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.

Set partly in some vaguely defined sort of organization that helps people slim down, this episode of Morse is without question the most baffling one that I've seen (I've watched about half of them). Baffling, that is, to the viewer, even if not to the great Morse. It hops around from one setting to another (from slimming club to university and church) with the thinnest possible connections between them all. The episode seems to have been assembled from three unrelated shows. One thread to the plot, the justified need for women to assume bigger roles in the church, features embarrassing scenes of forced gaiety and superficial sincerity among the women concerned. One last thing: One woman gets away with an outrageous lie that subverts Morse's best efforts, but Morse irrationally forgives her because he's smitten by her from the first second he sees her. Altogether, an episode that the producers could safely delete from the series.

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.

I love the acting, I love bits of the story, and I love the fact that John Thaw is as wonderful as ever. Fat Chance on its own merits is a good mystery, with a seemingly baffling crime, and an interesting theme, with women climbing to higher positions in the Church, in spite of male protestation. Zoe Wanamaker is excellent as Emma Pickford, and her on screen time with Thaw is excellent.

On the downside the first half of the episode is somewhat boring, it takes about forty minutes for the story to open up and become interesting. The conclusion is one of the least satisfying, it just doesn't fully add up somehow. When I saw that name 'Peggy Mount' in the titles I was so pleased, but then gutted to discover she had less then three minutes screen time, such a shame, more then a match for Morse, she'd have been marvellous in a bigger role. The story on the whole is a little mundane, there are definitely some interesting parts, but the final outcome leaves you wanting the likes of Masonic Mysteries or Driven to Distraction.

Still decent, but the average Morse episode is so much higher, 7/10

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.