IMMERSED IN "MORSE"

Kevin Whately is to reprise his Inspector Morse role in a new spin-off show for ITV.

Filming on 'Lewis' is due to begin this month - three years after the death of actor John Thaw who played Morse.
In the two-hour film, Whately reprises his role of Robbie Lewis, with his very own sidekick, Det Sgt James Hathaway.

Whately said it would be "very strange" returning to the role. He appeared alongside Thaw in the popular drama for 13 years.

He said: "I know it's going to be strange returning to the character of Lewis without John, but Morse's spirit pervades a great new script and I am looking forward to filming it and to seeing what has happened in Lewis' life and career."

Michele Buck, controller of Granada Drama, London, said Inspector Morse was a "television institution" that came to a natural end with the death of Morse in 2000.

He said: "I am delighted that Kevin has agreed to return as Lewis in a terrific story, which will re-unite many of the team behind Morse, and which will have the same high production values."

Five years after the death of Morse, Lewis - who is now an inspector - returns to the Thames Valley police and the university city of Oxford.

Lewis is joined by Cambridge graduate Det Sgt James Hathaway, played by Laurence Fox, and reporting to new boss Chief Supt Jean Innocent.

Also reprising her Morse role in the drama will be Clare Holman, who was introduced as pathologist Laura Hobson in the 1995 film "The Way Through The Woods" and subsequently appeared in four Morse films.

The last 'Inspector Morse' - "The Remorseful Day" - was broadcast in November 2000.

In the episode, Morse collapsed in an Oxford college quad and later died in hospital.

John Thaw died in February 2002 at the age of 60 after suffering from cancer.

So both Inspector Lewis and Laura Hobson will be two-thirds of the way towards qualifying for the TV Crossover Hall of Fame.

BCnU!
Tele-Toby