‘World’s long on academics, Morse, but woeful short of good detectives’: Lewis, Hathaway and Endeavour: The changing roles of Colin Dexter’s sidekick

Bishop, David

Abstract

Bishop offers the first comprehensive analysis of the many variations of sidekick found in Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse novels, and in the three television drama series based on his characters. Focusing on the range of approaches taken to representing Dexter’s characters, the chapter also examines how these different depictions of sidekicks respond to their means of creation. Bishop demonstrates that the function of the sidekick within detective fiction series is not always fixed, but can grow and evolve. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the authored approach employed by the Inspector Morse prequel series Endeavour, arguing that the show surpasses Dexter’s novels in depth and complexity of characterisation while reinventing Morse as someone able to occupy the roles of both sidekick and detective.

• Acceptance Date: Sep 8, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Mar 26, 2021
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Pages: 237-259
• Book Title: The Detective's Companion in Crime Fiction: A Study in Sidekicks
• Chapter Number: 12
• ISBN: 978-3-030-74988-0
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74989-7
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2756011
• Publisher URL: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030749880