Discussion
Taken the opportunity of inactivity over the past few weeks to re watch all of the Inspector Morse episodes.
They really have stood the test of time in my opinion and it would be good to see everyone else's thoughts.
Favourite episodes?
Stand out performance?
And anything else.
Mine to kick it all off
1) Who Killed Harry Field, somehow managed to create a wonderful feel, a real atmosphere in this episode, my all time favourite.
2) Absolute Conviction, too many great performances to list including Jim Broadbent, Richard Wilson, Sean Bean and Phil Davis at their best.
3) The Sins of the Fathers, another terrifically atmospheric episode with the great Lionel Jeffries.
Outstanding performances?
Brian Cox in Deadly Slumber as a completely believable grieving and deadly father.
Richard Briers in Death is now my Neighbour, totally out of his usual characters as a truly malevolent Oxford master.
Robert Hardy in Twilight of the Gods as a grotesque former Nazi camp guard.
Geraldine James in Who Killed Harry Field.
They really have stood the test of time in my opinion and it would be good to see everyone else's thoughts.
Favourite episodes?
Stand out performance?
And anything else.
Mine to kick it all off
1) Who Killed Harry Field, somehow managed to create a wonderful feel, a real atmosphere in this episode, my all time favourite.
2) Absolute Conviction, too many great performances to list including Jim Broadbent, Richard Wilson, Sean Bean and Phil Davis at their best.
3) The Sins of the Fathers, another terrifically atmospheric episode with the great Lionel Jeffries.
Outstanding performances?
Brian Cox in Deadly Slumber as a completely believable grieving and deadly father.
Richard Briers in Death is now my Neighbour, totally out of his usual characters as a truly malevolent Oxford master.
Robert Hardy in Twilight of the Gods as a grotesque former Nazi camp guard.
Geraldine James in Who Killed Harry Field.
A bit of a necro thread but I'm stuck somewhere foreign for a while & came across the Morse series on ITV X. I'm about five episodes in on series one and... it's not great. I realise the recent Endeavour series probably had a bigger budget but Morse can't have been cheap to make either. Endeavour is orders of magnitude better than Morse.
The biggest issue? John Thaw is dreadful. Why anyone ever thought he was a good actor, let alone great, escapes me.
The biggest issue? John Thaw is dreadful. Why anyone ever thought he was a good actor, let alone great, escapes me.
Mr Pointy said:
A bit of a necro thread but I'm stuck somewhere foreign for a while & came across the Morse series on ITV X. I'm about five episodes in on series one and... it's not great. I realise the recent Endeavour series probably had a bigger budget but Morse can't have been cheap to make either. Endeavour is orders of magnitude better than Morse.
The biggest issue? John Thaw is dreadful. Why anyone ever thought he was a good actor, let alone great, escapes me.
They were equally as good if not better than Lewis or Endeavour with some great actors and performances plus no expense spared at the time.The biggest issue? John Thaw is dreadful. Why anyone ever thought he was a good actor, let alone great, escapes me.
The one to watch is "The Settling of the Sun" which is a story about drugs and our Japanese cousins with many red herrings along the way and a difficult one to crack until the final half hour
Mr Pointy said:
A bit of a necro thread but I'm stuck somewhere foreign for a while & came across the Morse series on ITV X. I'm about five episodes in on series one and... it's not great. I realise the recent Endeavour series probably had a bigger budget but Morse can't have been cheap to make either. Endeavour is orders of magnitude better than Morse.
The biggest issue? John Thaw is dreadful. Why anyone ever thought he was a good actor, let alone great, escapes me.
I would concur.The biggest issue? John Thaw is dreadful. Why anyone ever thought he was a good actor, let alone great, escapes me.
We watched all of Endeavour and really loved it.
We then went to watch Morse end to end as we'd done with Endeavour and it was fairly poor by comparison. We stopped watching it after a few episodes.
I've no doubt it was brilliant and cutting edge at the time, but IHMO hasnt stood the test of time well.
My favourite episode is Driven to Distraction, and Patrick Malahide is brilliant in it, just the right amount of seediness to make you think he's guilty whilst still leaving a little room for doubt. I also love this episode because Morse gets it completely wrong, and despite Lewis pointing out the flaws in his thinking, he refuses to listen. He almost costs an innocent man his life because he's so convinced he's got the right man, despite nothing more than circumstantial evidence.
I'm the opposite. I find Lewis formulaic, depressing and now spoiled by the actor who turned out to be a neo-fascist nutter. I got about 30 mins into Endeavour and gave up.
I haven't seen Morse for nearly 10 years I suppose. Perhaps if I watched it again it would be pants? Seems unlikely though, as I still enjoy Frost, Lovejoy etc. The quality did drop off after series 4 or so, when they ran out of original novels to film.
I haven't seen Morse for nearly 10 years I suppose. Perhaps if I watched it again it would be pants? Seems unlikely though, as I still enjoy Frost, Lovejoy etc. The quality did drop off after series 4 or so, when they ran out of original novels to film.
Gladers01 said:
They were equally as good if not better than Lewis or Endeavour with some great actors and performances plus no expense spared at the time.
