"Inspector Lewis" is—as the Brits would say—"brilliant!"
Barbara Peters,
The Poisoned Pen
Wow! Often times something billed as a "Legacy" lacks the punch of the original, and "Morse" based on the crime novels of Colin Dexter was a hard act to follow.
But "Inspector Lewis" is—as the Brits would say—"brilliant!" Or "fantastic." (I read a lot of British publicity copy for books and films and these are the two words of highest praise.)
While Kevin Whately, looking slightly more battered, steps right back into his role as the now deceased Morse's Sergeant Lewis, he also succeeds in making the five years that have passed since Morse died and he's been promoted to Inspector perfectly believable. We learn, in bits, that Lewis' own wife has been killed in a London traffic accident and his children grew up and fled the nest, while he's been working the last two years on assignment in Virgin Gorda (where Patricia Moyes lives, although that's not mentioned, but it's fun to know).
So here is a grieving Lewis returned to what he knows, yet is so different. He's ruffled by the much young Detective Sergeant James Hathaway, technologically competent, who meets him at the airport. He's more or less snubbed by his senior officer who seems to think another, less senior officer, is more competent to head the murder investigation we see developing: a young Oxford student is shot in the neck while participating in a study at the Sleep Clinic (she has sleep apnea). Regan Peverill was American and brilliant in the more usual sense—a gifted mathematician. And arrogant.
Lewis is temporarily put in charge, seconded by Hathaway. Their inquiries lead to another student, Danny Griffon, who comes we soon see with a lot of family baggage. While I think the Hamlet theme here is a bit "over the top," the script does a wonderful job not only bringing in echoes of Morse and his love of crosswords and puzzles (with a mathematical twist), but in establishing the character of a more mature and independent Lewis and in bringing on Hathaway (who nearly steals the show). They prove to be a top team, one I'm anxious to see return.
Colin Dexter did not write the story (he's more or less retired), but he and his wife Dorothy still live in Oxford and he's still very much a part of the mystery and university communities—and he retains his sense of fun. In the manner of Alfred Hitchcock, he appears here in a cameo role. Watch for him, it's really a flash!
The real star of the show, as with "Morse," is the university and its famous "dreaming spires." Mystery! does a marvelous job with the local landscape, with bringing you into this city so ancient and modern (founded where the oxen forded the Thames centuries ago and moving into the industrial age as the home of the Morris motor car). It's always there in its beauty and its contradictions.
And its sport, like rowing. The last, and in fact only time I ever punted in Oxford , Laurie R. King was in charge of poling the boat. And the last shot of the pub called The Trout also brought memories; I've drunk many a pint there myself. Too bad Hathaway has to have an orange juice—but he's driving.
–Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen
Mystery! "Inspector Lewis " airs Sunday, July 30, 2006 at
9 p.m. on Eight/KAET-TV.
