Morse has risen to the rank of Inspector, but his superiors do not think he is suited to go higher, however he is respected for his results in murder cases. This is despite being pedantic, sarcastic, and not following the usual methods or protocol. A bachelor, a lover of the opera and real ale, and a failed Oxford graduate, he prides himself in being able to complete the Times crossword in under ten minutes, and enjoys his Jag!

Sergeant Lewis joined up with Morse when his superior got the promotion that morse had been denied. A family man, he follows orders, adopts the normal approach to crime, and is a little slower than Morse.

Set in and around Oxford, the series is based (loosely at times) on the novels by Colin Dexter, whose cameo appearance can usually be spotted in each epsiode. As the series progressed, the novels were exhausted and new stories were introduced, but the original 15 novels are:

Last Bus to Woodstock - 1975
Last Seen Wearing - 1976
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn - 1977
Service of All the Dead - 1979
Winter's Crime (A collection of short stories) - 1981
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
Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories - 1995
Death Is Now My Neighbour - 1996
The Remorseful Day - 2000

Production details

John Thaw - Chief Inspector Morse (and Executive Producer)
Kevin Whately - Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis
James Grout - Chief Superintendant Strange
Peter Woodthorpe - Dr Max
Amanda Hillwood - Dr Grayling Russell
Clare Holman - Dr Laura Hobson
Ted Childs - Executive Producer
Rebecca Eaton - Executive Producer

Carlton have just released a total of 12 double DVDs so far, each containing two stories, with more due very shortly. The discs are short on special features, but the menu system is nice, and the production galleries included on each are interesting. Priced at just £14.99 each, these are excellent value - more so than the previous video releases - and will, once all 16 volumes have been issued, be a fitting tribute to the superb acting ability of the late John Thaw.

Season 1

The Dead of Jericho (available on Volume 1)

First broadcast 6th January 1987

Morse has always been unlucky in love, and thinks that this time things will be different. He met Anne Staveley at choir practise, but the freindship is short-lived when she is found hanged in her house in the area of Oxford known as Jericho. All the evidence points to suicide, but Morse suspects murder and, along with Sergeant Lewis, sets out to find the truth.

The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (available on Volume 1)

First broadcast 13th January 1987

Nicholas Quinn is a virtually deaf member of the examinations board who is found dead in his home. Morse starts to piece together the evidence when it is discovered that someone is selling examination secrets, and along the way becomes attracted to Monica, but fears that she is mixed up with this somehow.

Service of All the Dead (available on Volume 2)

First broadcast 20th January 1987

A church warden has been found in a quiet country church, with a knife in his chest, and this proves to be the first in a series of killings around the hallowed ground. As the mystery deepens, Morse fins himself with no less than five bodies, and in a race against time, he tries to track down the killer.

Season 2

The Wolvercote Tongue (available on Volume 2)

First broadcast 25th December 1987

Morse instantly suspects foul play when a rich American tourist, in England on a cultural tour, dies in her hotel. Apparently her death was from a heart attack, but she was due to donate important archaeological piece - The Wolvercote Tongue - to the Ashmolean museum, and it went missing at the time of her death. The plot thickens when a suspect disappears, and the tourist party's lecturer is found drowned in the River Cherwell.

Last Seen Wearing (available on Volume 3)

First broadcast 8th March 1988

A school girl from a wealthy family has been missing for six months and Morse is convinced that she has been murdered and he and Lewis go to the boarding school to begin the investigation.

The Settling of the Sun (available on Volume 3)

First broadcast 15th March 1988

Oxford is shocked when a a Japanese student dies in what seems to be a brutal ritual killing. Morse then finds he has unwittingly given all his suspects a watertight alibi, and collected a further two bodies.

Last Bus to Woodstock (available on Volume 4)

First broadcast 22nd March 1988

The badly beaten body of a young secretary is found in a pub car park by her boyfriend and Morse is called in to investigate. He suspects murder after finding a coded letter in her bag and uncovers a complex web of relationships, passion and corruption. The lies and unhappiness of the people Morse questions confirm his belief that the bachelor life is not so bad.

Season 3

The Ghost in the Machine (avvailable on Volume 4)

First broadcast 4th January 1989

Morse is sent to investigate the apparent burglary of some erotic paintings belonging to Sir Julius Hanbury, a local baronet, and finds that he too has disappeared. When Morse discovers his body, his first instinct is to suspect murder, but the pathologist's report suggests it may have been suicide. A definite murder follows, but is there a connection with the first death?

