I recently watched all the episodes again, starting with with Pilot (Episode 0, as labelled).This show is almost perfection, with fine acting and engaging story lines in a beautiful and civilized setting, except for the last few episodes when it tries to be a little too American. Sorry, there is no other way to put it. The stories become more and more violent, the characters added lack true representation of the British population (hardly any major South Asian characters) but most importantly, the focus shifts from Lewis, the middle-aged Gentle Hero (after whom the show is named!) to Hathaway the Young-and- the-Proud. Even the final scene is off-base. I believe the US backed production has something to do with this obvious shift, not realizing that one of the main reasons British crime shows are so popular in the US (and worldwide) is because, unlike their American counterparts, they are unrealistically more gentle and civilized in their approach to crime and also have something distinctly British about them. So, if any of the producers is reading this, please do not mess with a good thing. Thank you PBS, for getting it almost perfectly right.

Hearing about Lewis for the first time when it first started, there was a big touch of excitement seeing as Inspector Morse was and still is one of my favourites but also a little intrepidation, wondering whether the series would be as good.The good news is, like the prequel series Endeavour, Lewis is every bit as good as Inspector Morse and stands very well on its own two feet as a detective mystery and show in general. There is not much to criticise actually, it's a show that started with a lot of promise, got better and better for a while with each season but a few of the episodes the last couple of seasons for my tastes have veered on the bizarre and too convoluted (not helped by the poor decision in the last three seasons to have one story spread over two weeks, where one was most likely to have forgotten what had happened previously and who was who, especially the case with Down Among the Fearful). This said, even the weakest episodes have much more watchability than those of New Tricks and Midsomer Murders, mostly a fan of both but both got tired after changing so much in later seasons. There is certainly plenty to love however. As to be expected, the production values are of very high quality. All the episodes are beautifully shot, and Oxford not only looks exquisite but is like a supporting character in itself. Barrington Pheloung returns as composer, and does a first-rate job. The theme tune, while not as iconic or quite as clever as Morse's, is very pleasant to listen to, each episode is charmingly and hauntingly scored and the use of classical music is very well-incorporated in every episode (have not quite been able to feel the same way about the finale to the Firebird the same way again), whether it's a character listening to it, a kind of motif or some kind of musical clue. Lewis is very smartly and intelligently written, with lovely droll exchanges between Lewis and Hathaway, some nice humour, surprising amounts of emotional impact and a real effort to properly develop all the ideas introduced rather than leaving questions in the balance. Really appreciated all the references to Morse too. The story lines a vast majority of the time are most compelling, are never dull, are very suspenseful and have plenty of twists and turns that not only does one not see coming but effort is taken to explain it all. Life Born of Fire, Falling Darkness, Dead of Winter and Beyond Good and Evil are particularly good in this regard. The characters are well written and engaging, who can't help love the dynamic between Lewis and Hathaway (the former being the world weary one with the hunches and the latter the more logical and witty), and that between Lewis and Hobson has a lovely warmth too. The acting is on the most part terrific, apart from an at times annoying Angela Griffin and some distractingly bad accents on occasion (i.e. Zoe Boyle's in Point of Vanishing). Kevin Whately and Lawrence Fox are superb leads, with Whately being advantaged by Lewis being a more rounded and developed character here, Rebecca Front makes for a commanding superior and Clare Holman is reliably strong too. Many of the guest supporting turns have been very strong too. Overall, a great series and a worthy successor to a personal favourite. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is a review of Series One to Seven of LEWIS (also known as INSPECTOR LEWIS). I never imagined that a sequel series could surpass the original (INSPECTOR MORSE), but this is what has happened. The stories, writing and direction remain of the same excellent quality, but it is the performances which really put the series over the top. John Thaw as Inspector Morse often overdid the querulousness and could be a bit irritating sometimes, which was meant to be part of his character. But now that he has the top job, Kevin Whateley as Lewis has really come into his own as a heavyweight actor of true stature. He has made Lewis into such a rounded and convincing character that he is more compelling than Morse ever was. (Perhaps this solidity of character is due to Whateley being a direct descendant of one of the three notorious Thompson Brothers, all of them Parliamentary colonels, of the 1640s and 1650s.) But even Whateley's superb acting cannot match the eerie and uncanny brilliance of Laurence Fox's performances as Detective Sergeant Hathaway. Rarely in a TV series has any actor created such massive complexity of character with such understatement and minimalism. Fox's work is sheer genius. One is tempted to compare Fox with John Hamm in MAD MEN (see my review), where we hang on Hamm's every silence, expecting him to speak, but when he does not, we accept the profundity of his silence as part of his secretive character and sympathise with him. This is very much the case with Fox, whose brooding internal life makes us concerned for him. The strong performances of Clare Holman as the pathologist and Rebecca Front as the Chief Superintendent are equally important in giving the essential fibre to the series to ensure its success. Holman's perpetual cheeriness is rather infectious, and all the more fascinating in that she shows it when inspecting corpses. This series (which will have a Season 8 before long) is a magnificent success in every respect. Dom Perignon all round! However, one does have a certain sympathy with the population of Oxford, which has been diminished by so many murders after all of these years that one wonders that there is anyone left alive in either town or gown. I noticed that there appear to be heavy filming restrictions in place, for in none of the episodes do we see the commercial district or the roads with the most traffic. I only recall seeing Oxford Market used once. We never see the High Street except for the small area at the end by Magdalen Bridge. Oxford comes across all glamorous and antique, and you would never suspect there were other parts of the town which are glum rather than glam. The Sheldonian appears to be everywhere, and every angle of that has been covered many times. Some of the colleges appear to have said no. I have never seen the quaint battlements of New College in an episode, for instance. We never see Magdalen's deer park, we never see the endless walks along the river, which are inaccessible to filming vans. In a sense, a mythical Oxford provides the backdrop for this series. But then, that strangely adds to the effect, for by creating the illusion of an Oxford that goes on forever but is really often the same locations shot from new angles, the illusion of endless murders seems only a natural part of the equation D = ME, where D is drama, M is murder, and E is episodes. It is clear according to this equation that the drama can increase linearly if either the murders increase, the episodes increase, or both increase together. No analysis has yet been made formulating an equation expressing the rates of increase, whether two murders per episode cause an acceleration of the heartbeat, and whether nonlinear phenomena occur, such as particularly shocking murders leading to quantum jumps, i.e. hearts skipping beats. I go to Oxford so rarely these days, but on one visit what did my wife and I see but Kevin Whateley getting in and out of his police car near Merton College as the cameras rolled, on the same side of the street as Anthony a Wood's house. Long may he go on doing so. And let us hope that some future edition of Athenae Oxoniensis includes John Thaw, Kevin Whateley, and Laurence Fox as worthies, which they clearly deserve.

Lewis hits the spot for me. Great location shots of Oxford, typically unbelievably complicated plots where the destination seems less important than journey, and Kevin Whately's now rather world-weary Inspector Lewis trawling his way through police procedure to arrive at the right solution.I like Laurence Fox as Lewis' laconic and slightly acerbic assistant Hathaway. This is a working partnership not one of close camaraderie - and that works for me. At least in series one, the writers have refrained from throwing random romance in the way of Lewis - other series go a bit too far with distracting love interests - and this means our heroes can concentrate all their energies on cerebral outcomes rather than physical ones.All in all, a very competent and enjoyable series. 9/10