The one to watch is "The Settling of the Sun" which is a story about drugs and our Japanese cousins with many red herrings along the way and a difficult one to crack until the final half hour
You mean the one where the whole plot hangs on the assumtion that all japs look alike so they couldn't tell that the bad one had killed the good one & nobody noticed the switch?The one to watch is "The Settling of the Sun" which is a story about drugs and our Japanese cousins with many red herrings along the way and a difficult one to crack until the final half hour
As I said, in hindsight it's not even very good let alone a classic series & doesn't come close to Endeavour.
I loved Morse when it first came out. So much so, I read all of the books too, and also visited a few of his haunts in and around Oxford. I still rewatch them occasionally, more for nostalgia than anything. I did really like Lewis and thought they were very well done, but agree with a previous poster that Laurence Fox has tainted them somewhat for me, as I can't see the character now without seeing what the actor has become.
Endeavour was excellent and a nice link to Morse, with odd Easter eggs popping up every so often. Shaun Evans was a very good choice, and while I initially had reservations that anyone else other than John Thaw could play Morse, he was very convincing and played him very well.
Endeavour was excellent and a nice link to Morse, with odd Easter eggs popping up every so often. Shaun Evans was a very good choice, and while I initially had reservations that anyone else other than John Thaw could play Morse, he was very convincing and played him very well.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
My favourite episode is Driven to Distraction, and Patrick Malahide is brilliant in it, just the right amount of seediness to make you think he's guilty whilst still leaving a little room for doubt. I also love this episode because Morse gets it completely wrong, and despite Lewis pointing out the flaws in his thinking, he refuses to listen. He almost costs an innocent man his life because he's so convinced he's got the right man, despite nothing more than circumstantial evidence.
that is my favourite as well convinced 1 way then totally changed direction to ending in a near car accident if i rememberp1doc said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
My favourite episode is Driven to Distraction, and Patrick Malahide is brilliant in it, just the right amount of seediness to make you think he's guilty whilst still leaving a little room for doubt. I also love this episode because Morse gets it completely wrong, and despite Lewis pointing out the flaws in his thinking, he refuses to listen. He almost costs an innocent man his life because he's so convinced he's got the right man, despite nothing more than circumstantial evidence.
that is my favourite as well convinced 1 way then totally changed direction to ending in a near car accident if i rememberHonorable mention to Keith Allen in Day of the Devil (again unintentionally funny bits), and Ian McDiarmid in Masonic Mysteries.
I did try and read a few Morse books... Last Bus to Woodcock etc.... I just don't think they're good detective stories. They're basically near impossible to work out, the clues aren't given until near the end.
Compare them with literally any Agatha Christie, there are always early clues.
Stick Legs said:
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"THIS ISN'T WHAT I THOUGHT THIS THREAD WOULD BE ABOUT. I'LL GET MY COAT"Very much a Morse fan. Loved them when they first came out and subsequently, have only watched The Remorseful Day once as it's too depressing. As a sequel, the Lewis series were pretty good too - the Laurence Fox issue doesn't matter and there are plenty of actors with bonkers opinions that don't get pilloried.
Endeavour was OK to begin with, Roger Allam being the best thing about it. About series 3, I felt the references to later Morse went from homage to parody/in-joke and some of the plot lines became ludicrous. Shaun Evans is a very ordinary actor, he looks like a cardboard cut-out next to Allam and Anton Lesser.
Morse was made in period - anything made 30+ years ago is going to seem dated.
The Morse bar in the Randolph, when I visited, did not serve draught ale. Which rather defeats the object.
Endeavour was OK to begin with, Roger Allam being the best thing about it. About series 3, I felt the references to later Morse went from homage to parody/in-joke and some of the plot lines became ludicrous. Shaun Evans is a very ordinary actor, he looks like a cardboard cut-out next to Allam and Anton Lesser.
Morse was made in period - anything made 30+ years ago is going to seem dated.
The Morse bar in the Randolph, when I visited, did not serve draught ale. Which rather defeats the object.
p1doc said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
My favourite episode is Driven to Distraction, and Patrick Malahide is brilliant in it, just the right amount of seediness to make you think he's guilty whilst still leaving a little room for doubt. I also love this episode because Morse gets it completely wrong, and despite Lewis pointing out the flaws in his thinking, he refuses to listen. He almost costs an innocent man his life because he's so convinced he's got the right man, despite nothing more than circumstantial evidence.
that is my favourite as well convinced 1 way then totally changed direction to ending in a near car accident if i rememberWe regularly visit Oxford and think it's fair to say that Morse had good taste in pubs and beers, one of our favourites is 'The Trout Inn' at Godstow which featured in 'The Wolvercote Tongue' iirc
p1doc said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
My favourite episode is Driven to Distraction, and Patrick Malahide is brilliant in it, just the right amount of seediness to make you think he's guilty whilst still leaving a little room for doubt. I also love this episode because Morse gets it completely wrong, and despite Lewis pointing out the flaws in his thinking, he refuses to listen. He almost costs an innocent man his life because he's so convinced he's got the right man, despite nothing more than circumstantial evidence.
that is my favourite as well convinced 1 way then totally changed direction to ending in a near car accident if i rememberIt ends with Morse visiting Malahide in hospital to make a grovelling apology.
As I recall, through most of the episode, I'm convinced Morse is right and Lewis is just being a bit of a wet blanket, obsessed with procedure and annoyed with Morse's refusal to take other unlikely scenarios seriously. Which is obviously what they were aiming for. So not does Morse make an idiot of himself, so does the viewer.
Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Monday 3rd November 16:32
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