A big part of Morse's appeal is that he is the ultimate cultured copper whose interests include beer, crosswords and literature. In the episode about drug smuggling, Deceived By Flight, he even begins to take an interest in cricket.
The one thing that jars slightly is his taste in music. Morse is a fan of opera, especially Wagner. I presume this reflects writer Colin Dexter's own musical interests. But as a cerebral, crossword solving beer drinker, Morse would surely in real life be a jazz fan.
An interesting question … my personal take (as a jazz fan and beer lover) is that by making Morse enjoy opera, Dexter was emphasising Morse's "outsiderness", his solitude, the way he is cut off from his colleagues by his taste. The jazz-loving real ale fan is almost a cliche, but opera (high culture) and beer (low culture) are an odd mix, and the oddness of their juxtaposition in Morse is, I think, exactly the point.
ReplyDeleteMartyn Cornell