Inspector Morse spin-off Lewis back in 2007

ITV has confirmed production is underway on three new feature-length Lewis dramas, for broadcast in 2007. The Inspector Morse spin-off was a massive hit for ITV back in January, when a one-off episode netted 11 million viewers. That may not sound much compared to Morse's peak when the show garnered more than 18 million viewers in the UK, but in these multi-channel, digital TV times it's huge. Lewis is the highest rating drama on ITV for the past two years, excluding soaps. Here's the official press release...

Kevin Whately is returning to the role of Inspector Robbie Lewis in three new episodes of LEWIS, ITV's highest rating drama of the year.

When Kevin Whately returned to Oxford in LEWIS earlier this year, the feature length film attracted an audience of more than 11 million. Now the much loved Oxford policeman is back in three new episodesalong with his young partner DS Hathaway, played by Laurence Fox.

Kevin Whately first appeared as Robbie Lewis alongside John Thaw in Morse in 1987. Twenty years on he is a widower, living alone in Oxford and, after a period abroad, is anxious to prove himself.

In the first episode, written by Daniel Boyle, and directed by Marc Jobst, Lewis and Hathaway investigate the death of an artist which leads them to discover a group of former Oxford University students bound by a destructive past. Clare Holman returns as pathologist Dr Laura Hobson and Rebecca Front returns to the role of Lewis' boss, Chief Supt Jean Innocent. Anna Massey guest stars as Professor Gold.

The other screenplays are written by Alan Plater and Guy Andrews. Barrington Pheloung is composing the music for all three films. LEWIS is produced by Chris Burt, who worked on 11 Morse films, and the executive producers are Michele Buck, Damien Timmer and Ted Childs.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Glad to see the emphasis on top-notch writers remains in place, it was always a major strength on Inspector Morse. Interesting to see Anna Massey as a guest star. That'll make her one of the few actors ever to appear as two different characters in Morse/Lewis, having played a killer in Happy Families [also written by Daniel Boyle, coincidentally enough]. Anyway, great to get confirmation Lewis is returning. Can't wait to see more of him and Hathaway, they were building a strong partnership by the end of the first Lewis special.