Deadly Slumber

I will say, that my favourite episode from the 7th series is The Day of the Devil, but Deadly Slumber is so good, that I hate to criticise it. Here, Morse is investigating the murder of a doctor, and suspicion falls on the father of a victim who suffered from brain damage after her operation went wrong. Deadly Slumber is beautifully constructed, and as usual John Thaw and Kevin Whately's acting talents are the driving force of the episode. The script is very intelligent, as is always the case with Morse, and while slow in pace, the story never runs out of steam or loses the audience's interest. The scene where Morse utters "Look Morse, look, look, look" with the 2nd movement of Mozart's 23rd Piano concerto was one of the episode's best scenes. The fine supporting performances include Brian Cox from Manhunter and Braveheart fame, Janet Suzman, Jason Durr and Penny Downie, and salvage one of the more intriguing episodes of the later series. 10/10 Bethany Cox.

This certainly ranks near the top of the Morse mysteries. It involves the death of very rich man. It appears to be a carbon monoxide death but further evidence from the examiner shows that he was tied up and murdered. What this leads to is a case of a young woman who died during a routine surgery, performed by the dead man and his wife. There is a college aged son who is in the home, a student, and a host of other possible suspects. The most viable is the father of the dead girl who lost a court case where he charged negligence. What's great about this is the peaks and valleys that appear as Morse and Lewis ply their trade. We also have some examples of people who could be seen as purely evil being much more complex and sympathetic. Excellent start to the seventh season.

This is an excellent episode of Morse, with a terrific story, awesome characters, and some particularly good performances, notably Brian Cox.

It is saddest episode of Morse, very tragic, with a heartbreaking thread running through, Mr Stebbings and his poor daughter. Brian Cox is outstanding, and delivers a truly sincere, moving performance. His scenes with Thaw are terrific, so moving.

A great, dramatic opening, a truly baffling mystery, murder or suicide?

Janet Suzman, Jason Durr, Penny Downie, all terrific, this is a superbly produced drama, the visuals are sublime, it looks gorgeous, with some glorious location work.

A truly great episode, but then, was there ever a bad one? Just variations of brilliance. 9/10

Really can't multitask for the last half hour of this episode as there are so many developments! This episode breaks a bit with tradition because several of the usual Morse features missing and the focus is definitely on the suspects. Whilst there's multiple levels of tragedy, it is very much about emotion as there's nothing particularly graphic. There are lots of original plot details packed in, and some different interactions which is great to see so far into a series as Season Seven. With little references to the Morse Universe, this could easily be watched as a stand-alone mystery, or watched as a re-run out of sequence.

There are some episodes of Morse that I re watch and often change my original rating, when I realise the episode isn't as good as I remember. However, this one, after re watching it again, probably more than a year later, I had to take it up take it up 3 points.

I think this is the real first time I really concentrated on it. I kind of remember who it sort of turns out to be. But having a look at how this twists and turns and how, for a change I can understand how Morse is stumped, as we all would be. It becomes extremely interesting as to how and why. I don't really want to give away anything as it is such an amazing plot, but my title gives it away a bit. The why and wherefore, and ending as many have said, is extremely satisfying, but also extremely sad.

This is well worth a very concentrated watch, to catch everything.