Talk:Lewis (TV series)

Title of the Show
I know that IMDb has the show listed as Lewis, but my PBS program guide and the Mystery!/Masterpiece Theater website entitled the show Inspector Lewis and the credits that began the show also used this full title. A cursory check of ITV's website didn't turn up any definitive information. I am just noting this in case any other Wikipedian's think that it might be a good idea to change the name of this page.MarnetteD | Talk 22:01, 7 August 2006 (UTC)


 * With the upcoming release of the DVD of the show being entitled Inspector Lewis (see BBC America catalog among others), I have moved the page to this new name today. This is the first time I have ventured to do this and I followed the wikipage for a move as much as my understanding would allow. However if I have made any errors my apologies and please let me know what I did wrong so that I can learn from this. I did go into the pages that link to this page section and fixed all of the links that went to the old page with the excepstion of this one 'User:SGCommand/About me' due to the fact that we are not supposed to alter userpages. MarnetteD | Talk 19:13, 28 August 2006 (UTC)


 * MMmm, I'm not sure about this change. The publicised title was Lewis,  and it has more Google hits. I wonder if the title was changed for the American audience.  The JPS talk to me  22:18, 31 October 2006 (UTC)


 * No, to the best of my knowledge, the title was not changed for US television (was the 'Inspector Morse' series only called 'Morse' in the UK). If any British wikipedians have this show on DVD they will be able to confirm or refute this. The title of a show can often change between first press releases and first airing (see the name changes that have occurred in the new series featuring the Sarah Jane Smith chracter from Doctor Who. I, also, don't think that google should rule as an error there is repeated so many times (see how many websites claim that Trey Parker went to school in both Evergreen and Fairplay, which he did not) it seems to become a fact for many, but, that does not make it a fact. The opening title credits, the DVD release, the Masterpiece Theatre website and the follow-up series will all be calling the show 'Inspector Lewis'. I am not trying to be rude (and apologize if I have been), but, I feel strongly that the opening credtis should decide what any TV show or film should be called here at wikipedia. I also appreciate the way that wikipedia works, if you feel the need to take this to arbitration I will be happy to comply with all that is required (though I haven't been through it before so I may need some direction) and let a consensus be reached. Now, if it turns out that the UK DVD (or are the TV Times listings) only say 'Lewis' then this should be changed back (just like The Race for the Double Helix should actually be changed to Life Story as that was what it was called in its original UK airings). I just hope that anyone who does this will be as thorough in fixing all of the redirects as I was when I moved this the first time. Cheers and happy editing to all. MarnetteD | Talk 23:25, 31 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Inspector Morse was called Inspector Morse in the UK, although it is often colloquially referred to as Morse. At this stage, I think it's quite excessive to start talking about arbitration. I think that it does look like the title was changed for the US marketplace  . I shall indeed be happy to change the redirects.  The JPS talk to me  19:09, 12 November 2006 (UTC)


 * It is a shame that you did not provide any evidence that this was the title in the opening credits of the UK airing of the show (and this should really ber the final decider) before you made this move. You also did not try any of the other avenues to reach a consensus. Of the four links that you provided none of them show the UK DVD cover (which I know is frustrating because I had already done a search trying to find it). I don't mean to be rude (and I apologize if any of this sounds that way) this could be the correct title, but, if the Jan 2007 UK DVD release or when the show starts airing in the UK this spring if the opening titles read 'Inspector Lewis' I hope that you will be willing to change all of this back. MarnetteD | Talk 19:44, 12 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Well even more apologies now. The first time I clicked on the Play.com link the DVD cover didn't come up but I just went to it again and it did and the title read Lewis so 10,000 apologies. I would be interested if, when it comes out, if there is a screen capture of the opening credits and I will also be interested to see how they title it this spring. I should also say thaks for being thorough on the redirects, MarnetteD | Talk 19:49, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
 * No worries ;) The JPS talk to me  19:51, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Series 2
I believe a new series of 4 episodes is due to start 24th February 2008. Bigfatspider (talk) 12:25, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, you are correct. Dan1980 (talk | stalk) 12:48, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Episode List Article
Does any other wikipedians think we should make an episode list article for lewis,[not individual articles, like the Willieboyisaloser incident on Talk:Midsomer Murders]? Perhaps not until the end of the next series, where we wouldhave more material for such an article? (JakubMan (talk) 18:04, 11 March 2008 (UTC))

