Perhaps they are setting it up for something to happen in the next episode?
My thought precisely. It's almost the end of the series, so perhaps Sunday's episode will have some sort of racism theme. But until the series ends, we won't know whether it's going to be used or not...
And it's not as though they've been letting it hang out all over Oxford so far... Mostly they've been sticking to private places. Morse wouldn't be the type to be bothered by other people staring at them, so that might be why we haven't seen any of that even in public - perhaps they are being stared at a little, but Morse simply hasn't registered that. Since we effectively see much of the story from Morse's point of view, that would make sense.
The scene in the shop was slightly surprising, since I suspect a salesman in a typical 60s furniture store would, at the very least, have raised an eyebrow at the two of them. And he may well not simply have assumed that they were a couple. But then, as some have said, perhaps people like that were more broad-minded in Oxford.
If they wanted to avoid the issue and just have family entertainment, they could have made the nurse white. By choosing to make the character be black, and not including any racist issues in the script, they were deliberately painting a picture of tolerance and racial integration. This IS airbrushing history, and the fact that it's happening in family entertainment makes it more dangerous rather than less.
We don't see all of the nurse's life though. I'm sure she gets hassle from some patients and maybe colleagues etc in the hospital. However, Oxford had admitted students from other parts of the 'Empire' since at least the 1870s so she's not likely to have problems in pubs in student areas as she might in other places.
I've got mixed race ancestry from generations back. If my black and mixed race ancestors hadn't courted and married white people I wouldn't be here.
We don't see all of the nurse's life though. I'm sure she gets hassle from some patients and maybe colleagues etc in the hospital. However, Oxford had admitted students from other parts of the 'Empire' since at least the 1870s so she's not likely to have problems in pubs in student areas as she might in other places.
I've got mixed race ancestry from generations back. If my black and mixed race ancestors hadn't courted and married white people I wouldn't be here.
A bit late but, like some previous posters, I cannot buy the fact that the piano tuner tuned the pianos of all the murder victims just before they were killed, not to mention that he was walking past the shop window when the other murder occurred. Very poor writing in an otherwise brilliant programme.
I have a feeling the race issue will come out if Morse's relationship with the nurse becomes known to Bright.
I still want to now what turned Morse into a bitter and twisted alcoholic misanthrope. In Endeavour he is a harmless gauche slightly neurotic young man so something dreadful must have happened to change him.
This does not bode well for the lovely nurse. I don't think she will be getting much wear out of her new mattress.
I don't think you should read too much into the casting of the nurse other than the need to have an ethnic face to satisfy modern mores (vide the casting in Robin Hood) .
A black policeman in 1960s Oxford would be ridiculous and any black people living in the area at the time would not be established pillars of the community. So if you're a scriptwriter a nurse does nicely.
The set-up is very unlikely but not beyond the realms of possibility. And it ticks a big box.
I still want to now what turned Morse into a bitter and twisted alcoholic misanthrope. In Endeavour he is a harmless gauche slightly neurotic young man so something dreadful must have happened to change him.
This does not bode well for the lovely nurse. I don't think she will be getting much wear out of her new mattress.
You might well be right that we see some awful event triggering a decline. However, speaking from personal experience here, I don't find it hard at all to believe that the Morse we currently see could simply develop over time into the misanthropic figure of the later stories. There wouldn't necessarily need to be a big tragic event involved. (Although, from a 'dramatic' point of view, it makes total sense that the writers would want to include one or two.)
Morse isn't somebody who really relates to people on a normal basis. He's socially awkward, and, even at this stage, he's often found wanting when it comes to making emotional connections with other people.
He's young at the moment, and still at that age when people (eg, Thursday's daughter) are taking an interest in him. As he gets older, he'll experience less of that, and probably fewer people will make an effort to involve him in social things. That'll serve to make him feel more and more isolated, and his inability to 'understand' humans will lead to a belief that he's not quite of this world...
At some point, I imagine he'll decide that he might be better off without humans and their emotional baggage. By the time he's into middle age, that might well have turned into a hatred of, or at least an apathy towards other people, and the way they interfere with his existence.
I still want to now what turned Morse into a bitter and twisted alcoholic misanthrope. In Endeavour he is a harmless gauche slightly neurotic young man so something dreadful must have happened to change him.
Morse was not an alcoholic.
True he drank a fair bit but isn't the same thing at all.
I also don't think he was misanthropic. He was just tetchy and didn't suffer fools gladly.
I admit I have never watched an episode of Morse, so know nothing of the man he became. I'm loving Endeavour though, maybe because it's set in the 60s, and Shaun Evans is very watchable.