The Last Enemy (available on Volume 5)

First broadcast 11th January 1989

A body is found in the canal and the only clue to its identity points to a connection with one of the university's colleges. Morse discovers an intense rivalry for one of the most prestigious posts in the university has led to the murder, but has to determine which of the candidates is the calculating killer.

Deceived by Flight (available on Volume 5)

First broadcast 18th January 1989

Morse discovers that cricket is the last thing on the mind of the Clarets XI old boys' team when their annual match is brought to an abrupt halt by the untimely death of one of their players. Lewis gets to work and play when he is planted on the team in order to obtain inside information.

The Secret of Bay 5B (available on Volume 6)

First broadcast 25th January 1999

Playboy architect Michael Gifford is strangled in his car, and the only clues to be found are his diary and a ticket for a car park. As Morse investigates, he uncovers a love triangle involving the dead man and the list of suspects grows.

Season 4

The Infernal Serpent (available on Volume 6)

First broadcast 3rd January 1990

Morse investigates the tangled web of evidence surrounding the mysterious death of an eminent environmentalist, killed just minutes before he was to give a highly controversial lecture. He soon find out that even the most respectable of academic families can be hiding skeletons in their closets.

The Sins of the Fathers (available on Volume 7)

First broadcast 10th January 1990

Morse hase been called in to investigate foul play in the family-run Radford Brewery, and becomes immersed in the mystery surrounding a hostile take-over bid by a multi-national, along with the suspicious death of Trevor Radford, the managing director.

Driven to Distraction (available on Volume 7)

First broadcast 17th January 1990

Two yojng women have been murdered, without any apparent motive, and all points to a mindless killer. After condidering all the clues, Morse is lead to a local garage owner, Jeremy Boynton, who knew them both, and his suspicions and dislike are both aroused. he is convinced that Boynton holds the key to the crime, so despite having no definite evidence Morse begins to hound him.

Masonic Mysteries (available on Volume 8)

First broadcast 24th January 1990

When a female friend of Morse is stabbed at the dress rehearsal for the local amateur dramatic society's production of The Magic Flute, Morse finds himself at the top of the list of suspects. Lewis then starts to uncover more incriminating evidence, and Morse becomes the target of direct attacks. Who wants to get at Morse so badly?

Season 5

Second Time Around (available on Volume 8)

First broadcast 20th February 1991

The mysterious death of a former deputy police commissioner brings Morse into reluctant contact with an old rival, Chief Inspector Dawson. This uncomfortable trio spot a link to an unsolved murder of a young girl 18 years earlier, but in order to find the latest killer they have to unravel the first case again.

Fat Chance (available on Volume 9)

First broadcast 27th February 1991

Morse finds himself attracted to a female cleric when he is called upon to investigate the suspicious death of a woman deacon. St Saviour's College is about to appoint Oxford's first ever female chaplain, and emotions are running high among the more conservative clerics, but Morse & Lewis find it hard to believe such feelings could lead to murder.

Who Killed Harry Field? (available on Volume 9)

First broadcast 13th March 1991

Harry Field is an artist, a fun-loving drinker and raconteur, or at least he was, and a man after Morse's own heart. When Morse and Lewis investigate his mysterious death, they discover that he wasn't wuite the lovable rogue that he portrayed.

Greeks Bearing Gifts (available on Volume 10)

First broadcast 20th March 1991

Oxford's close-knit Greek community closes ranks when the chef at Lewis's favorite Greek restaurant is found murdered, and a baby goes missing. Matters become strained when Morse has a bad-tempered exchange with the shipping millionaire who owns the restaurant.

Promised Land (available on Volume 10)

First broadcast 27th March 1991

The search for an ex-informant takes both Morse and Lewis to the Australian outback - not just physically miles form Oxford.

Season 6

Dead on Time (available on Volume 11)

First broadcast 26th February 1992

Morse investigates the apparent suicide of a terminally ill Oxford don and discovers a personal connection with the family and as the case develops, Lewis is worried that Morse's professionalism is being undermined.

Happy Families (available on Volume 11)

First broadcast 11th March 1992

When a business tycoon is found murdered in his country mansion, his wife and sons come under suspicion. During the investigation, Morse clashes with a new chief superintendent and is targeted by the tabloids.