I've just had a brainwave. Would it be possible to create a portal for Inspector Morse and Lewis? Or am i being an over zealous wiki newbie? (JakubMan (talk) 18:10, 11 March 2008 (UTC))


 * See Talk:Inspector Morse about a proposal for a "fictional universe" article. 70.51.11.68 (talk) 09:51, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Is there a point in have the episode list with ratings when there is a link to a page with the list, synopsis, and ratings?75.177.36.154 (talk) 08:09, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Third Series
Try as I might, I cannot find anything on the web that suggests a third series is imminent - can anyone cite this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.100.218.3 (talk) 19:06, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

cancellation?
i read somewhere that lewis has been axed. is this true? (Aurumpotestasest (talk) 08:03, 19 April 2009 (UTC))

Will note that the last episode of Series 3 contained a 'blatant improbability' as a plot device (a piece of dangerous equipment without adequate safety equipment/enclosure) which breaks the willing suspension of disbelief/implausibility "rules." Jackiespeel (talk) 18:31, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

They've been filming in my lab today, so no... it's certainly not been cancelled. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.220.87.63 (talk) 19:11, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Reception
At the moment I am watching the pilot of Lewis for the first time - unlike Morse I can manage to do two things at the same time. I had kept away from it as I dislike spin-off" series in general (and Oxford and murder without Morse? Surely an oxymoron) but, as Lewis' deceased wife might say; "It ain't that bad". So, I wonder over here to gain a little further information but notice that there is - unlike many other WIKI entries on Tv shows - no "reception" section. Any one up for the job? The7thdr (talk) 01:30, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Links Reversed
The two IMDB links at the bottom are backward vis-a-vis which links to the miniseries and which to the ongoing series. But I don't understand the template for imdb links well enough to fix it. When I try the links just break. May look in later. User:WickerGuy signed is as --75.36.142.89 (talk) 23:17, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

No mention of gay rights episode
Why is there no mention of the gay rights episode? Its the same episode where it is revealed (more or less) that the James Hathaway character is gay. --RyanTee82 (talk) 06:22, 25 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, put it in then. You can include it as well as anyone else, RyanTee82. Dieter Simon (talk) 23:48, 25 October 2009 (UTC)
 * The episode that RyanTee82 refers to is "Life Born Of Fire." However, I would highly recommend not including any such thing as it is made quite clear that Hathaway is not gay. (I am often amazed at how people can so totally misunderstand what they are seeing.) At one time Hathaway was, in fact, homophobic, accepting the dogma of the Church of England. He quit his studies for the priesthood when he came to believe that such a stance is wrong. However his (belated) sympathy for a gay friend's situation doesn't make Hathaway, himself, a homosexual. B00P (talk) 00:59, 30 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, any editing in the main article would most certainly require citing sources, that is reliable sources. You certainly wouldn't just be able to make statements of whichever persuasion without substantiating them fully. Dieter Simon (talk) 01:36, 30 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Hathaway is defenitively NOT gay, as shown in "The Point of Vanishing", where we see him having an affair with one of his (female) colleagues. 125.162.47.86 (talk) 01:28, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

Correction: James Hathaway was studying for the Roman Catholic priesthood, not Church of England. This was very clear in his condemnation of Will McEwan's homosexuality in "Life Born of Fire." In "The Great and the Good," he also made a reference to the attitudes "we Catholics" hold regarding suicide. While we are meant to think Hathaway has gay tendencies (the interchange with Lewis in the car about "Loaded" magazine and Yorkie bars is a great example), the scene at the end with Zoe Kenneth would seem to discredit this notion.Ehpk5147 (talk) 14:38, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

I'd be careful about saying anything is "definitive." As I recall, the MAIN point of Hathaway's car scene with Lewis in "Life Born of Fire" was that human sexuality cannot be summed up into a black-and-white, either-or choice - something which Kinsey concluded back in 1948. It seemed to me that if anything, the scene seemed to be setting up the idea that Hathaway was bisexual. This would be completely consistent with his involvement with women mentioned above. The last scene of "Life Born of Fire" could then be viewed in two different ways:

