Based on superb yarns written by bestselling British crime novelist Colin Dexter, this Masterpiece Mystery! miniseries offers three intriguing whodunits, each crafted with the élan that stateside viewers have come to expect from murder mysteries produced on the other side of the Atlantic. The protagonist here is Inspector Robert Lewis (played by Kevin Whately), not only a protégé of the brilliant but irascible Inspector Morse (Dexter's most famous detective character), but also an exceptionally perceptive sleuth in his own right. Aided by the young but capable Detective Sergeant James Hathaway (Laurence Fox), Lewis works a Cambridge beat and investigates—in this trio of tales—the murders of a hedonistic Oxford graduate, a bright young female student, and a local housewife initially thought to have committed suicide. These are mysteries written in the classic style, with an emphasis on police procedure and a near total absence of typical cop-show action. Whately is wonderful in the title role, although he's occasionally upstaged by Fox, whose character is the more colorful of the pair. Recommended. (E. Hulse)
Inspector Lewis: Series I
WGBH, 3 discs, 255 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95 Volume 23, Issue 6
Inspector Lewis: Series I
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