Features
Morse code
As the new series of the Morse spin-off starts on
Sunday, Kevin Whately talks to Ben Falk about
why he wanted to reprise the role of Lewis
As the lead actor in his
own television series,
Kevin Whately cant
afford to get ill.
Which is why he is
being very cautious
(and touching a lot of wood), when
he reveals that Laurence Fox, his
co-star in Morse spin-off Lewis
has had three colds in the last
month.
Kevin is more than aware of how
many people are relying on him. In
the wake of John Thaws death and
the Morse finale, ITV are putting a
great deal of faith in the new show,
which began as a pilot last year
and now continues with four films,
beginning on ITV1 on Sunday.
I said Can we just do the one
and see how it goes?, remembers
the 56-year-old of the moment the
channel top brass came and asked
him if he would consider bringing
Morses upbeat Geordie sidekick
back to the small screen. It got
super-high ratings and straight
away we were on a rollercoaster.
Its been pretty hectic, Ive barely
had a chance to breathe.
Youre aware of what a huge
juggernaut it is, he continues.
Its a huge responsibility from the
point of view of trying to keep it
on track. He says. And not to fall
to bits and catch colds and things
like that.
Despite the popularity of Morse,
bringing his sidekick back was still
a gamble, especially since Lewis
was always more of a happy-golucky
sort, the grafter to his bosss
genius. Lewis Mark II is a different
guy. His wife Valerie has been
killed in a hit-and-run accident and
he has a new protege of his own, a
posh former trainee priest played
by Fox.
I think the character is slightly
more abrasive, explains Kevin of
the new-look lead. We were rather
easy-going last year, quite chummy
but this time around Laurence and
I have a couple of bust-ups over
different things C lack of trust and
all that malarkey C to make our
relationship less cosy.
It took quite a few years on
Morse with John before Lewis
started sticking up for himself a
bit more. So Im glad its happening
earlier with this.
I brought Lewis nearer and
nearer to myself in the Morse days.
But theyve killed off his wife, so
hes much grumpier than I am now.
I hope so anyway.
Certainly, the actors laid-back
attitude is very apparent when you
talk to him. A contented family
man, its apparent that although
hes keen to continue the legacy of
Morse, after more than 20 years of
playing the character, hes more
about enjoying it than putting
himself through the wringer. Its
always been comfortable playing
him and that was one of the
attractions going back, he says. I
live alongside Lewis like a pal of
mine I see every day.
Indeed, when he visits his
mother, they often happen to catch
daytime repeats, which can be
something of a shock. John
Thaws on the screen and my son
walks in from stage left or
something, he exclaims.
Luckily, the positive feedback
from the first show means that
Kevin has no guilt about returning
to the role (he also revisited one of
his other iconic characters in the
recent Auf Wiedersehen Pet
sequels). Original author Colin
Dexter is on board and frequently
on the set and John Thaws widow
Sheila Hancock signed off too.
People enjoy them for what
they are, he says. It was never
meant to be an imitation of Morse
or a way of just replacing John
with another actor.
Its a different animal and with
a bit of luck, people enjoy the
stories for what they are with our
characters and dont compare them
to John Thaw who was
incomparable.
And although its hard graft (I
have far more lines to learn than I
ever did), after a couple of gritty
one-offs like Dad and Plain Jane,
Kevin is relishing the sense of
community you get in series
television. I never wanted to get
into a series, he admits. But
having done one, Auf Wiedersehen
Pet, and having come from rep
theatre, I always loved that
company feel. So I much prefer
doing series now when you do a
few stories and youve got the same
crew all the way through. Youre a
big gang coming together like a big
family and I find it much more
relaxing.
Its set to continue. Talk is
already afoot for another group of
films and Kevin says theyre
hoping to do four. It all pays the
mortgage, but the only regret the
actor has in doing it is he gets to
miss out on his other passion,
cricket. He is a gigantic fan and
was gutted that shooting through
the winter meant he missed
Englands tour to Sri Lanka.
ö Lewis continues on ITV1 on
Sunday.
4:43pm Thursday 21st February 2008
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