Inspector Morse - Second Time Around [1991]

The lowdown: A total of 33 telemovies were made starring the late John Thaw as Detective Inspector Morse,
of the Thames Valley Police in Oxford. The series was broadcast on ITV1 between January 1987 and November
2000, and also featured Kevin Whately as Detective Sergeant Lewis (who has returned in his own ITV series
called, imaginatively, 'Lewis'). Morse is refined and cultured, likes doing crosswords, listening to classical music -
particularly Wagner - and driving his classic Jaguar Mark 2. In fact, he is very much the steotype of somebody
who would not normally choose the police as a profession, which merely adds to the Morse character's likeability.
Morse insists that people only call him 'Morse', and his first name was only revealed in one of the later episodes,
as 'Endeavour' (his father was a great admirer of Captain Cook). Morse died of diabetes-related complications in
the final episode, 'The Remorseful Day'. Sadly, John Thaw himself died less than two years after the final episode
was broadcast.

'Second Time Around' was the first episode of the fifth season of 'Inspector Morse', and was first broadcast in the
UK on 20 February 1991. Morse is investigating the murder of a retired deputy police commissioner, Charlie Hillian,
who had been writing a book about his career in the police force. One of the chapters has gone missing, and Morse
believes that this is why Hilliard was killed. Morse soon discovers that the case is linked to the death of a young girl
some 18 years earlier. Christopher Eccleston plays the role of Terrence Mitchell, a dyslexic young man who lives
with his mother. His father had been a suspect in the earlier murder, but had been released due to lack of evidence.
Morse soon unravels the clues and solves both cases. Eccleston is as always very good, and the portrayal of the
rather simple Mitchell is very similar to his character in the film 'Let Him Have It'.

The verdict: The Inspector Morse series is one of the best British detective shows of all time, and remains a firm
favourite of the genre's fans. Thaw and Whately are superb as Morse and Lewis, and the series regularly attracted
the cream of the British acting profession as guest stars. The setting of Oxford also provides the viewer with some
beautiful scenery, and the series regularly featured the famous university.