"Inspector Morse" Promised Land (1991)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

John Madden

Writers:

Colin Dexter (characters)
Julian Mitchell (written by)

TV Series:

"Inspector Morse" (1987)

Original Air Date:

27 March 1991 (Season 5, Episode 5)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

When the case against the Abingdon gang comes under scrutiny, Morse and Lewis must travel to Australia...

Plot Keywords:

Oxford | Police | Detective | Inspector | Police Detective

Cast

John Thaw	...	Chief Inspector Morse
Kevin Whately	...	Detective Sergeant Lewis
James Grout	...	Chief Superintendent Strange
Con O'Neill	...	Paul Matthews
Philip Anthony	...	Newspaper Editor
Kevin Leslie	...	Barman
Bill Young	...	Farmer in Ute
Vanessa Patterson	...	Karen Harding
Rhondda Findleton	...	Anne Harding
Marie Armstrong	...	Sash - Nursing Home Matron
John Jarratt	...	Sergeant Scott Humphries
Maureen Green	...	Sal - Nurse
Noah Taylor	...	Dave Harding
Paul Hunt	...	Shearing Foreman
Max Phipps	...	Detective Inspector Glenn McAllister

Filming Locations:

Canowindra, New South Wales, Australia

Quotes:

Chief Inspector Morse: They don't spell Australian beer with four Xs out of ignorance - they mean what they say. And *light* beer is an invention of the Prince of Darkness.

Good to see Morse Down Under

I love Inspector Morse and have waited a long time to see this episode. Being Australian it was wonderful to see the familiar setting, even though most of it was filmed out in the sticks. I was fascinated by Morse's opinion of Australia ("It's too empty"), and his struggle with the heat and the flies, while good old Lewis, known mostly as Robbie in this episode, loved it all ("This is like the Garden of Eden") and made the most of it, cooking his steak on the BBQ, drinking beer with the locals, etc.

The only thing that spoiled it for me was that about one third into the program, one of the local police said something like "between half-two and half-four", evidence that the script, even for the Australian characters, was really written by a Brit, not an Aussie. We don't say "half-two", "half-four", but "half past two" "half past four" etc. So when Aussie slang really was spoken later on, I couldn't help thinking it was all a bit contrived and not genuine.

It was wonderful seeing a very young Noah Taylor, he was by far the best of the Aussie actors on there.

The plot was confusing and not typical of Morse plots. I don't know if my brain was half asleep but it took me about half the episode before I could understand what was going on and figure out why Morse and Lewis had taken the trip down under.

Goosebumps moment: seeing Morse climb up the steps of the Sydney Opera House.