1) Hathaway confirming that he is heterosexual, which seems at odds with what he says in the earlier scene 2) Hathaway deciding to lie to Lewis and pass as heterosexual because, after all, it's really none of Lewis' business anyway

Remember this is series two, and the two aren't yet nearly as close as they will become later in the series. GodaiNoBaka (talk) 11:19, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

Denmark and Sweden
As living at the east side of Øresund (ex-danish County of Skåne, occupied by Sweden since 1658) just about 15 UK miles from Copenhagen I have the benefit of watching 10 danish and 14 swedish channels. I've seen all episodes broadcasted in both countries and they are very popular. I think the 8 first episodes been broadcasted (with underlining, not language dubbing) in both countries. In Denmark they have bben shown twice in the biggest channel DR1. Scandinavians love ´"Brittcrime" and Lewis is at top ranking at the moment. But "Prime Suspect" (Tennison) is right now rebroadcasted in a commercial swedish channel for the third time. I've also seen the before unknown "Between the Lines" from the 90s - althow short episodes they follow a clear line - in the wrong direction, much dued to the mysterios Deakin. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Awayanoder (talk • contribs) 13:29, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

Counter Culture Blues
Anyone noticed the obvious similarities between this episode and the Midsomer Murders episode "The Axeman Cometh?" Same personel, same settings, same story-plot, - but different murders and different solution in the end. So far I was not able to find anything about this. 125.162.47.86 (talk) 01:31, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

For reasons that have yet to be explained, "Counter Culture Blues" was never shown as part of Series 3 in the U.S. It is now scheduled to be aired (premiered) at the end of August 2010 after the rebroadcast ("encores") of the other three episodes in that series--so it must now be considered part of Series 4 for us. I have all 11 episodes from Series 1 - 3 on DVD and I watch them so often they just might wear out!~ ~ ~ ~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ehpk5147 (talk • contribs) 22:53, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

Lewis episode list?
There's a similar thing going on at Midsomer Murders. 16 episodes have aired so far, and there will undoubtedly be more. It'd be a good use of that series information at the bottom of the article. Message me if you have any questions about creating a Lewis episode list. (Aurumpotestasest (talk) 18:35, 6 June 2010 (UTC))

My incessant internet surfing has paid off: the British press have announced that [Inspector] Lewis has been renewed for a fifth season. Filming is underway now (July 2010) and our British cousins will, of course, get to see the episodes well before we do in 2011--it will probably be a six-month lag at best before we get them. Aargh! I also learned that each episode we see on Masterpiece Theater has been clipped (albeit discreetly) to fit the 90-minute time slot they are accorded. I will always wonder what bits of dialogue I have missed each time! As for an episode list: I have all the info, including the five new episodes for Series Four that we will finally get to see in September (including one that was supposed to be part of Series Three and was never released here: "Counter Culture Blues"). BTW: if you go to Amazon.co.uk, and search for the Lewis DVDs, you can find video clips from Series Four, just to whet your appetites. Sergeant Hathaway sports a rather new hairstyle--longer. More akin to his natural inclinations, I daresay.Ehpk5147 (talk) 00:12, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Also Starring
Right now the Finnish television has broadcasted two episodes of series four. It's interesting to notice that episode one featured Nathaniel Parker (aka Inspector Lynley) and in episode two one of major characters was played by Warren Clarke (aka Dalziel). Who will be the next visiting ex-inspector? Frost? Wycliffe? – Harjasusi (talk) 20:56, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Spinn-off ?
Is "Lewis" really a TV-series that can be concidered to be "spinn-off". I thought "spinn-off series" is a currently (in the sence of "not finished") TV-series spinn-off into a new one. An example from the 80's some may remember the US comedy Soap. One of this series poular characters was a butler named Benson, and after some years this became a new series. In the case of "Lewis" circumstances were different. "Chief Inspector Morse" was ended by the 33:rd episode "The Remorseful Day" in 2000, with the death of the DCI. Then John Thaw himself sadly dies only two years later. "Lewis" didn't "spinn-off" from "Chief Inspector Morse" - it rather was a continuence of "Chief Inspector Morse". I don't want to spit hairs, but the example shows that if "Lewis" really is as "spinn off" - then the word "spin-off" has more than one significance (or meaning). My humble suggestion is that "Lewis continued" some time after "Chief Inspector Morse" was at it's end. However I'm not an expert of the term "spinn-off". I only raise the question. /The Øresund - man who isn't a member. (Not permanent) IP 83.249.39.104 (talk) 09:19, 19 November 2011 (UTC) Thanks Ladies an Gentlemen.
 * That would be "spin-off". Britmax (talk) 20:10, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Too British-centric?
As an American, I first saw "Inspector Lewis" on PBS/Masterpiece Mystery. I have since also seen the ITV-aired "Lewis" versions and it is very clearly credited with a graphic as "a co-production of Granada and WGBH Boston" and. Granada having since become ITV Studios and WGBH Boston is a PBS station and the company behind Masterpiece, Mystery! and Masterpiece Mystery (for which it was created). There is even a specific producer credited from WGBH.

