Inspector Morse (TV Series) Cherubim & Seraphim (1992) User Reviews

Tragedy for Morse, leads him and Lewis into rave culture.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 6 November 2017]

Morse's holiday time is shattered, when his niece Marilyn tragically takes her own life. Soon after a young man walks into a train tunnel taking his life, the two victims enjoyed raves, and it seems that the darker side of rave culture was the cause of both deaths.

I can understand why some see Cherubim and Seraphim as an ill fit into the Morse franchise, be it Morse, Lewis or Endeavour there is always a somewhat traditional feel to them, this episode does match the usual formula.

Growing up in the nineties I did on occasion enjoy the rave culture, so this episode has nostalgic significance, I think they did a superb job in capturing rave culture.

Whether the viewer likes or loathes this story, one thing I'm sure everybody would agree with is how utterly wonderful Thaw is here, the scene where he discusses his growing up with Lewis is both powerful and moving.

Isla Blair is very good, if underused a little, but Paul Brightwell steals the show, making Bristowe quietly menacing.

Unpopular with some I know, but there's a lot of good in this story, a pretty good time stamp of 1992. 8/10

While my least favourite of the 6th series, it is very solid.

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 7 July 2009]

The episode is certainly the most personal case for Morse, after his step niece commits suicide. I will say, that the plot is more complicated than the other Morse episodes I have seen, so I will have to see it again. The acting is very solid, with Thaw and Whately excellent in the leads, and Jason Isaacs and Islar Blair turning in equally impressive performances. There is some nice music, and a good script, but the final solution was so complex I didn't get it when I saw it. The episode's construction is a departure from other episodes, focusing on drugs, teenagers and parties. Some of it is quite moving, but I will say it is my least favourite episode of the 6th series. 8/10 Bethany Cox.

Morse and the case of the teenage suicide.

[bethwilliam · 6/10 · 22 July 2006]

One of Morse's most painful and personal cases. Whilst visiting his step-mother, Morse finds himself in the middle of a tragedy - his step-niece has committed suicide. Morse takes compassionate leave, but begins searching into his step-niece's past to find the reason for her death.

Meanwhile Lewis is assigned to work with Chief Inspector Holroyd, who has a very different approach to police investigation than Morse. When another teenager goes missing Lewis and Morse compare notes and begin to see a pattern of youth suicides that are linked to rave parties.

This episode includes performances from Jason Isaacs, who has gone from strength to strength and includes movies such as the Harry Potter series and The Patriot. Also Islar Blair puts in a solid performance as the distressed mother.

Each Morse episode has a guest appearance by Colin Dexter, the original author. Here he can be seen at Dr Collier's presentation.

This is not the best episode of MORSE. But seeing John Thaw and Kevin Whately together warmed the heart.

Danny Boyle!

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 11 May 2017]

A new drug developed to combat senility is ironically being distributed to teens at all-night parties and driving some to suicide.

This is not my favorite "Inspector Morse". Having recently seen an episode with Brian Cox as a bookmaker that one has to set the standard, because it was just phenomenal from beginning to end. This one, as others have pointed out, is rather slow to get going. It takes almost until the halfway point that we find the story is about drugs and raves at all.

What makes it most interesting is that Danny Boyle is the director. One of the films he is known best for is "Trainspotting", and you cannot help but wonder if this episode had any influence on his film, since drugs and raves again make a very prominent appearance in that film.

A different side to Morse,of Morse.

[kindofblue-78221 · 9/10 · 19 March 2022]

Morse will never be this vulnerable again. His abstract idealistic view of the world was never more apparent than in this episode.

It's also succinctly illustrates the chasm that exists between adults and young people in the appreciation of their problems and aspirations.

At one point Morse and Lewis are driving through a new housing estate. Morse observes that home owning democracy is no more than a modern version of slavery, where people just through a mundane cycle of upgrading and upgrading until their children leave home. And when they do they become their parents. Thus perpetuating this cycle of slavery.

He concludes that is it any wonder that children look to escape and find ways of leaving their reality.

This is an engaging story that pulls no punches. Maybe those who don't like it, see themselves lost in their own cycle of ersatz slavery.

An underrated Morse.

Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 28 February 2011]

Two teens evidently commit suicide, one by an overdose, another by walking into a train. The spoor leads Morse and Lewis to a club owner who is selling a newly minted anti-depressant to some of the teen agers around Oxford. The kids hear about a "party" where the drugs will be made available and they flock to the site and gyrate ecstatically to mind-numbing music. The drug gets them so high that they come to believe nothing will ever equal the euphoria they've experienced, so they kill themselves to avoid the disappoints of the future. I myself would kill for that drug.

But in this episode Lewis is busy memorizing the law for his Inspector's exam and Morse is out of his element with "kids these days." Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. "I like sex," he muses, "but can't stand rock and roll. And drugs?" He shrugs. He still seems to get a kick not only out of sex but out of twitting Lewis. They listen to the percussive sounds of some rock band and Morse complains in his usual foul manner that it's "eclectic." Says Lewis: "What? I don't hear any guitars." But Lewis may be ahead of Morse in this exchange because he wears a slight smile while Morse pompously defines "eclectic" for him.

