This 'Inspector Morse' prequel makes a welcome return with a second series that promises to be somewhat darker in tone to fit in with the recent popularity of 'Nordic Noir' series. The episode starts with Morse returning to work in Oxford after a stint away on light duties following a shooting. On his first day back he is called out to an apparent suicide. A second case arises when a man comes into the station to report his daughter missing
on the surface they are two totally unrelated non-cases; a suicide and a likely runaway but the more Morse digs the murkier it gets. The dead man turns out to be a private detective who specialised in finding evidence for divorce cases and a not in his possession leads Morse to make a tenuous connection to the missing girl. Added to this a collection of artefacts dating from the time of the Norman Conquest is stolen from one of the colleges and there are indications that it could be connected to the first two cases. As well as solving the crime Morse is taking his time mentally recovering and his boss, Inspector Thursday, is worried about how much whisky he is drinking.
This was a fine opening episode; it certainly had the promised darker feel. Morse found himself beaten more than once, the motive for the crimes proved to be quite sordid and those involved suggested to Morse that he had just made some very powerful enemies. The mystery was interesting and avoided some of the expected clichés. Almost as interesting was the development of Morse's character; events here are moulding him into the man we know from the original series. Shaun Evans continues to do a fine job as Morse and, as expected, Roger Allam is great as Thursday. The rest of the cast are also pretty good. The filming is done in such a way that makes Oxford look as though it was the sixties; it can't be easy avoiding all the signs of modernity! Overall I really enjoyed this; some viewers might not like the darker tone but I thought it suited the series.
This was a fine opening episode; it certainly had the promised darker feel. Morse found himself beaten more than once, the motive for the crimes proved to be quite sordid and those involved suggested to Morse that he had just made some very powerful enemies. The mystery was interesting and avoided some of the expected clichés. Almost as interesting was the development of Morse's character; events here are moulding him into the man we know from the original series. Shaun Evans continues to do a fine job as Morse and, as expected, Roger Allam is great as Thursday. The rest of the cast are also pretty good. The filming is done in such a way that makes Oxford look as though it was the sixties; it can't be easy avoiding all the signs of modernity! Overall I really enjoyed this; some viewers might not like the darker tone but I thought it suited the series.