However, this article appears to be very British-centric -- almost arrogantly so. It is filmed in Britain, with mainly British actors, and it is frequent that a "British" show is produced (jointly) by Masterpiece airs first in the UK. But that alone does not decide its production ownership, target market, or intended audience. (Similar Masterpiece co-produced UK shows include Inspector Morse after '96, Sherlock, Poirot, Wallander, and many others.) I do not believe the US "version" should be referred to as edits/rebroadcasts if they are, in fact, produced with that audience in mind. For instance, the co-producers probably don't think of the US market as "Other Countries" as in this article and it was not "produced for ITV."

The title is different in the US -- which probably has more to do with trying to associate with Inspector Morse (which was not commonly referred to as Morse in the US as it was in the UK) rather than just a bastardization. Since the US was an initially intended market at the time of production, the US title, episode groupings (which are called SEASONS, not series, here), etc. should probably not simply be a footnote oddity of a distributor. I could only imagine the reaction of the British readers if the series was represented in the tone of the other co-producer, WGBH with an American spin on it. Granted that may be even more inappropriate, but this problem of two producers for two separate audiences exists in most of the other wiki articles for the shows I mentioned. Maybe there's a better way to handle it...

This article has been this way for some time, but with new episodes airing currently in the UK and the Masterpiece broadcast to come in the upcoming months there will be an influx of new readers of the topic. SeattleSoxFan (talk) 08:50, 14 January 2013 (UTC)


 * You make some interesting points. And I would certainly appreciate more information about the US versions in the articles. But if the first broadcast is in the UK, the US versions are (confusingly) shorter, and the first DVD issues are in the UK... well, the US version is really sadly a bastardized version. -96.233.19.238 (talk) 02:32, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Lewis was not above making satirical comment on Colleges..Refereeing to Cambridge as a home for spys {i.e. Anthony Blount and Oxford as a home for traitors [What traitors did he mean?] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.5.89.217 (talk) 17:33, 13 January 2019 (UTC)

New Episodes?
The last sentence of the lead-in says that an ITV spokesperson claims that the show may return to TV in 2014. But, the article used as a source says Whately has taken a break for filming and may return to film a new series or special in 2014. I would think that, depending on whether it's a new series or one-off that gets filmed, and depending on when in 2014 it gets filmed, there is a chance that the show would not return to TV until 2015. I don't know enough about British television production to say this with certainty, so I didn't change the sentence. Thoughts? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.252.199.112 (talk) 15:39, 9 September 2013 (UTC)

Recent addition of WP:OR
The recent edits by an editor from Hong Kong are trying to insert all manner of WP:OR and WP:SYNTH about their interpretation of events shown in this programme. This stuff is better suited to a blog or chat room. Pouring through it I can't really find anything that belongs in an encyclopedic article. If anyone else can that is fine. Until now the editor has not been willing to communicate about this and has chosen to edit war instead. Perhaps they will try and explain things now but the edit should not be put back in the article until then. MarnetteD&#124;Talk 12:17, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

Episode length runtime
The main article runtimes seem at least somewhat wrong-ish. See episode list talk page.-71.174.179.203 (talk) 17:04, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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