When I saw the wild party at which a hundred or so teens are leaping up and down and wiggling their behinds, underneath the strobe lights and disco balls, it occurred to me that the scene was terribly dated, but then I thought, well, it was made in the 1980s, post Andy Warhol's factory maybe but in the same time frame as cocaine and Studio 54. Then I noticed the episode aired in 1992. Maybe it was written in the 80s and the script, or some very similar one, lay on the writer's shelf for ten years or so before its retrieval.

A couple of notes. For American fans, before they enter the climactic party, Morse hesitates, saying, "We can't go in there; we're not even wearing trainers." "Trainers" translates as "sneaks" or "sneakers" in the States. I learned that interesting fact from a young lady now living in what used to be British Mesopotamia.

Morse articulates his philosophy of life during the investigation and it had me chuckling aloud. He traces the course of human development this way. A kid has no choice but to follow the rules. He goes to school. If lucky he goes to college. He has to get a job. Then there's marriage and a two-bedroom semi-detached house. Then children come and there must be four bedrooms, just in time for the kids to start leaving and buying semi-detached houses of their own. "Man is born free but is everywhere in property chains," declaims Morse. The last line is a paraphrase of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "Man is born free but is everywhere in chains," from "The Social Contract."

Learn more about Morse's early life

[steiner-sam · 8/10 · 12 March 2022]

This is a different twist on the usual Morse episode. We learn details of his upbringing and meet some relatives of his. Add in his encounter with teenage drug culture involving a great niece. A fine episode.

An investigation without a crime

[grantss · 7/10 · 26 September 2022]

Not the best Morse. After a teenage girl close to Morse commits suicide and a teenage boy does the same, Morse and Lewis investigate. Usually when they investigate a suicide it's because it's actually a murder dressed up as a suicide. Here it is clear early on that they're suicides, so what crime are they investigating? Once a drug connection is made it does become more legitimate but for a long time it's more a Morse pet project than a crime investigation.

There's also an element of soap boxing and superficial pontificating on life that is a tad irritating and patronising.

Still, it is reasonably interesting and we do have some lighter moments as Morse tries to wrap his head around teen culture.

Three-part episode sliced down to 2- part episode ?

[jaseday · 8/10 · 27 August 2015]

Cherubim and Seraphim might be my favorite Morse show. I'll never know because its clear that there were three parts of material, but the powers that be slashed it down to two episodes, That led to an unusually poor conclusion and numerous loose ends. Does a "director's cut" exist?

The plot takes a while to develop, but once it does it bifurcates into a combination of pharmaceutical experimentation and medical ethics, and the drama of teenagers exposed to a new form of Ecstasy meant for seniors. It turns out be a great high but have very depressing after-affects on teenagers.

Morse's niece commits suicide very unexpectedly, as does another teen. Morse learns about the Rave scene and tries to save a girlfriend of his niece who is the thrall of the drug.

The twin plot lines never meet. Morse vows to find his niece's "murderer" and seems to suspect the scientist. But the third part of the show was never made.

Depressing, plus flashing images and club music throughout

[SunnyDaise · 6/10 · 4 November 2023]

Whilst I love the revelations of Morse's backstory in this episode, I wouldn't rewatch it due to all the flashing images and repetitive music (Quincy covered the effects of these in his final series). This story is quite depressing - especially if you see it 30 years on when these problems are worse than ever and several generations have paid the price. What I do like is how Morse tries to see things from other people's perspectives whilst working through his own issues - something we all have to do.

Have to say, after all the cold dance music, I've never been so glad to hear the morse theme melody!

Old fogey

[atrickyone · 5/10 · 30 September 2021]

Morse is portrayed as totally at sea when confronting drug culture, which is in itself preposterous for a senior detective in a university town. I always feel that a police show is cheapened when there's a personal stake involved and we get that in spades here. The plot is confused too, you're not certain of the motive of the perpetrator: money, prestige, thrill. A bit messy. Weak overall.

Morse in La La Land

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 7 March 2018]

I love Inspector Morse and this series. Still, this is the lowest rating I've given. The reason is that a great detective, one who can see the most minute clues and come to amazing conclusions, is totally out of it when it comes to young people in this episode. I would guess that one who can quote Shakespeare and Browning can also read a book about current social issues. Maybe something beside a libretto that he already knows by heart. I just feel the writers have short sheeted the great detective, giving him some sizable clay feet. This happens routinely in other shows--there is a clunker--so I'm going to assume things will be righted. I have a second issue. The whole thing is utterly preposterous based on absolutely no reality that I'm aware of.

Loud, confused, and worst of all, BORING entry in the series.

[NativeTexan · 2/10 · 8 February 2010]

Did someone fall in a hole, suffer a concussion, and then write this episode? Horrible doesn't quite begin to describe it. My husband and I kept looking at each other and saying "It's Morse; surely it will improve." But it didn't. It simply got LOUDER and MORE BORING. Teenagers don't have to be stupid, but all the ones portrayed here certainly were. Britain definitely looks like it's on a permanent downhill slide. Even more frightening were the ghastly schools, classes, and ineffectual parental and adult influences. Parents who are afraid to control and discipline their children and who don't even have the balls to make them turn down their music shouldn't be surprised when their children do drugs, sneak out, disobey, and finally kill themselves either by accident or on purpose. If you haven't wasted a couple of hours watching this episode, consider yourself fortunate.