Has he been in anything else?
He's actually from Liverpool. When I first heard him in the Endeavour role I knew he wasn't really from the south; could detect some kind of Midlands/northern accent so Googled him and was right. You can hear the Liverpool lilting cadence although he does a good job of nearly hiding it.
Here he is in Teachers with his natural Liverpool accent - he's in the scene from the beginning and also at 2:40: "Every'ing arrright?" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj5Yyb5qdAs
Very good story last ep. I actually prefer these to the original Morse. He was just too cantankerous for me - though most of the storylines were very interesting.
Very good story last ep. I actually prefer these to the original Morse. He was just too cantankerous for me - though most of the storylines were very interesting.
This is my feeling too. I used to like it at the beginning but he got too stroppy, especially with poor Lewis!
Comments
My thought precisely. It's almost the end of the series, so perhaps Sunday's episode will have some sort of racism theme. But until the series ends, we won't know whether it's going to be used or not...
And it's not as though they've been letting it hang out all over Oxford so far... Mostly they've been sticking to private places. Morse wouldn't be the type to be bothered by other people staring at them, so that might be why we haven't seen any of that even in public - perhaps they are being stared at a little, but Morse simply hasn't registered that. Since we effectively see much of the story from Morse's point of view, that would make sense.
The scene in the shop was slightly surprising, since I suspect a salesman in a typical 60s furniture store would, at the very least, have raised an eyebrow at the two of them. And he may well not simply have assumed that they were a couple. But then, as some have said, perhaps people like that were more broad-minded in Oxford.
We don't see all of the nurse's life though. I'm sure she gets hassle from some patients and maybe colleagues etc in the hospital. However, Oxford had admitted students from other parts of the 'Empire' since at least the 1870s so she's not likely to have problems in pubs in student areas as she might in other places.
I've got mixed race ancestry from generations back. If my black and mixed race ancestors hadn't courted and married white people I wouldn't be here.
Good post, and good user name too!
Yes, the beard made him look like a comedy turn. He must have thanked them for that!
Do you actually believe what you're writing?
I have a feeling the race issue will come out if Morse's relationship with the nurse becomes known to Bright.
This does not bode well for the lovely nurse. I don't think she will be getting much wear out of her new mattress.
Yes me, because I was trying to work out if the blind man was him. He looked more like Ian Dury (the blind man) than anything!
She's very good looking. I've never seen her before but I think she is very cute
A black policeman in 1960s Oxford would be ridiculous and any black people living in the area at the time would not be established pillars of the community. So if you're a scriptwriter a nurse does nicely.
The set-up is very unlikely but not beyond the realms of possibility. And it ticks a big box.
You might well be right that we see some awful event triggering a decline. However, speaking from personal experience here, I don't find it hard at all to believe that the Morse we currently see could simply develop over time into the misanthropic figure of the later stories. There wouldn't necessarily need to be a big tragic event involved. (Although, from a 'dramatic' point of view, it makes total sense that the writers would want to include one or two.)
Morse isn't somebody who really relates to people on a normal basis. He's socially awkward, and, even at this stage, he's often found wanting when it comes to making emotional connections with other people.
He's young at the moment, and still at that age when people (eg, Thursday's daughter) are taking an interest in him. As he gets older, he'll experience less of that, and probably fewer people will make an effort to involve him in social things. That'll serve to make him feel more and more isolated, and his inability to 'understand' humans will lead to a belief that he's not quite of this world...
At some point, I imagine he'll decide that he might be better off without humans and their emotional baggage. By the time he's into middle age, that might well have turned into a hatred of, or at least an apathy towards other people, and the way they interfere with his existence.
All seems pretty plausible to me!
Morse was not an alcoholic.
True he drank a fair bit but isn't the same thing at all.
I also don't think he was misanthropic. He was just tetchy and didn't suffer fools gladly.
Has he been in anything else?
Yep - a fair bit over the years. Teachers (from back in the day), Ashes to Ashes, Whitechapel, Silk, The Last Weekend. Here's his IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1140345/
He's actually from Liverpool. When I first heard him in the Endeavour role I knew he wasn't really from the south; could detect some kind of Midlands/northern accent so Googled him and was right. You can hear the Liverpool lilting cadence although he does a good job of nearly hiding it.
Here he is in Teachers with his natural Liverpool accent - he's in the scene from the beginning and also at 2:40: "Every'ing arrright?" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj5Yyb5qdAs
This is my feeling too. I used to like it at the beginning but he got too stroppy, especially with poor Lewis!
It is. Toyah's boyfriend.
Thanks! It would've bugged me all through the rest of the episode!