Customer Reviews

The Complete Inspector Morse

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I enjoy the Morse series but with 33 DVDs it can be difficult to keep track and locate which program you want to watch or share with friends. This handsome well organized volume certainly helps by providing well written concise overviews of most of the details of each show including information on the soundtrack and filming locations. It also includes information regarding all of the Morse writings by Colin Dexter. I found the critical analysis at the end of each entry to be quite accurate with regard to the quality of the book or film. If you enjoy Morse, don't hesitate to order this book, you will love it! There are also some beautiful color and black and white photos included of John Thaw, Colin Dexter, etc. Mr. Bishop deserves a big "THANKS"!

Amazon should probably remove the review above from the clueless individual who thought this was a book of short stories. Apparently they gave it a low rating because they made a foolish mistake. Talk about being unable to accept responsibility for your own actions...ever think of returning it if it was not what you wanted?

This is a nice resource for fans of both the novels and TV series featuring Colin Dexter's Chief Inspector Morse character. This edition also includes some limited coverage of the early episodes of the sequel series that features Morse's longtime partner Lewis now promoted to Inspector. While I honestly cannot speak to the absolute accuracy of all of Mr. Bishop's coverage not being an expert myself on either the books or TV series, I do find it a useful resource to my interest in the character. If you like Morse, and also enjoy collecting media related books of this type (TV series and Film histories etc.) I think you'd enjoy having this one.

Please note that prices seem to vary wildly on this book, I recommend PostScript books, a UK based bookseller (via Amazon) who are selling it at the proper 'remaindered book' price which with shipping to the US was *FAR* less than most are listing it for.

I'm working my way through the entirity of Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse series, and I must admit that Dexter really has a talent of working his words into reality. One will sit in a chair, reading a Morse novel, and will suddenly find oneself in the scene, with Morse, with Lewis, with the excitement that comes with any Morse novel. Dexter brings you to quintessential England, Oxfordshire, the whisky that so many of his beautiful characters enjoy, and the life of the curious genius Inspector Morse.

If you like detective novels, but want to be brought into a state of utter reality, having forced upon you the very scene that the fantastic write Dexter is describing, go for a Morse novel. This book will aid you in finding out about Morse and the scenes, and I hope that any willing reader will enjoy reading these exciting novels.

4 stars with a smile.

This is a review for the updated edition; I don't have the older edition(s) so am not able to say what all has been added since. One thing it does not include that earlier editions apparently did is filming locations, due (the author notes) to the availability now of guidebooks devoted to that subject, such as The Oxford of Inspector Morse and Lewis by Bill Leonard, which I also own and reviewed here. So, unfortunately if you want that info, you will have to buy two books (note that the Leonard guide does not provide detailed filming information for every episode, but most of them. The Leonard book is also included with the Morse Complete Collection DVD set).

This book includes a synopsis of all the Morse novels by Colin Dexter, all 33 television episodes, as well as radio and stage productions featuring Morse; information about the Inspector Morse Society, as well as Morse-related websites, non-fiction books, documentaries and other merchandise.

As I am mainly a fan of the TV series, my review focuses on that aspect of the book. There's a cast list, air dates, and writing/production credits, and a quite detailed synopsis, of all 33 episodes together with what might be termed "fun facts" - such as a drink-by-drink tally of Morse's alcohol consumption; Colin Dexter's cameo spot revealed; comparison between novel and screen versions; the body count; the author's critique of the episode; Morse's love interest(s), if any; information gleaned about Morse and Lewis' personal lives; quotes; and the music heard in the episode. The latter is the most interesting and useful to me because, while my Morse-like husband can identify any piece of classical music in 2.3 seconds, we would never be able to recall for example which episode it was that they played Schubert's Death of the Maiden quartet, etc. For each season there is a summing up of changes that occurred for that production year (writers, producers coming and going, character developments, etc). Much of the information in the book (including the music details) is available from various websites on the internet, but I think it's handy to have it all in one slim volume that can be taken off the shelf and quickly flipped through (also websites have a tendency to disappear). Most of the episode quotes given are ones I recognized already from the IMDB website - though I imagine they were added there by someone(s) using the book. I would like to have seen more attention given to James Grout, as he added a lot to the show - small and thankless though his role may be.

Another reviewer notes that this [the 2011 updated edition] will include the spinoff Lewis series, but in fact, the book does not say much about Lewis. There's a brief discussion of how that series came into being; some info re: the early production of it; and a synopsis, et al of the Lewis pilot episode, but no other treatment of Lewis except a listing of the title/airdates/screenplay credits for the episodes of series 1-5. There is a little information about the yet-to-be-aired Morse "prequel," Endeavor.

I was not scrutinizing the book for typos, but I believe those noted from an earlier edition have been addressed. The only error that I happened to notice is under the TV version of Daughters of Cain, comparing it to the novel version - it refers to "Morse's love affair with Kay"; I believe this should be "McClure" as neither Morse of print or screen has a physical affair with Kay.

As far as aesthetics, it's not an especially attractive volume - the paper is rather pulpy and not high quality (but the book's reasonable price reflects this), and there are only a dozen or so photos, all but one or two in color. If I had to choose between saving the Leonard guide or this one in a fire, I would probably grab the former, but if you're a Morse fanatic like I am you'll probably want both, if possible. (they do not contain the same information, though there is, necessarily, some minor overlap) I hope given the continued high popularity of the show that someone will one day write the ultimate Morse companion.

