John Thaw as Kavanagh Q.C.

John Thaw as James Kavanagh.

While John Thaw was still appearing sporadically in episodes of Inspector Morse, he also starred in another, very different, TV series called Kavanagh Q.C. (1995-2001). The "Q.C." stands for Queen's Counsel and Thaw plays a middle-aged barrister who practices law in London. Unlike the solitary Morse, James Kavangh is a family man with a wife seeking a professional career, a daughter at university, and a teenage son.

The first three seasons feature Kavangh's private life as well as his cases. He copes with the after-effects of his wife's affair, his daughter's relationship with a married man, his son's academic challenges, and the death of a parent. Starting with the fourth season, the episodes focus more on his cases as both a defending attorney and a prosecutor. Unlike the U.S. legal system, British barristers can handle cases from either side--imagine Perry Mason as a prosecutor!

Oliver Ford Davies.

Kavangh practices law with two other senior barristers: Peter Foxcott (Oliver Ford Davies), who also serves as Head of Chambers, and the pompous, ambitious Jeremy Aldermarten (Nicolas Jones). Cliff Parisi (Call the Midwife) plays the chief clerk, who assigns the cases and manages the business affairs for River Court (the name of the practice). Other barristers come and go over the course of the series, to include Anna Chancellor as Julia Piper, Jenny Jules as Alex Wilson, and Valerie Edmond as Emma Taylor.

The writers of Kavanah, Q.C. handle some of the character departures in clumsy fashion. For example, the intelligent Julia Piper decides against moving to Africa with the man she loves. In a later episode, she suddenly decides to leave the law practice and work for a non-profit organization...in Africa. There's no mention of her former fiance. Then, a year later, Julia suddenly pops up in Florida, where she is married (but not to her one-time fiance) and pregnant. There's no explanation with how she got from Africa to Florida.

Despite such disruptive inconsistencies, the overall writing is above-average and there are several first-rate episodes. One of the best concerns a cover-up when a young man is injured on his job and suffers permanent brain injuries. Other engrossing plots find Kavanagh representing military officers in court-martial hearings and even a priest in a church tribunal.

Anna Chancellor as Julia.

The only episode that's truly bad is "In God We Trust," which finds Kavanagh traveling to the U.S. to help Julia with a death-row murderer's appeal. Although the setting is supposedly Florida in 1997, it comes across more like the Deep South during the racially-charged 1960s, right down to a bigoted governor running for re-election.

Still, that's a rare misstep for a solid TV series with a strong lead performance. For viewers only familiar with John Thaw as Morse, his performance as James Kavanagh will be an eye-opener. Whereas Morse was an introvert with few friends, Kavanagh is a outgoing family man and passionate barrister. It's a great role for a fine actor and the best reason to watch Kavanagh, Q.C. As of this post, it was streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Inspector Morse: The Remorseful Day

John Thaw as Morse.

This review contains spoilers!

When it debuted on the PBS anthology series Mystery! in 1987, Inspector Morse offered something different for American audiences: a grumpy, cynical detective who investigated homicides in contemporary Oxford, England. Morse was only the second "present-day" detective featured on Mystery! (preceded only by Dalgleish). Based on Colin Dexter's novels, the British-made Inspector Morse TV series consisted of 33 episodes produced between 1987 and 2000.

Morse (John Thaw) is a highly-intelligent, middle-aged bachelor who shares few interests with his colleagues. While they're passionate about soccer, he prefers opera, literature, crossword puzzles, and zipping around in his red Jaguar Mark 2. Granted, he does like his beer...but only the good stuff. Morse isn't above flirting with the opposite sex (including suspects), but he doesn't have much luck with enduring relationships.

Kevin Whately as Lewis.

His partner, Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis (Kevin Whately), is his antithesis--public school-educated, a family man, and interested in sports. (In one episode, Morse has Lewis go undercover as a cricket team player.) Yet, while they share few common interests, the duo respect and remain loyal to each other--even when Morse belittles Lewis for not knowing the name of a Wagner opera.

The series' last episode The Remorseful Day (2000) finds Morse on the verge of retirement as he copes with ulcers and an ailing heart. Lewis has graduated from "Inspector School" and is awaiting a vacancy so he can be promoted. Chief Superintendent Strange assigns Lewis to tail a recently-paroled burglar who may know something about an unsolved murder case from the previous year.

Morse, who turns out to have a personal interest in the case, starts his own investigation--much to Lewis's dismay. However, the two detectives team up when the former burglar and a taxi driver, also connected to the murder, are found dead.

Lewis and Morse watching birds.

The Remorseful Day is a typically complex Morse mystery, but it also has grander ambitions. It serves as the final curtain call for a memorable TV detective. It's apparent early in the episode that Morse is ill-prepared for retirement. He tries his hand at bird-watching only to discover that Lewis knows more about the featured creatures than he does. (That said, his limited ornithological knowledge helps solve the murder case!)

Morse doesn't realize the identity of the killer until moments before he crumples to the ground from a heart attack. By the time Lewis arrests the murderer at the airport, Morse is already dead. His final words are not spoken to his partner, but to his sometime-nemesis Superintendent Strange: "Thank Lewis for me."

Morse and his beloved Jaguar.

Inspector Morse doesn't rank among my favorite British detective shows. Actually, I much prefer the spin-offs Inspector Lewis and Endeavor. But it was an influential series with superb performances from John Thaw and Kevin Whately. The former's nuanced acting subtly reveals a romantic buried behind Morse's grumpy, bitter façade. His relationship with Lewis is what makes the show work. Morse may criticize Lewis for his lack of culture, but the two detectives bring out the best in each other.

The Remorseful Day is a fitting goodbye--and one made with the show's fans in mind. Author Colin Dexter, who made cameos in almost all the episodes, can be glimpsed as a wheelchair-bound tourist. Barrington Pheloung, who composed the memorable music (also used for Endeavor), appears as a church choir conductor.

Here's the bird-watching scene referenced earlier, courtesy of the Cafe's YouTube channel: