--- title: "Inspector Morse" year: 1987 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/inspector-morse" fi1m_score: 84 critics_reviews: 1 published: "2026-09-18T07:55:56.509105+00:00" updated: "2026-09-18T07:56:10.146431+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Inspector Morse (1987) Created by Tony Warren, Colin Dexter · 1h 40m · MPA TV-14 · Crime, Drama, Mystery **Fi1m score: 84** · Critics: 1 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* A hundred minutes with a gruff detective, and somehow we would still invite him back > John Thaw and Kevin Whately make these slow Oxford mysteries worth settling into. The cases can take too long to untangle, but the prickly company and quiet humour earn our patience. ## Synopsis In Oxford, Chief Inspector Morse (John Thaw) works through complicated criminal cases alongside Detective Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately). Morse brings a gruff manner and a romantic temperament to the partnership; their exchanges supply the running banter as the investigations unfold. Dr. Max DeBryn (Peter Woodthorpe) and Chief Superintendent Strange (James Grout) are among the professional figures around them. Each case puts Morse in search of an explanation, with the complexity of the mystery standing between the detectives and an answer. ## Review *Inspector Morse* is good company for a long evening, though the cases sometimes ask for more patience than they earn. The programme gives its detective time to be difficult and expects us to remain interested. John Thaw justifies that confidence, making Chief Inspector Morse’s gruffness something we can put up with without pretending it is always charming. The mysteries matter, but the reason to return is the uneasy warmth between Morse and Kevin Whately’s Detective Sergeant Lewis. John Thaw understands how much a romantic streak can change our response to a bad-tempered man. Morse is allowed to seem susceptible as well as difficult, and that keeps the performance from becoming a demonstration of superior intelligence. We need to believe there is something in his life beyond getting the answer right. The performance supplies that suggestion without making the character so agreeable that the gruffness ceases to matter. Lewis is just as important to the pleasure. The banter gives Morse somebody to answer to in the moment, and Kevin Whately makes the exchanges sound like part of a working day. We laughed because the humour comes from the familiarity between these colleagues; neither needs to announce that a joke has arrived. That ease is harder to achieve than the writing can make it look. It helps us stay with the detectives while the case takes its time. The Oxford setting helps with that patience. It gives the investigations a place we want to spend time in, without requiring a new attraction every few minutes. Barrington Pheloung’s music suits the romantic side of Morse and encourages us to hear some sadness beneath his manner. The measured pacing also gives the two leads room to make an exchange count. These are sensible choices for a programme whose chief attraction is the experience of being with its detectives. Writers including Anthony Minghella, Julian Mitchell and Alma Cullen have to keep those exchanges alive while sustaining complicated investigations. The partnership is the more dependable pleasure. A case can take a long time to untangle without every delay feeling necessary, and the series sometimes leans too heavily on our willingness to wait. That is where the slow pace becomes a weakness. We can enjoy the company and still wish the investigation would move along. Directors including John Madden, Peter Hammond and Antonia Bird contribute to a programme that makes a useful choice about its central character. Morse’s difficult manner does not have to fill every available minute. For a detective drama, that restraint matters: an investigator’s personality can become exhausting when it is the only thing being offered. Here the setting, the cases and Lewis’s presence give us other reasons to stay, even when Morse is being hard work. The 100-minute running time is worth taking seriously when choosing an evening’s viewing. The pleasure depends on having enough patience for the case as well as the conversation. Give it an evening when the slow work of detection is part of the attraction. *Fi1m score 84, published 18 September 2026.* ### Reviews we read (1) - **Den of Geek**, Gem Wheeler (85/100, inferred): The critic celebrates Inspector Morse as a king among detective dramas whose appeal endures through its lead performance, witty sidekick relationship, atmospheric Oxford settings and complex cases. Thaw's gruff yet romantic Morse, the banter with Lewis and the slow-burn mysteries stand out as highlights in this retrospective ranking of the best episodes from the 1987-2000 series. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/inspector-morse-top-10-episodes/) ## Details - **Created by:** Tony Warren, Colin Dexter - **Creator:** Tony Warren, Colin Dexter - **Director:** John Madden, Peter Hammond, Adrian Shergold, Alastair Reid, Danny Boyle, Colin Gregg, Herbert Wise, Stephen Whittaker, Anthony Simmons, Brian Parker, Stuart Orme, Jim Goddard, Sandy Johnson, Edward Bennett, James Scott, Peter Duffell, Antonia Bird, Roy Battersby - **Writer:** Julian Mitchell, Daniel Boyle, Alma Cullen, Anthony Minghella, Kenny McBain, John Brown, Thomas Ellice, Geoffrey Case, Peter Buckman, Michael Wilcox, Jeremy Burnham, Charles Wood, Peter Nichols - **Music:** Barrington Pheloung - **Producer:** David Lascelles, 8th Earl of Harewood, Kenny McBain, Deirdre Keir - **Cast:** John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse; Kevin Whately as Detective Sergeant Lewis; Peter Woodthorpe as Dr. Max DeBryn; James Grout as Chief Superintendent Strange; Maureen Bennett as Val Lewis; Amanda Hillwood as Dr. Grayling Russell; Julia Sawalha as Rachel; Perry Fenwick as Jimmy - **Runtime:** 1h 40m - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-14 - **Release (the US):** 6 January 1987 - **Genres:** Crime, Drama, Mystery ## Where to watch in the US - BritBox: streaming, hd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on *Checked 2026-09-18.* Also available in: CA, ES, GB, IT, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - BAFTA Television Awards 1993: Best Actor (won) ## If you liked this - *Maigret* (1992): Another detective whose company matters as much as the solution he reaches - *The Third Man* (1949), Fi1m 92: A city worth exploring, a mystery worth following, and romance worth distrusting — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-third-man.md) - *Memories of Murder* (2003), Fi1m 91: Patient detective work, fallible investigators and humour that grows harder to enjoy — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/memories-of-murder.md) - *Prime Suspect* (1991), Fi1m 88: For a police drama less inclined to make difficult work comfortable — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/prime-suspect.md) - *The Secret in Their Eyes* (2009), Fi1m 78: An investigation where romantic longing proves as persistent as the unanswered questions — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-secret-in-their-eyes.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/inspector-morse