Fat Chance

As much as I like Fat Chance, I do think it is one of the weaker Morse episodes. I will say that this is probably the only episode that had a final solution that left me rather baffled. The pace of the episode was also slightly uneven, however there is a lot to recommend it. The main attraction of the series has always been John Thaw's performance as the title character, which is nothing short of outstanding, and even that word doesn't do justice to his performance. The episode does have an intriguing plot, excellent performances and an intelligent script, not to mention the immortal soundtrack. But for me, the highlight of Fat Chance was Morse's relationship with Emma Pickford, marvellously played by Zoe Wannamaker, and the episode ends wondering will Morse find his true love? Certainly not my favourite episode, but intriguing and well acted. 8/10 Bethany Cox.

I usually love Inspector Morse but this episode left a lot to be desired. One of the subplots has to do with weight loss and the amount of fat-phobic comments (sometimes delivered by men who themselves are overweight) is borderline offensive. The murder of a female clergy member and the woman's group she belonged to seems like an interesting topic but it meanders all over the place. It's not really much of a mystery? I did like seeing Zoe Wanamaker make an appearance, but I was also disappointed with how little she got to do. It seemed as though she was just there to give Morse another love interest. A very poorly written episode IMO.

The church comes out as rather villainous here. However, they are not the only club in town and if their belief system seems exclusive, we need to respect it, to some degree. Morse finds himself in the middle of an effort to keep a young woman from entering the priesthood. She has been attacked and then dies while taking exams. The good thing about this is that it isn't simple church versus changemaker. There are other issues, including a mentally ill young woman who has been persecuted. We have again a case where Morse is taken with a striking female vicar. He never seems to have trouble getting dates with younger, attractive women. In the past he has had the bad luck to see them murdered, playing spy games, or simply being criminals themselves. This one is really an interesting choice.

An episode that started in very intriguing fashion and ended very tamely. When a woman who is studying to be a priest dies in mysterious circumstances Morse and Lewis uncover a host of agendas including two warring factions within the Divinities department of the University.

There's also a weight loss program and competition that gets screentime but seems unconnected to the woman's death.

It's all wonderfully mysterious but with villains hiding in plain sight, setting the episode up to be quite the whodunnit.

Unfortunately cracks begin to show almost immediately. The main suspect is a cartoonish villain. There's also an overweight, hysterical loon prowling around, clearly not up to any good. Both characters can be put down to poor writing though hammy acting plays a part in the latter.

Plus we have the usual sub-plot of Morse hitting on one of the female persons of interest - quite unprofessional.

Worst of all, it all goes nowhere. The ending is an absolute damp squib.

Very disappointing.

Possibly the weakest Morse episode, hard to believe he is no longer with us.