It's a very funny thing, but as soon as someone doesn't want to discuss something, I do.
The church episode, based on the 1979 novel of the same name. First broadcast 20 January 1987.
A church warden is found with a crucifix in his chest; and more bodies start to pile up as Morse and Lewis try to catch a dangerous psychopath. All of the victims are linked to St. Oswald's Church, where the first murder took place. Morse falls for the church caretaker, but she has other things going on in her life.
This episode contains examples of:
- Adaptational Name Change: The church, St. Oswald's, was called St. Frideswide's in the novel. Also, the vicar and his brother had their surname changed from Lawson to Pawlen.
- Adaptational Timespan Change: The events of the novel take place over several months, with Morse having to take over the investigation from Bell mid-way through. In the TV adaptation, the entire case takes place over a span of a few days (save for the court sequence at the end, which is a few weeks later), with Morse leading the investigation from the start.
- Adapted Out: Bell narrowly avoids this; in the novel, he'd led the original investigation, with Morse taking over several months later when Bell fell ill. In this episode, Morse leads the investigation from the start, with Bell (who'd been promoted to Superintendent in "The Dead of Jericho") in a minor role.
- Ambiguous Situation: The Rev. Lionel Pawlen dies as a result of falling from the church tower. But did he jump, or was he pushed? Harry Josephs hints that he committed suicide, but then Harry Josephs does kill four other people...
- Christianity is Catholic: Possibly at play here, as St. Oswald's is a Roman Catholic church. In the original novel, the church at the centre of the story had been Church of England, albeit of the High Anglican (ie. tending very much towards Roman Catholicism) variant.
- Climbing Climax: Despite being afraid of heights, Morse chases the murderer up the church tower in the episode's denouement.
- Creator Cameo: Occurs while Morse talks to the archdeacon; as they pass through the archway, Colin Dexter is speaking to a student with a bicycle.
- Darker and Edgier: This episode has a body-count of six (of which at least four are acts of murder), making it one of the bloodiest episodes of Inspector Morse; in the episode's climax, the murderer tries to kill two more people, including Morse himself. One of the murder victims is a child, and there are hints of paedophilia. In addition to that, Morse knowingly commits perjury in order to get Ruth a lighter prison sentence, just because he fancies her.
- Deadpan Snarker: Max.Morse: I shall never understand these religious types.Max: That's because you have no soul, Morse.
- Faking the Dead: Harry Josephs does this by dressing the body of Simon Pawlen (the first murder victim) in his own clothes after killing him.
- For the Evulz: Harry Josephs gleefully admits to killing (at least) four people for this reason.
- Last-Name Basis: Like all women attracted to Morse, Ruth would rather not call him by his rank or surname, but he's having none of it.Morse: People just call me Morse.
- Lethal Letter Opener: Simon Pawlen, the first murder victim, is stabbed with a crucifix-shaped letter opener.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Morse claims to need more than one drink to get his brain into gear. Subverted at the end, though, as he is struggling to swallow after being strangled and uncharacteristically leaves an unfinished pint.Morse: I'm not supposing anything until I've had at least two pints of beer.
- Pedophile Priest: Hinted at, as far as Lionel Pawlen is concerned, though it turns out to be a malicious falsehood spread by his estranged brother.
- Running Gag: Once again, when Morse and Lewis are in a pub...Morse: Your round, Lewis.Lewis: It's always my round.
- Shout-Out: A few.
- When Morse examines the diary, he refers Lewis to "the curious incident of the dog that did nothing in the night-time". He's referring to the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of Silver Blaze" note .
- When Morse says: "What about this tramp, Lewis? Where the hell is this tramp?", he pulls a copy of Waiting for Godot from the shelf. This play famously involves two tramps. This gets rather meta when you consider the fact that Peter Woodthorpe, who plays Max the pathologist, played Estragon (one of the tramps) in the first London production of this play in 1955.
- The climactic sequence where Morse climbs the church tower is an homage to Vertigo. Like Scottie in that film, Morse is afraid of heights.
- Scenery Porn: This episode has several scenes set inside a Catholic church, and makes good use of it.
- Stealing from the Till. Or rather, from the collection plate.
- Would Hurt a Child: One of the murder victims is Paul Morris's 12 year-old son.
