WHY?:

Three PBS staples attempt a risky comeback: New episodes have been commissioned for 'Sharpe,''Inspector Morse,' and 'Rumpole of the Bailey.' (Hilary McLaughlin, 9/17/04, CS Monitor)

To reconvene "Sharpe" (1993 to 1997), the action drama set in Napoleonic times, the producers had to lure lead actor Sean Bean - now a big-screen star in films such as "Lord of the Rings" and "Troy" - back to the small screen.

But the other two series face a trickier hurdle: The principal actors of both "Rumpole" (which aired from 1978 to 1992) and "Morse" (1987 to 2000) are no longer alive. And in the case of Morse, the character also died in the final episode.

ITV's solutions are, to say the least, risky. Albert Finney has been chosen to play Rumpole, the character indelibly embodied by the late Sir Leo McKern. "Morse," meanwhile, will shift the focus to the detective's sidekick, Sergeant Lewis, played by Kevin Whately. [...]

The British, apparently, are more open to the idea than American television, where recasting Miss Ellie on "Dallas" was a spectacular failure. "Dr. Who," the iconic British sci-fi series, is about to return after a decade's absence with Christopher Eccleston becoming the ninth reincarnation of the title character. (It helps that the premise is that the Doctor is an extraterrestrial who occasionally undergoes appearance-altering regenerations.) ITV is presenting a new "Miss Marple" series this season, with Geraldine McEwan taking on the role played by the late Joan Hickson in the BBC version in the 1980s.

There's no thought of finding a new actor to play Chief Inspector Morse. The character was so much the preserve of John Thaw - and the series too recent for a remake - that producers are taking a different tack. "The project is known as 'After Morse,' " says Elliott. "It will focus on Lewis, who has probably been promoted now. It will take Lewis forward from where we last saw him."

Lewis was the more pedestrian, albeit the more likeable and grounded, of the original partnership. The relationship between the grouchy, opera-loving detective and his protegé, as well as the use of the detective's favorite music, gave the programs much of their texture.

Morse without Morse?

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 16, 2004 8:07 PM