The Death of the Self (available on Volume 12)

First broadcast 25th March 1992

The strange death of an Englishwoman abroad takes Morse & Lewis to the beautiful city of Verona in northern Italy, famed for its open-air stagings of operas in its ancient amphitheater. Of course, Morse is delighted to be there and the opera singer Nicole Burgess, is enchanting, but Lewis would rather be back in Oxford.

Absolute Conviction (available on Volume 12)

First broadcast 8th April 1992

Morse and Lewis have to do some time in HMP Farnleigh, an open prison, as they investigate the murder of one of the inmates. He was inside, along with two others, for fraud and things take a downward turn when one of the others has an attempt made on his life.

Cherubim and Seraphim

First broadcast 15th April 1992

Morse take compassionate leave when his step-niece commits suicide, and is confronted with the generation gap as he begins to look into her past to see why she decided to take her own life.

Season 7

Deadly Slumber

First broadcast 6th January 1993

When the founder of a private hospital is found murdered in his car, suspicion falls on a rich ex-bookmaker whose daughter was severely brain damaged during an operation at the hospital.

The Day of the Devil

First broadast 13th January 1993

Morse and Lewis join the hunt for a violent rapist who has escaped from prison, and in doing so are drawn into the disturbing world of devil worship.

Twilight of the Gods

First broadcast 20th January 1993

An unpleasant business tycoon and a world-famous opera singer are invited to receive honorary degrees by Oxford University, but the ceremony is halted when a sniper opens fire on the procession, and the singer is seriously wounded. But was she really the intended target?

Specials

The Way Through the Woods

First broadcast 29th November 1995

When a multiple-murder suspect is killed while on remand, the mystery of a missing fifth woman remains unsolved. In her effects was a postcard of a Pre-Raphaelite painting, the background of which was painted in some local woods. Morse is assigned to the case when what appears to be her body is discovered in those woods.

The Daughters of Cain

First broadcast 27th November 1996

Dr Felix McClure, a retired university professor, is found stabbed to death and Morse and Lewis suspect the former custodian of McClure's room, Ted Brooks. Brooks left his job abruptly after one of McClure's students committed suicide, and an the case becomes more complicated when Morse discovers that McClure, the suicidal student, and the student's roommate, were all in love with the same woman - Brooks's daughter. Morse and Lewis add to their long list of suspects when they begin to question the unusually close relationship between Ted Brooks's wife Brenda and the woman for whom she cleans house, schoolteacher Julia Stevens. Julia seems to be protecting Brenda from her husband's abusive behavior - but when Ted is found dead, it is suspected she may be protecting another kind of secret.

Death Is Now My Neighbour

First broadcast 19th November 1997

A young woman is shot dead through her kitchen window one morning. An anonymous valentine seems to be a clue. Morse talks to the neighbors, including Geoffrey Owens, an aggressive journalist, and Adele Cecil, a music teacher. Morse is taken with Adele and secretly hopes she has nothing to do with the killing. At the same time the next day, Geoffrey Owens is also shot and killed. Morse and Lewis learn that the two murders are connected to a bitterly fought contest taking place at Lonsdale College, Oxford. The current Master of Lonsdale, the malicious Sir Clixby Bream, is retiring, and two dons, Denis Cornford and Julian Storrs, are vying for his job, with their wives active behind the scenes. In this episode, Morse at last reveals his first name - Endeavour. The Wench Is Dead

First broadast 11th November 1998

Morse collapses during a conference on Victorian crime, and is taken into hospital and to pass the time, reads a book about the Oxford Canal Murder of 1859. A young woman was found dead in the canal, apparently the victim of four rough boatmen who were carrying her by barge to London. A murder trial led to the execution of two of the men, but Morse becomes convinced there was a miscarriage of justice, and enlists the help of a police recruit. They trace the physical evidence from the crime, still stored in a local archive, and subject it to modern forensic tests, resulting in the unearthing of an insurance fraud that was the motive for the framing of the boatmen

The Remorseful Day

First broadcast 15th November 2000

The year-long investigation into the murder of Yvonne Harrison in a quiet Cotswold village is sparked into life with the promise of new evidence. Although Chief Inspector Morse is due back on full duties, what exactly is the state of his health? And how will he react to Lewis leading the revitalised investigation?