"Inspector Morse" Masonic Mysteries (1990)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Danny Boyle

Writers:

Colin Dexter (characters)
Julian Mitchell (written by)

TV Series:

"Inspector Morse" (1987)

Original Air Date:

24 January 1990 (Season 4, Episode 4)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Morse finds himself the subject of a murder investigation when his friend, Beryl Newsome, is murdered...

Plot Keywords:

Oxford | Police | Detective | Inspector | Police Detective

Cast

John Thaw	...	Chief Inspector Morse
Kevin Whately	...	Detective Sergeant Lewis
Madelaine Newton	...	Beryl Newsome
Ian McDiarmid	...	Hugo De Vries
Celestine Randall	...	Sandra Machin
Roland Oliver	...	Conductor
John Arthur	...	Hall Porter
James Grout	...	Chief Superintendent Strange
Richard Kane	...	Chief Inspector Bottomley
Steven Elliot	...	Officious Constable (as Steven Elliott)
Richard Huw	...	Detective Constable Dearden
Iain Cuthbertson	...	Desmond McNutt
Mark Strong	...	PC Mike Butterworth
Diane Fletcher	...	Marion Brooke
Ken Drury	...	Norman

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Chiswick Town Hall, Heathfield Terrace, Chiswick, London, England, UK

Trivia:

Cameo: [Morse creator Colin Dexter and episode screenwriter Julian Mitchell]during the opening scene of the Magic Flute rehearsal, as two members of the chorus (there is a single shot framing just the two of them).

Goofs:

Factual errors: Piers Ibbotson is billed in the credits as "Piers Gidden" (the same surname as the cast member below him).

Quotes:

[pointing a gun at Morse]
Hugo De Vries: I'm going to kill you. Or am I?

Movie Connections:

References "EastEnders" (1985)

My all time favourite episode! Just a classic!

This episode is just brilliant, well constructed, complex and resolutely creepy. Here Morse is framed for murder, and has to find who is trying to get at him so badly. John Thaw once again is phenomenal as Morse, and Kevin Whately matches him perfectly. The main reason why this episode is so special to me, is because of the music featured, excerpts from Mozart's Magic Flute, an opera I took part in recently. The music was perfect, as Mozart himself was considered a mason, and it actually gave some weight to some tense scenes, like the fire in Morse's house with the Water and Fire duet (you also find out that Morse hates the Toscanini recording of the Magic Flute, causing him to say "I wouldn't allow it in the house". The supporting actors were also fine, especially Diane Fletcher as Marian Brooke. My favourite though has to be Iain McDairmund as DeVries, a cool and calculating villain who does give you goosebumps. The scene when Beryl gets stabbed while on the telephone is quite terrifying, mainly because of the scream, it's enough to make your blood run cold. Anyway, DeVries is one of my favourite Morse villains, not quite as good as Keith Allen's John Peter Barrie, but convincing enough to remember him. The dialogue and the camera-work is as expected nothing short of excellent. All in all, wonderful! 10/10 Bethany Cox.