Mystery!: Inspector Lewis (2006)

Lewis is his own detective

Anyone expecting Morse results will be disappointed but Lewis has come into his own and becomes a good detective. It would have been nice if there were more of this series to watch him progress as his own identity emerges without Morse to shadow him. May 29, 2008

Lewis is superb!

Whatley did a magnificent job re-creating the character of Lewis. He maintained the personality of the character while developing some more depth to it. This Lewis is more determined than the one in the Morse episodes. It even seem like a little of Morse has rubbed off on Lewis, which is both surprising and refreshing. I like the new sargent Hathaway as well, he compliments Lewis like Lewis did Morse.

Well Done! I look forward to the rest of the series as it comes out April 3, 2008

Why only 1 episode?

I would like to give this series a chance before I decide what I think of it. I was never that impressed with Inspector Morris (sorry!) but I kinda got into this. Here's my problem: There were 4 episodes in the 1st season and only the 1st episode was released in the U.S. which hardly gives it a fair chance. Release the full season, or, really go out on a limb and release the 2nd season too. "Inspector Morris" had 33 episodes is it asking too much to see a meager 4 of "Inspector Lewis"? February 21, 2008

A Far Cry --The 1st Four Episodes Box

There's a good reason why Whatley was a sidekick to Thaw -- as an actor, he doesn't have the presence, resourcefulness, and worldly charm of the old man. Throughout the four episodes in the box, Whatley is desperately trying to find an identity, a persona. For the most part, he resorts to stock attitudes and personality traits (the grouch, working-class cynicism, a disgruntled widower, or a fumbling combination of these). Whatever he chooses, Whatley cannot appropriate the character, make it his own -- the lines take over and he becomes as flat as the pages they were written on. Any worse, and he'd be reciting his way through the series.

Sorry, but Lewis is just not up to being Inspector in a series of such high repute. If you need a specific example, check out the first episode, where Lewis's sidekick Hathaway (not much of character to begin with) steals the show completely, even taking over the plot! Thereafter, we see Whatley trying on different hats, changing character with every new investigation. You have it all wrong Whatley -- you make the hat yourself!

As for the storylines, well, I never thought anything related to Morse would drag, but these cases meander, nearly reaching a standstill in the middle of a couple of episodes. And then you have the remaining characters, the Superintendent and the Pathologist, both cookie-cut with the same languishing creativity. In fact, Inspector Lewis is beginning to remind me of dreadful and crude productions like McBride on Hallmark channel (god forbid!).

A shame that Morse should have to end this way. January 23, 2008

There are more episodes of Lewis!

Just wanted to let all the Morse and Lewis fans know that a short series (4 episodes in addition to the pilot selling here) of Lewis was broadcast in the UK in 2007. Why it apparently hasn't been shown in the US is a mystery (no pun intended). You've got three options: (1) move to the UK; (2) start a letter-writing campaign to PBS to show them; (3) buy a multi-region DVD player from Amazon.com and buy the series from Amazon.co.uk. If you pick the last option, you can also then see other great UK productions like Life on Mars. January 7, 2008

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