Iconic stage sleuth takes us on a trip down memory lane

Inspector Morse full cast. Photo credit Johan Persson.

Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts, based on characters by Colin Dexter, written by Alma Cullem and directed by Anthony Bank, at Birmingham Rep, from Friday 5 – Sunday 14 September.

Review by Amanda Burden.

Before Luther and Call Of Duty, there was Morse. The original brooding, crime-cracking anti-hero (well, apart from Sherlock Holmes), John Thaw’s iconic performance as the brusque, irascible, and fiercely uncompromising inspector deftly captured the 1980s zeitgeist, fast becoming the middle England housewives’ choice. House of Ghosts, the first stage adaptation of Colin Dexter’s classic sleuth, brings him back to life before a live audience — and it mostly hits the spot.

Inspector Morse_ Robert Mountford and Tom Chambers. Credit Johan Persson.

The curtain goes up on a chilling tableau – a production of Hamlet, when the actress playing Ophelia collapses and dies mid-performance. It’s an old trick — the play within a play — but effective nevertheless, thrusting the audience into the heart of the action immediately.

Tom Chambers recreates John Thaw’s legendary performance with uncanny precision. Fans can rest assured: it’s an authentic Morse. But I would have liked to see a bit more of Chambers’ own spin— a fresh take on the faithful. Similarly, the staging is stubbornly anachronistic, ringing with the strains of the familiar TV theme tune. This Morseland exists in a nostalgic bubble of 1987 - Rick Astley on the radio; clunky new-fangled computers — rather than taking the chance to explore how Morse might cope in the 21st century.

Charlotte Randle and Spin Glancy. Credit Johan Persson.

Penned by Alma Cullen, the play revels in familiar Morse tropes: the red herring, the tragic backstory, and the flamboyant baddie — theatre luvvie Lawrence hammed up to perfection by Robert Mountford. The script also stays true to the original, giving the audience full access to Morse’s private musings. For watchers used to bingeing on box sets. the pace may feel glacial and the dialogue ponderous. But this criticism may be unfair - verbosity was always part of Morse’s appeal, providing a live meditation on the psychology behind the criminal.

Olivia Onyehara and Tom Chambers. Credit Johan Persson

For die-hard fans, it’s the stage equivalent of a frosty night on the sofa wrapped in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate — cosy and comfortable like a favourite pair of slippers. For those hoping for a modern twist, it feels like a missed opportunity to see how Morse would cope with the challenges of contemporary life. If 1980s Morse was enraged by CCTV, how would he navigate generative AI? That said, there’s a sly nod to modernity when unapologetic Luddite Morse, in remonstrating with stalwart sidekick Lewis (Tachia Newall) on the value of computers to policing, wryly observes that systems are only as good as the people using them. Nice going, show — very meta.

Overall House of Ghosts does exactly what it says on the tin, delivering a well-executed classic Morse, but stopping tantalisingly short of reinvention.

For tickets: https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/inspector-morse-house-of-ghosts/#event-booking