Colin Dexter, the man behind Morse, dies at 86

Colin Dexter, the crime writer who created the nation’s favourite detective, Inspector Morse, has died at his home in Oxford aged 86.

Dexter’s gifts as a novelist have, in the public imagination, been eclipsed by the television adaptations of his works. Yet Inspector Morse, which starred John Thaw in the title role and ran from 1987 to 2000 on ITV, is a supreme example of television treating its source material with the utmost respect. Dexter’s role in making the show one of the most memorable of the Eighties and Nineties cannot be underestimated.

If you look at his work prior to the beginning of the series, which began with an adaptation of his fifth novel Dead of Jericho, the material which has become synonymous with Morse is already there. There is the detective himself, of course – irascible and thoughtful, possessing a sort of cultural intelligence which was always bubbling beneath the surface as he went about his daily business, catching Oxford’s worst type of criminals.

There are also the quirks, which are familiar, and later much parodied: the love of cask ale and cryptic crosswords, and above all a devotion to Wagner which added a sense of sublime inspiration as he tried to unlock the murkiest of murders.

What the television series was able to enhance was Dexter’s exquisite sense of place. Of course, the dreaming spires have an aesthetic, almost numinous appeal, and it employed them to iconic effect; tourists now flock to Oxford specifically because of the series, and Inspector Morse walking tours are available via the Experience Oxfordshire website.

The television series also benefitted from casting a wide range of big-name actors, grateful to take part in whodunnits that rose above the banal. Tom Wilkinson, Rachel Weisz, Anna Massey and most memorably, John Gielgud, in one of his final roles as a fogeyish chancellor, are among those to appear in the series’ 13-year run.

Oddly, one major deviation in the transfer from page to screen is the character of Sergeant Robbie Lewis, played by Kevin Whately, who in Dexter’s books is a much older man in his 60s.

Rather magnanimously, Dexter once stated that the decision by ITV to make Lewis younger was a sensible one and indeed that Whately improved the original character. Of course, casting an older actor – Whately was in his early 30s when he took the role – could easily have diminished the impact of John Thaw’s portrayal.

The legacy of Morse owes so much to Thaw, and that is largely due to the late actor’s total immersion in Dexter’s creation. He had that wonderful knack of doing much by saying very little, which was often required as Morse inwardly digested a sea of red herrings.

There was also, of course, his disastrous emotional life and Thaw was always at his best when ruminating on the fallout of another failed relationship.

It remains to be seen whether Neil Pearson, an estimable and sensitive actor, can bring as much nuance to the character when he stars in Radio 4’s forthcoming revival.

As Lewis and Endeavour have proved, the franchise has never quite got over the hole left by the death of its principal character.

But it is also worth noting that Dexter had nothing to do with this sequel or prequel. Rather, television writers have tried and failed to replicate his complex (but never too clever) plotting, his emotional richness and, above all, his perfect positioning of a dead body.

‘His love of Wagner added a sense of sublime inspiration as he tried to unlock the murkiest of murders’