Note - there are multiple editions for sale here, so make sure if you buy a used copy that it is the latest one (if the 2011 edition is what you're indeed after).

After reading the 2002 edition three years ago, I emailed the publishers to notify them of some errors and misprints and also ask them for the author's email address, but they never replied. Having received my copy of the revised edition this morning, I was disappointed that only some mistakes have been corrected. Below is a list of the errors that still exist in the new edition.

1. p. 16 The sentence 'Crowther insists Morse is summoned' sounds awkward ('Crowther insists that Morse be summoned' would make more sense); 'He goes to the hospital and asks Sue asks for a photograph of herself': 'asks' is repeated after 'Sue'.

2. p. 26 The Shakespeare quotation is not from 'Henry IV, Part 2' but 'Henry VI, Part 2': Bishop has copied this mistake from Dexter himself. It isn't a misprint by the novels' publishers (Macmillan/Pan), existing in the Omnibus and individual editions of 'Last Seen Wearing' that I've seen. As I guess that his publishers won't help me contact Dexter directly or indirectly (I've given up on publishers), I hope someone close to the novelist here alerts him to this error.

3. p. 42 The murderer is 'Charles', not 'Conrad', Richards.

4. p. 51 Sarah's surname - as spelt in the novel - is 'Jonstone', not 'Johnston'.

5. p. 110 Morse hears Mozart's Piano Concerto 14, not a Handel concerto, a mistake also occurring in the DVD subtitles. The Handel is actually heard in a later scene (when Morse drives into Oxford), at which point Bishop and the DVD subtitles incorrectly ascribe the music to Haydn: curiously, Bishop identified the music correctly - Handel - in his 2002 edition. What sounds like a Haydn quartet is heard earlier at Morse's office while speaking on the phone. The Mozart aria isn't from 'Don Giovanni' but 'The Marriage of Figaro' ('Porgi amor'): the DVD subtitles identify this correctly. 'Chopin's "Don Giovanni"' should read 'Mozart's...'. (There's a piece not mentioned by Bishop and which I don't recognize, heard when Lewis calls on Morse in his office and switches off the radio.)

6. p. 116 The snippet heard isn't Mozart's E flat 'Sinfonia Concertante', though at first it does sound like the second movement: it could be a Handel, and if it is, Bishop identified it correctly in the 2002 edition, here most probably adopting the mistake from the DVD subtitles.

7. p. 119 'awash was' should read '...with'.

8. p. 120 The aria heard is not from Verdi's 'Falstaff' but Puccini's 'Manon Lescaut' (Manon's 'Sola, perduta, abbandonata'), though we see the record cover of Verdi's opera (this error also appears in the subtitles of the DVD, from which - like the Handel, Haydn, and Mozart above - Bishop may have copied it).

9. p. 135 'The inspector...switches it off at Jane's request': it's she who turns off the music, not Morse; the work heard in the scene with Mrs Warbut at the end isn't Bach's 'St John Passion' but Alain's 'De Jules Lemaitre' (identified on Helen Roulston's site).

10. p. 153 Bishop misses the 3rd Schumann String Quartet heard when Lewis visits Morse: this piece is identified on Roulston's site.

11. p. 163 'Justorum Anime' should be '...animae', and the anthem isn't 'Tudor' but by Orlande de Lassus.

12. p. 208 Lady Emily plays Mozart's Piano Sonata in D KV 311 when told of Harry's death, not Beethoven's Piano Concerto 4, which is heard earlier (when she and Jessica first meet): this error also exists in the subtitles.

13. p. 211 'Nicole' is misspelt as 'Nicola'.

14. p. 213 'Signora Ascolta' should read 'Signore...'.

15. p. 222 'Che Faro Senza Eurydice' should be '...Euridice', and 'Orfeo et Eurydice' (a Franco-Italian title?) should read '...ed Euridice'; 'Misere' should be 'Miserere'.

16. p. 226 '(91st movement)' must be '(1st...)'.

17. p. 234 Though 'Traume' from the 'Wesendonck-Lieder' was recorded and is included in Volume 3 of the 'Morse' CD (Virgin), it doesn't appear anywhere in 'Twilight of the Gods' which I watched so many times in order to track down the moment when the song is supposed to be sung: Gwladys Probert sings only from Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene, not the song (why 'Traume' was recorded in the first place is a mystery: this song - rather than the GOTTERDAMMERUNG finale - should've been used to conclude the episode).

18. p. 254 'a Mozart' should read 'Mozart's'.

19. p. 259 'Knappertsbusch' is misspelt as 'Knappertbusch'.

PS I think reference should be made in the 'Identity Parade' section to Patricia Hodge's most famous TV role Phyllida Trant (Mrs Erskine-Brown) and Peter Blythe's equally famous portrayal of Samuel Ballard in the popular courtroom show 'Rumpole of the Bailey' (the former appears in 'Ghost in the Machine', the latter in 'The Death of the Self').

PPS The third edition, which features material on the sequel LEWIS, will be released during the first week of February 2008.

I misunderstood this to be a collection of stories which it definately is not. I am not sure what category into which it should be placed. I used the trash can.