Customer Reviews

Inspector Morse: Last Bus to Woodstock

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

 

 

This episode revolves around three women. The first owns a home and is the land lady of the other two. Number one is an office manager, having an affair with one of the married executives with whom she works. Number two is a nurse who is having an affair with a professor at one of Oxford's colleges. The third is a student at Oxford and is being "chatted up" by one of the English Literature instructors. These are three separate stories and at no time intertwine; a fourth girl is picked up, hitchhiking in the rain, on the Woodstock Road, by one of the previously mentioned men. Shortly thereafter she is dead. Given these facts, this is one difficult investigation for Morse. There is none of the frequent surprises or twists to further complicate the investigation; Morse has enough on his hands. Max the pathologist plays his largest part in any of his appearances. A solid four star effort.

I have been a Morse lover since its debut on PBS Mystery! I have to say

this episode is the one I have returned to many times. The opening shot is so striking and gothic you know you are locked in for the ride. As Morse & Lewis wend their way through the dead girl's life, each fascinating and unlikely acquaintance leads to the next. To say too much

more would be spoiling it - but the conclusion is amazing! There are

absolutely top shelf British actors in this episode, including a very

young Holly Aird (Waking the Dead). I recommend this to all you Morse

fans who have not enjoyed it yet.

In Last Bus to Woodstock, DCI Morse (John Thaw) and DS Lewis (Kevin Whately) investigate the mysterious death of a young girl, Sylvia Cain, who was working as a secretary at an insurance company. The investigation gets more complicated when Morse discovers that the deceased hitchhiked the night of her death; that her body was found by a young man who was actually waiting for her at a nearby pub that very night; and that an envelope addressed to another woman was found in Sylvia's possession, containing a letter written in code.

This is a well-plotted story with many fascinating clues and details that enable viewers to puzzle out the mystery alongside Morse and Lewis. With the help of an astute old woman who happened to be one of the last people to see Sylvia alive that night, Morse and Lewis piece together what happened to Sylvia Cain, with an incredibly amazing conclusion that is also altogether plausible. I am an ardent fan of the Insp. Morse series, where the stories convincingly portray the baser emotions that propel people to commit unimaginable acts against others.

Inspector Morse is cerebral, almost an armchair decetcive in the Sherlock Holmes tradition. This video is based on the first Morse novel, but came about halfway through the series' run on ITV. John Thaw is notable in his performance because he almost underplays the role of Morse, and Kevin Whatley as Sergeant Lewis makes a good Watson, trying to understand Morse's thought process, and providing a lens through which us viewers of merely average intellect can comprehend how Morse's mind works. This will never appeal to a general audience, but it's very enjoyable to those at whom it's targeted.