'Morse' Code Online Quiz | Inspector Morse

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In the first Morse episode, 'The Dead of Jericho', our eponymous hero is visiting the house of Anne Staveley, the person who eventually ends up as the first murder victim. What was his reason for visiting her?

Answer: A choral performance

Morse and Anne were both members of the same choir and he went to take her to a performance they were giving. When she doesn't answer the door he goes without her, only to return later when she is found hanging in her kitchen.

2. Who composed all of the original music for 'Morse'?

Answer: Barrington Pheloung

Barrington Pheloung was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1954. He based the theme music around the morse code for Morse. He also incorporated other character's names into the music. Sometimes it was the name of the murderer, sometimes it was an innocent person. He has numerous film and TV scores to his credit, and is also a respected conductor, having led, amongst others, The Royal Philharmonic and the Saddlers Wells Royal Ballet Orchestras.
Although born in Australia, his surname is Huguenot in origin.

3. The 'Morse' episode 'The Wolvercote Tongue', which was episode four in series two, was not based on a novel.

Answer: True

This was one of the episodes that was written without reference to a novel. It aired on Christmas Day 1987, and was eventually turned into a book called 'The Jewel That Was Ours' in 1991. In total there were 15 'Morse' books, including 2 sets of short stories, and 33 TV episodes.

4. What was the name of the author of the 'Morse' books?

Answer: Colin Dexter

He was born Norman Colin Dexter on 29th September 1930 in Stamford, Lincolnshire. After he graduated from Cambridge in 1953 he began a career in teaching working in both Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. Because of the onset of deafness he left teaching and, in 1966, took up a post as Senior Assistant Secretary for the University of Oxford Delegacy of Local Examinations.

He held this post until he retired in 1988.

5. Chief Inspector Morse has several passions in his life, including one for the correct useage of the English language. Which of the following list is not one of his interests?

Answer: Sport

Morse's passions mirror those of his creator, especially his love of Wagnerian opera and crosswords. Dexter, in fact, named the two main characters after fellow compilers Sir Jeremy Morse and Mrs B Lewis. There were other similarities as well, such as the fact that they both studied the Classics and both suffered from diabetes.

6. Morse had an assistant, Detective Sergeant Lewis. Most of the time Morse only uses Lewis's surname. There are occasions though when he calls him by a familiar version of his first name. What does he call him?

Answer: Robbie

The Detective Sergeant Robert 'Robbie' Lewis that we see on the TV screen is a slightly different character to the original one in the books. Dexter originally wrote him as a 60 year old Welshman and grandfather, not as the young Geordie we came to know. There were other changes from the books as well, including Morse's beloved red MkII Jaguar. It was originally written as a Lancia.

7. In the episode of 'Morse' called 'Deceived By Flight', Lewis goes undercover to help solve a murder. What position did he take up?

Answer: College porter

This episode revolves around the death of a member of The Clarets cricket team and Lewis goes undercover as a college porter so he can replace the dead man on the team. In the story Lewis himself is injured by being hit over the back of the head with a cricket bat.

It turned out that it wasn't only murder that was involved. One of the team was a drug smuggler and used the teams overseas tours as a cover for his illegal activity. The actor who portrayed Lewis, Kevin Whately, has said this is his favourite of all 33 shows because he featured so heavily in it.

8. Throughout almost the entire run of 'Morse' we never hear anyone call him anything but Morse or Sir. In one episode when asked what his first name is he replies "Inspector". In episode 31, 'Death Is Now My Neighbour', we finally learn his name. What is it?

Answer: Endeavour

We learn that Morse's mother was a Quaker, and they have a tradition of using names associated with the virtues, and that his father was an admirer of Captain James Cook. Because of this he was named after Cook's ship, HMS Bark Endeavour. Whilst at university Morse would not reveal his 'Christian' name to his fellow students so was given the nickname of 'Pagan'. We hear this in the episode about the cricket team. Morse was not the only character to have an unusual name.

In 4 episodes, all aired in 1989, we meet a female pathologist named Dr Grayling Russell.

9. Although 'Morse' is set in and around Oxford, not all of the filming took place there. In common with many TV shows a variety of locations are used. During the entire run of 33 episodes, 3 places were used to shoot scenes that took place in or around the police station. Which of the listed locations was never used to film these scenes?

Answer: Ashford, Kent

Southall was used in series 1 and 2, Harrow for series 3 to 5 and Harefield for series 6 and 7. The scenes which included Morse's house were shot in Ealing, London, not too far away from the main recording studio at Bray, Berkshire.

10. The final episode of 'Morse' was aired on November 15, 2000. It was called 'The Remorseful Day'. It is in this episode that we say our final goodbye to Morse. He had been away on sick leave and had only just returned to work. How did the series end?

Answer: Heart attack

In 'The Remorseful Day', Morse returned to work after a period of illness. This was seen during the previous episode, 'The Wench Is Dead', in which we see him in hospital. Morse never looked after his health. It was alluded to several times during the run of the shows.

The last episode saw Lewis, awaiting promotion to Inspector, leading an investigation into a year old death. Morse, in his typical way, takes over. During the investigation Morse suffers a heart attack. The final, poignant scene, shows Lewis visiting the body of his friend and mentor and kissing him on the forehead.

The last words heard are Lewis saying " Goodbye Sir ". Further scenes were filmed but were deemed unnecessary.

Source: Author romeomikegolf

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

'Morse' Code Trivia Quiz

Morse was one of the best loved police dramas shown on British television. This quiz will test your knowledge of both the TV episodes and the characters involved. It is based on the TV series, not the original books.

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