WATCH

Fridays at 9PM
on CPTV
(Check Listings)

INSPECTOR MORSE

For anyone raised on a steady diet of American prime-time detective shows, the arrival of Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse was certain to be a shock. "I'm a quite different kettle of fish," Morse (John Thaw) tells his new aide, Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately), in that first program. It is a fair warning. Morse is often morose and cranky and, when he is, he'd rather stare at the bubbles in his beer than engage in casual conversation. Morse is definitely not a demographically correct sort of television detective. He's middle-aged with white hair, not the macho young stud favored by American advertisers. Like Columbo and Spenser, Morse refuses to acknowledge his first name because it's so awful. Widely acclaimed by critics, Inspector Morse as played by John Thaw is Oxford's most famous export. The unique character of Inspector Morse has proven to be one of the world's most popular detectives and is a classic PBS mystery.