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Description:
John Thaw brought one of Britain's best-loved TV detectives to life in this telefilm that started the long-running Inspector Morse series, based on the novels by Colin Dexter. The brilliant, somewhat elitist police inspector who loves crosswords, classical music, and more than the occasional pint of ale clumsily romances a woman (Gemma Jones) from his choir. When he finds her hanged in her apartment on the eve of their big recital, he suspects murder and muscles his way in on the investigation. All the assigned investigators are convinced it's suicide except for the eager Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately), and Morse and Lewis reluctantly team up to sort out a mystery tangled in blackmail, adultery, peeping neighbors (former Doctor Who Patrick Troughton), and mistaken identities. With his snooty temperament and lone-wolf lifestyle, the white-haired, Oxford educated bachelor is a wonderful mismatch with the younger Lewis, a married man with a family and a rather less classical background. There's a quiet undercurrent of affection and respect that builds with each continuing Inspector Morse mystery, as well as an air of melancholia and loneliness beautifully developed in the script by future Oscar®-winning writer-director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient). Morse's initial theories may be washouts (a series hallmark), but his relentless sleuthing, eye for clues, and mind for puzzles dredges up the answer in the end, even as he loses the girl. The DVD also features the 50-minute documentary The Mystery of Morse, a kind of character study built around a tour of Morse series shooting locations. It features interviews with the stars, the producer, the composer, and author Colin Dexter. --Sean Axmaker
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