First broadcast: 1987
Stars: John Thaw, Kevin Whately and a host of guest stars
Creator: Based on the best-selling crime novels of Colin Dexter
The lowdown: Inspector Morse (John Thaw) is a grumpy, beer-loving classical music buff who frequently loses patience with his earnest but slower sidekick DS Robbie Lewis (Kevin Whately). Together they solve complex murder cases among the spires of Oxford and the countryside around. Their suspects range from vengeful students to drug smuggling cricketers and violent American tourists.
Memorable moments: The revelation of Morse’s name by Dexter gripped the national media for a week prior to the episode being broadcast in 1997. It was revealed in Death Is Now My Neighbour and no one guessed that it was Endeavour. According to Dexter he was so named because Morse’s mother, a Quaker, was fan of Captain James Cook who sailed the Endeavour. On hearing it Lewis remarks: “You poor sod.”
Trivia: Colin Dexter is a fanatical crossword solver and he named Morse after Sir Jeremy Morse, the former executive director of the Bank of England and a brilliant crossword solver in his own right. The final three episodes shown in 2000 were seen by 18 million people.
