I recommend watching the episodes in order of production. There is a lot of information about Morse that is revealed gradually over the series, which can be confusing if you come at the series from random points in time.
For example, we learn in the first episode that Morse suffers from vertigo. We also learn that he has a very weak stomach when it comes to blood and guts. And we meet the first and most delightful of the three pathologists Morse works with in the series, Max - whose cynical wit is classic:
Morse: How do you *get* morphine?
Max: I write myself a prescription and go to Boots!
FYI-'Boots' is the British equivalent to Walgreens and CVS.
Also - and this is critical to understanding Morse as a person - he is *not* a womaniser. For a start, he's not *nearly* successful enough to qualify for the label. He genuinely does "suffer from cupid's dart," as he puts it in "The Sins of the Fathers" - when one of the daughters-in-law remarks he would be a good catch and then, by way of a subtle query, sings the opening line from "A Bachelor Gay Am I" (the best known song from the generally forgotten 1917 musical The Maid of the Mountains). Trouble is, he's hopeless at relationships because he has no idea what to do; so he's continually getting his heart broken.
He does have some great lines about sex, though - or, rather, the lack of it - as in "Last Bus to Woodstock," where he says, "Is sex more trouble than it's worth? I keep wanting to find the answer."
In "Dead on Time," we meet the woman, Susan, who was once Morse's fiancee, and whose husband appears to have been killed by their son-in-law. As the plot advances, we get a definite sense that Susan and Morse could be very happy together - but for the fact they can't. We also see in this episode how much a friend, if not surrogate son, Lewis has become.
In "Cherubim and Seraphim," we meet Morse's step-mother and half-sister, as he has the painful task of investigating why his teenage niece has committed suicide. (A young and handsome Jason Isaacs guests in that story as a villain.) I think this is the only time we actually see anyone from Morse's family, though we do hear about them.
Morse eventually does get into a nice and cozy relationship with Adele Cecil, whom he meets in "Death is Now My Neighbour." They get along sufficiently well that he reveals his first name to her - and, thus, to viewers of the series. (He's never even told Lewis!) He gives it to her as the anagram "Around Eve."
Adele: ...but I all can come up with is "Endeavour." Only nobody's *called* "Endevour." [There is a pause during which Morse is silent; then Adele realises and says, with great sympathy] Surely not!
Lewis, having finally learned his boss's/surrogate father's first name after all these years, is also sympathetic as he softly says, "Your poor sod!"
Adele also appears in "The Wench is Dead," where it is obviously that she and Morse are in a very comfortable place. Alas, in "The Remorseful Day," we learn that Adele has emigrated to Australia.
Below is a chronological list of episodes. Note that while Last Bus to Woodstock was the first novel, it is *seventh* episode (# 3 in series 2).
Toward the end, from 1995 to 2000, when John Thaw was busy doing Kavanaugh, QC (and, unbeknownst to the public, being treated for esophageal cancer), only one Morse episode was done per year.
Particular favourites of mine include "The Settling of the Sun", "The Infernal Serpent," "Driven to Distraction," "Masonic Mysteries," "Greeks Bearing Gifts," and "The Wench is Dead."
Uniquely, "Promised Land" has Morse and Lewis travel to Australia, to where a family was dispatched when the husband and wife were placed in witness protection. Only now the man who was sent away on their evidence is out of prison. Not only has he figured out they're in Australia - he knows precisely where, and what name they now use. Coincidentally, the original music used in the series was composed by Barrington Pheloung, from Australia.
1-1 The Dead of Jericho
1-2 The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn
1-3 Service of All the Dead
1-4 The Wolvercote Tongue
2-1 Last Seen Wearing
2-2 The Settling of the Sun
2-3 Last Bus to Woodstock
3-1 Ghost in the Machine
3-2 The Last Enemy
3-3 Deceived by Flight
3-4 The Secret of Bay 5B
4-1 The Infernal Serpent
4-2 The Sins of the Fathers
4-3 Driven to Distraction
4-4 Masonic Mysteries
5-1 Second Time Around
5-2 Fat Chance
5-3 Who Killed Harry Field?
5-4 Greeks Bearing Gifts
5-5 Promised Land
6-1 Dead on Time
6-2 Happy Families
6-3 The Death of the Self
6-4 Absolute Conviction
6-5 Cherubim and Seraphim
7-1 Deadly Slumber
7-2 The Day of the Devil
7-3 Twilight of the Gods
8-1 The Way Through the Woods
9-1 The Daughters of Cain
10-1 Death Is Now My Neighbour
11-1 The Wench Is Dead
12-1 The Remorseful Day
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