The Death of the Self (25 Mar. 1992)

Morse and Lewis find themselves in Vicenza, Italy looking into the death of May Lawrence who was killed while attending a psychotherapy clinic there. The clinic is run by Russell Clark, a ... See full summary »

Director:

Colin Gregg

Writers:

Colin Dexter (characters), Alma Cullen

Stars:

John Thaw, Kevin Whately, Michael Kitchen

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
John Thaw	...	Chief Inspector Morse
Kevin Whately	...	Detective Sergeant Lewis
Michael Kitchen	...	Russell Clark
Christopher Hunter	...	Andreas Heller / Louis Picard (as Chris Hunter)
Julia Goodman	...	May Lawrence
Kate Harper	...	Patti Wilcox
Frances Barber	...	Nicole Burgess
Alan Rowe	...	Alistair Haines
Jane Snowden	...	Maureen Dyson
Jane Wenham	...	Judith Haines
Peter Blythe	...	Kenneth Lawrence
Allan Mitchell	...	Coroner
James Grout	...	Chief Superintendent Strange
Cesare Landricina	...	Driver Ponso
Georges Corraface	...	Claudio Battisti

Storyline

Morse and Lewis find themselves in Vicenza, Italy looking into the death of May Lawrence who was killed while attending a psychotherapy clinic there. The clinic is run by Russell Clark, a convicted fraudster who is well known to Morse and the British authorities. Morse is particularly enjoying the trip, all the more so when he learns that one of the patients at the clinic is Nicole Burgess, a well-known opera singer. What Morse learns suggests fraud in the selling of counterfeit rare manuscripts but the culprits are anything but obvious. As well, the link to May Lawrence's death remains elusive.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 March 1992 (UK)

Filming Locations:

Arena di Verona, Verona, Veneto, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zenith Entertainment, Central Independent Television

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

When attending the performance in Verona, Morse and Lewis are filmed siting amongst the live crowd. Behind them are seated three middle aged men; two of them with mustaches. Once Nicole begins her performance, the cut back to Lewis and Morse shows two younger, clean shaved extras.

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Quotes

[showing Lewis the sights of Italy]
Chief Inspector Morse: The arena, Lewis. Built by the Romans for their games. Carnage and brutality. Now it's an opera house. I could almost believe in progress.

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Soundtracks

"Caro nome"
(Gilda's aria from "Rigoletto")
Music by Giuseppe Verdi
Sung by Janis Kelly

User Reviews

Visually a feast to the eyes, and I personally thought the episode was decent.

I do think Death of the Self is one of the weaker episodes of series 6, though my least favourite while very good, was Cherubim and Seraphim. The episode benefits from some superb camera-work, and gorgeous Italian settings, I do think it is one of the more visually beautiful Morse episodes. Death of the Self tells of a woman who dies suddenly, and the hunt for a ruthless art dealer in Italy, and I will say the reason why I didn't like the episode as much as the others was because of the rather confusing final solution; then again it is an episode that requires more than one viewing. John Thaw and Kevin Whately are excellent, and I did like the performances of Frances Barber(who looked gorgeous), Georges Connaface and Michael Kitchen. The script as always is intelligent, particularly Morse's outbursts about Clark, who as a character is certainly loathsome, and the music featuring excerpts from Rigoletto and Turandot was a delight. Overall, visually stunning, with fine performances, but the plot construction sometimes lets it down. 9/10 Bethany Cox.