbish temperament, with a classicJaguar Mark 2(aLanciain the early novels), a thirst for Englishreal ale,and a love of classical music (especially opera andWagner), poetry, art and cryptic crossword puzzles. In his later career, he is usually assisted bySergeant Robbie Lewis.Morse's partnership and formal friendship with Lewis is fundamental to the series.

Biography

Family

Morse's father was a taxi driver, and Morse likes to explain the origin of his additional private income by saying that he "used to drive theAga Khan".^[2]In the episode of the television adaptationCherubim and Seraphim,it is revealed that Morse's parents divorced when he was 12. He remained with his mother until her death three years later, upon which he had to return to his father. Morse had a dreadful relationship with his stepmother Gwen. He claims that he only read poetry to annoy her, and that her petty bullying almost drove him to suicide. He has a half-sister named Joyce with whom he is on better terms. Morse was devastated when Joyce's daughter Marilyn took her own life.

Morse prefers to use only his surname, and is generally evasive when asked about his first name, sometimes joking that it isInspector.InThe Dead of JerichoandThe Wench Is Deadit is noted that his initial is E.^[3]^[4]^[5]At the end ofDeath Is Now My Neighbour,his name is revealed to be Endeavour.^[6]Two-thirds of the way through the television episode based on the book, he gives the cryptic clue "My whole life's effort has revolved around Eve, nine letters".^[7]In the series, it is noted that Morse's reluctance to use his Christian name led to his receiving the nicknamePaganwhile atStamford School(whichColin Dexter,the author of the Morse novels, attended).^[6]In the novels, Morse's first name came from the vesselHMSEndeavour;his mother was a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) who have a tradition of "virtue names",and his father admiredCaptain James Cook.^[8]

Dexter was a fan of cryptic crosswords and named Morse after champion setterJeremy Morse,one of Dexter's arch-rivals in writing crossword clues.^[9]Dexter used to walk along the bank of theRiver Thamesat Oxford, opposite the boathouse belonging to 22nd Oxford Sea Scout Group; the building is namedT.S.Endeavour.^[10]

Education

Although details of Morse's education are kept vague, it is hinted that he won a scholarship to study atSt John's College, Oxford.^[11]He lost the scholarship as the result of poor academic performance stemming from a failed love affair, which is mentioned in the second episode of the third series, "The Last Enemy", and recounted in detail in the novelThe Riddle of the Third Mile,Chapter 7. Further details are revealed piece-by-piece in the prequel series. He often reflects on such renowned scholars asA. E. Housmanwho, like himself, failed to get an academic degree from Oxford.

Career

After university, he entered the army onNational Service.This included serving inWest Germanywith theRoyal Corps of Signalsas acipherclerk. Upon leaving, he joined the police^[8]at Carshall-Newtown, before being posted to Oxford with theOxford City Police.He was awarded theGeorge Medalin the last episode ofEndeavourSeries 4. He is assigned to a uniformed position in Series 6 despite having his opinions and observations disregarded by CID. He does not wear his GM ribbon, leaving his uniform breast bare.

Habits and personality

Morse is ostensibly the embodiment of middle-class Englishness, with a set of prejudices and assumptions to match, although his background, being the son of a taxi driver, might be considered working class. As a result, he may^{[citation needed]}be considered an example of thegentleman detective,a staple of Britishdetective fiction.This is in sharp contrast to the working-class lifestyle of his assistantLewis(named after another rival clue-writer, Mrs. B. Lewis^{[citation needed]}); in the novels, Lewis isWelsh,but in the TV series this is altered to aTyneside(Geordie) background, appropriately for the actorKevin Whately.Morse is in his forties at the start of the books (Service of all the Dead,Chapter Six: "… a bachelor still, forty-seven years old…" ), and Lewis slightly younger (e.g.The Secret of Annexe 3,Chapter Twenty-Six: "a slightly younger man – another policeman, and one also in plain clothes" ). John Thaw was 45 at the beginning of shooting the TV series and Kevin Whately was 36.^{[citation needed]}

