Inspector Morse

Trivia

• Morse's creator Colin Dexter makes regular appearances, often as a drinker in a pub.

• Ailish Hurley is the bar manager of Chapter's Bar, Randolph Hotel, Oxford. She is a good friend of Colin Dexter, and was a continual source of inspiration to him, persuading him to carry on writing the Inspector Morse novels on which the TV series is based. As a mark of respect, he asked for her to be given a cameo role in the final Inspector Morse film, "The Remorseful Day", where she is seen briefly serving coffee to Morse and Sandra Harrison.

• The flute in the theme music spells Morse's name in Morse code. Also, it sometimes spells the name of the murderer!...and sometimes the name of an innocent character, to throw off knowledgeable listeners off the trail.

• Whilst studying at Oxford, Morse was nicknamed "Pagan Morse" after refusing to reveal his Christian name.

• Morse's first name is "Endeavor", revealed in "Death Is Now My Neighbour".

• Dr Grayling Russell was named "Grayling" after a fish (her father was a keen fisherman).

• Brakespears Brewery in Henley-on-Thames brewed a new beer called "Morse's Bitter Endeavour" to mark his demise. The brewery was used in "Sins of the Father".

• John Thaw has never liked beer!

• Kevin Whately and Madeleine Newton are married in real life, she played the doomed Beryl Newsome in episode 4.4 "Masonic Mysteries".

• Sgt Lewis' warrant card (which he shows to Mrs Preece in episode 4.2, "The Sins Of The Fathers") is signed by "Chief Constable K McBain", a tribute to the late Kenny McBain, producer of Series 1 and 2.

• In episode 4.3, "Driven To Distraction", Morse tells Lewis about a friend who was terminally ill but was concerned that the battery on his car would go flat with not being driven so he got Morse to drive the car each week to keep the battery charged. Anthony Minghella, writer of the episode, included this story as a tribute to the late Kenny McBain, producer of Series 1 and 2, who had asked Minghella to perform this service on his newly-bought Saab when he discovered that he was dying of Hodgkin's disease.

• When the final scene of "The Remorseful Day" was being filmed, in which Morse collapses of a fatal heart attack on the lawn of Exeter College, the camera, which had been working perfectly until that moment, jammed on five consecutive takes before finally allowing the take that appears in the episode.

• After the filming of the final Morse episode, "The Remorseful Day", the burgundy Jaguar 2.4, registration number 248 RPA, used by Morse was given away in a prize draw to a man who lives in Oxford. The owner later sold the car at auction for £53,000 in April 2002.