Last Seen Wearing (8 Mar. 1988)

When Morse is assigned a cold case of a runaway teenager from school, he suspects that the girl's been murdered.

Director:

Edward Bennett

Writers:

Colin Dexter (novel), Thomas Ellice (screenplay)

Stars:

John Thaw, Kevin Whately, Peter McEnery

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
John Thaw	...	Chief Inspector Morse
Kevin Whately	...	Detective Sergeant Lewis
Peter McEnery	...	Donald Phillipson
Suzanne Bertish	...	Cheryl Baines
Glyn Houston	...	George Craven
Frances Tomelty	...	Grace Craven
Peter Woodthorpe	...	Max - Pathologist
Fiona Mollison	...	Sheila Phillipson
Philip Bretherton	...	David Acum
James Grout	...	Chief Superintendent Strange
Melissa Simmonds	...	Valerie Craven
Nicholas Pritchard	...	John Maguire
Elizabeth Hurley	...	Julia
Michele Winstanley	...	Fiona (as Michèle Winstanley)
Julia Sawalha	...	Rachel

Storyline

Morse and Lewis investigate the disappearance of teenager Valerie Craven who vanished some six months previously while walking home from her exclusive girls school. Morse is the third detective assigned to the case and is convinced that the girl is by now dead. However, the girl's parents receive a note, purportedly from Valerie. Suspicion falls on a number of people, including fellow students, men named in her diary and some of the teachers at her school. When one of the teachers is killed, the missing persons enquiry becomes a murder investigation.

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Plot Keywords:

teenager | murder investigation | missing person | cold case | police pathologist | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 March 1988 (UK)

Filming Locations:

28 Castlebar Park, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zenith Entertainment, Central Independent Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The setting for this episode was changed from Colin Dexter's novel of the same name. In the book, the missing girl (called Valerie Taylor rather than Valerie Craven) is a pupil at a seedy council-estate comprehensive school rather than an expensive private girls' school. Her parents live in a small terrace council house rather than an opulent bungalow in its own grounds. These changes were probably made to increase the appeal of the episode to the overseas market.

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Quotes

Chief Inspector Morse: When I'm thinking, I get thirsty.

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Soundtracks

"Flight of the Valkyries"
(uncredited)
Written by Richard Wagner
Morse plays a recording of it.

User Reviews

Not as good as Wolvercote Tongue, but it is still a very good episode!

Last Seen Wearing is based on the second book by Colin Dexter, and while it starts off quite slowly, and doesn't have the most exciting storyline from Morse, it is still well looking out for. There is as always a wonderful script, and some excellent camera-work. My favourite was the close up of Morse reading the book at the beginning. It tells the story of a missing girl, who is thought by Morse as dead, but Lewis thinks differently. This is the first time where Morse and Lewis properly differentiate in opinion, providing a contrast between Morse's gruff persona to that of Lewis, which is chirpy and quite charming. John Thaw and Kevin Whately are excellent in the leads, and Peter Woodthorpe is also a delight to see. James Grout as Strange makes his second appearance here, the first one being briefly in Dead of Jericho. Susanne Bertish is also good as Cheryl Baines, and Peter McEnnery as Donald Phillipson. Frances Tomelty looks beautiful and acts more than adequately as Valerie's mother. The story, while not as exciting as something like Masonic Mysteries and Day of the Devil, is still an intriguing one. All in all, not Morse's best, but definitely a good one, and I will say, all the Morse episodes range from good to outstanding. 9/10 Bethany Cox