Morse's relationships with authority, the establishment, bastions of power and the status quo, are markedly ambiguous, as are some of his relations with women. He is frequently portrayed as patronising female characters, and once stereotyped the female sex as not naturally prone to crime, being caring and non-violent, but also often empathises with women. He is not shy to show his liking for attractive women and often dates those involved in cases. Indeed, a woman he falls in love with sometimes turns out to be the culprit.^{[citation needed]}

Morse is highly intelligent. He is acrosswordaddict^[12]and dislikes grammatical and spelling errors; in every personal or private document that he receives, he manages to point out at least one mistake. He claims that his approach to crime-solving is deductive, and one of his key tenets is that "there is a 50 per cent chance that the person who finds the body is the murderer". Morse uses immense intuition and his fantastic memory to apprehend the perpetrator.^{[citation needed]}

Among Morse's conservative tastes are that he likes to drinkreal aleandwhisky,and in the early novels, drives aLancia.^[6]In the television and radio productions (and reprints of the novels), this is altered to a suitably British classicJaguar Mark 2.His favourite music is opera, which is echoed in the soundtracks to the television series. The original music is byBarrington Pheloung.

His dying words, said to Jim Strange, are "Thank Lewis for me."^[13]

Morse is portrayed as being anatheist.^[14]However, in some scenes, he does entertain the possibility of God and/or quote the Bible from memory, agreeing with the phrases, as he does with lines from various literary books/texts.

Novels

The novels in the series are:

Last Bus to Woodstock(1975)
Last Seen Wearing(1976)
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn(1977)
Service of All the Dead(1979)
The Dead of Jericho(1981)
The Riddle of the Third Mile(1983)
The Secret of Annexe 3(1986)
The Wench is Dead(1989)
The Jewel That Was Ours(1991)
The Way Through the Woods(1992)
The Daughters of Cain(1994)
Death Is Now My Neighbour(1996)
The Remorseful Day(1999)

Inspector Morse also appears in several stories in Dexter's short story collection,Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories(1993, expanded edition 1994).

In other media

Television

Inspector Morse(1987–2000)

The Inspector Morse novels were made into aTV series(also calledInspector Morse) for the British commercial TV networkITV.The series was made byZenith ProductionsforCentral(a company later acquired byCarlton) and comprised 33 two-hour episodes (100 minutes excluding commercials)—20 more episodes than there are novels—produced between 6 January 1987 and 15 November 2000. The last episode was adapted from the final novelThe Remorseful Day,in which Morse dies from a heart attack. Morse was played byJohn Thawand Lewis byKevin Whateley.

Lewis(2006–2015)

A spin-off series, similarly comprising 33 two-hour episodes and based on the television incarnation ofLewis,was titledLewis;it first aired on 29 January 2006 and last showed on 10 November 2015. The spin-off consisted the following cast members:Kevin Whatelyas DI Robbie Lewis,Laurence Foxas DS James Hathaway,Clare Holmanas Dr Laura Hobson andRebecca Frontas CS Jean Innocent.

Endeavour(2012–2023)

In August 2011, ITV announced plans to film aprequeldrama calledEndeavour,with author Colin Dexter's participation. English actorShaun Evanswas cast as a young Morse in his early career.^[15]^[16]The pilot episode was broadcast on 2 January 2012 on ITV. The prequel was made byMammoth Screen.Four new episodes were televised from 14 April 2013, showing Morse's early cases working for DI Fred Thursday (Roger Allam) and withJim Strange(Sean Rigby), initially as PC Jim Strange, later DS Jim Strange, and pathologist Max De Bryn (James Bradshaw), plus Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright (Anton Lesser), DS Peter Jakes (Jack Laskey), WPC Shirley Trewlove (Dakota Blue Richards), DC George Fancy (Lewis Peek), DI Ronnie Box (Simon Harrison) and DS Alan Jago (Richard Riddell). Alongside the police department, the prequel also consisted of Fred Thursday’s family members: Win Thursday, (Caroline O’Neill), Sam Thursday (Jack Bannon), Joan Thursday (Sara Vickers) and the newspaper editor Dorothea Frazil (Abigail Thaw). A second series of four episodes followed, screening between 30 March 2014 and 20 April 2014. On 3 January 2016, the third series aired, also containing four episodes. A fourth series was aired, once again with four episodes, on 8 January 2017. Filming of a fifth series of six episodes began in early 2017 with the first episode of the fifth series aired on 4 February 2018. On 10 February 2019 the sixth series aired, which comprises four 1-hour-30-minute episodes. A seventh series of three episodes was filmed in late 2019, aired on 9 February 2020 and in August 2019 ITV announced that the series has been recommissioned for an eighth series, screened on 12 September 2021, also containing three episodes.^[17]Morse was voted number two on the top 25 list inITV's Britain's Favourite Detective first broadcast on 30 August 2020.^[18]

