I've always enjoyed this show, along with Morse and Endeavour. However, the whole bringing Lewis out of retirement thing has really stretched its credibility. Suddenly we've got two Detective Inspectors working the same cases, attending crime scenes together, interviewing suspects together, with a DS in tow. I thought virtually all constabularies in the UK were supposed to be ravaged by budget cuts?
thankfully adolf Cameron hasn't got a say in tv fiction just yet.
shareThey shouldn't have tried to end the series with Lewis' retirement after S7, that changes everything.
shareThey shouldn't have tried to end the series with Lewis' retirement after S7, that changes everything.
Couldn't agree more and with no break in the yearly series. Cant really understand while they finished series7 with that storyline
shareI presume they intended to finish Lewis after series 7 then changed their minds.
shareIt was Whately who announced the willing to quite after S7 and then changed his mind.
shareWonder if he'll change his mind again? But how could they bring Lewis back a second time? Perhaps Lewis will decide he is bored in his retirement (again). With the police service now closed to him, he will decide to become a PI. Coincidentally, all of his cases keep overlapping with Hathaway's in one way or another.
Or, if the above doesn't sound desperate enough, perhaps Hathaway will jack his job in and they'll form some amateur Batman and Robin crime-fighting duo (complete with mask and cape).
Finally, we could ignore the whole crime thing and just focus on Lewis and Hathaway's spare time. They could form a band or something.
I know that I always feel bad when a serial I enjoy more than most is nearing its end. Sometimes I "lobby" for another season or two; and then, when my hopes are realized, usually I wish the show had ended when it was originally scheduled to have done. Funny how writers and producers know when the scripts have run their course.
It's another thing when so-called outside forces intervene and bring a successful show to a premature end, such as happened with Foyle's War. I think the whole audience was cheated out of many hours of quality entertainment and the storyline suffered and the writing skewed thereby.
With Lewis, no doubt there have been some very good episodes since Lewis retired; but there is a whole different atmosphere and the show just isn't the same and won't be remembered as it would have been. I felt the same with regard to Morse -- it just seemed wrong, somehow -- stretched and manipulated. Still enjoyed being able to see what was given to us, but that enjoyment was somewhat diluted.
It's kind of the way of the world: to every show there is a season, so to speak, and they should be allowed to die a natural death and be sweetly remembered with no regrets.
I, too, am a little skeptical of the decision to have Lewis officially return to work. I think I'd imagined him helping from the sidelines, a sort of freelancer: retired and at leisure, but helping Hathaway (and now Maddox) unofficially. Maybe that would have been even less plausible as far as having him involved with police procedure and crime scenes, but it is more along the lines of what I'd imagined.
On the other hand, I've just gotten through series 8 (number as 7 here in America for some reason) and the story lines improved with each installment.
Om Shanti
They could always have him as a consultant. He could work just like the civilian consultants used by police and military in real life and with his extensive background in criminal investigation he should be allowed anywhere the official officers are. He knows protecting crime scenes and evidence as well if not better than they do.
Let me answer that question with a headbutt!
This story line perfectly mimics when Morse seemingly retires, then comes out of retirement to continue for at least a few more series (can't remember in which series of Morse this happens).
As the show (and Endeavour as well, of course) has so lovingly echoed elements of Inspector Morse, I don't mind this story arc at all, whether it is plausible in real life or not :)
The whole show is rather unrealistic in many ways. Colin Dexter was an Oxford don with no experience or direct knowledge of police work. In interviews the makers of the Morse program admit as much that this is not how real police cases work or proceed. But the show does have an interesting puzzle logic of its own that keeps us watching. But we shouldn't fool ourselves that it is in any way realistic.
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