On 23 May 2022, a day after filming began for the ninth series, ITV announced thatEndeavourwould end production after a decade on air at the conclusion of the ninth series, bringing the total number ofEndeavourepisodes to 36. The ninth and final series comprised the final three episodes, which aired from 26 February 2023 to 12 March 2023.

Radio

An adaptation by Melville Jones ofLast Bus to Woodstockfeatured inBBC Radio 4'sSaturday Night Theatreseries in June 1985, withAndrew Burtas Morse andChristopher Douglasas Lewis.

In the 1990s, an occasional BBC Radio 4 series (forThe Saturday Play) was made starring the voices ofJohn Shrapnelas Morse andRobert Glenisteras Lewis. The series was written by Guy Meredith and directed byNed Chaillet.Episodes included:The Wench is Dead(23 March 1992);Last Seen Wearing(28 May 1994); andThe Silent World of Nicholas Quinn(10 February 1996).

In 2018,Alma Cullenwrote an original drama entitledMorse: In The Shallows,withNeil Pearsonas Morse andLee Inglebyas Lewis.

Theatre

An Inspector Morse stage play appeared in 2010, written byAlma Cullen(writer of four Morse screenplays for ITV). The part of Morse was played byColin Baker.The play, entitledMorse—House of Ghosts,saw DCI Morse looking to his past, when an old acquaintance becomes the lead suspect in a murder case that involves the on-stage death of a young actress. The play toured the UK from August to December 2010.^[19]It was broadcast byBBC Radio 4on 25 March 2017 withNeil Pearsonplaying Morse andLee Inglebyplaying Lewis.

References

^"Dexter said that Morse would be turning 70 next year [2000]", from:"Art mirrors life, as Inspector Morse is finally defeated by drinking".Independent.co.uk.4 October 2015.Retrieved15 November2018.
^The Dead of Jericho,chapter 21
^The Dead of Jericho,chapter 7.
^The Wench Is Dead,chapter 1.
^Grimes, William (22 March 2017)."Colin Dexter, 86, Dies; Creator of Inspector Morse, a Sleuth on Page and Screen".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 3 January 2022.Retrieved15 November2018.
^^a ^b ^c"Colin Dexter obituary: Inspector Morse creator and one of the great whodunit men".The Independent.21 March 2017.Retrieved26 July2019.
^"Death Is Now My Neighbour".19 November 1997 – via IMDb.
^^a ^bGussow, Mel (26 January 1997)."Behind Morse, the Dour, Dignified Detective".The New York Times.
^Colin Dexter inSuper Sleuths: Inspector Morse.Director: Katie Kinnaird
^"The Oxford of Inspector Morse: Dreaming spires, dead bodies... and lots and lots of pubs".18 August 2018.
^Dexter, Colin.The Riddle of the Third Mile(1983 ed.). St Martins Press. p. Chapter 7.
^Connor, Alan (9 August 2012)."Top 10 crosswords in fiction, no 3: Inspector Morse".The Guardian.Retrieved15 November2018.
^"The Remorseful Day"
^"Colin Dexter – Inspector Morse | British Detective Stories".Archived fromthe originalon 21 December 2019.
^Inspector Morse set for TV comeback as young man,Oxford Mail,4 May 2011
^Inspector Morse is an Enigma – let's keep him that way,The Telegraph,5 August 2011
^"Endeavour confirms eighth series".Radio Times.19 August 2019.Retrieved29 September2019.
^"Britain's Favourite Detective".ITV. 21 July 2020.Retrieved30 August2020.
^"What's on Stage".Archived fromthe originalon 13 October 2012.Retrieved26 July2019.