Lewis - The Oxford Crime Collector`s Box 1 - DVD

Content: For thirteen years, Detective Sergeant Robert Lewis (Kevin Whatley) served faithfully alongside Inspector Morse. But in 2000, Morse died a serial death and Lewis was promoted to Inspector six years later. In his new role, Lewis was so well received by audiences that he was allowed to go into series after a special. In October 2014, Lewis - The Oxford Crime Story is now already in its eighth season in its home country. And also in Germany, the cases that Lewis and his colleague DS James Hathaway (Laurence Fox) have to solve in the university city of Oxford, enjoy unbroken great popularity.

A good time to return to the beginnings of the series. Who has missed the first seasons or does not know the series so far, there is now with the first Collector`s Box the possibility to acquire the first three seasons in a complete box. In addition, there is also the pilot film of Inspector Morse on a bonus DVD in the original English with German subtitles.

Total of twelve exciting cases offers this collector's box. Particularly interesting is of course the first case, which shows a Lewis marked by life, who has completely withdrawn after the accidental death of his wife for two years and hopes now with an employment from instructor in peace to return to working life. A hope, of course, that is quickly dashed as he immediately has to get back to dealing with a murder case. And even though he is continually haunted by his own past, Lewis is soon back in his element as an investigator.

The series thrives on the atmospheric setting of Oxford, on the good interplay between Whatley and Fox, and on the well-crafted scripts. These offer very classic crime fare that doesn't always offer the very big surprises. But the staging of the series easily consoles over many a somewhat contrived story. Lewis - The Oxford Crime Story is first-class TV entertainment, which, along with Inspector Barnaby, George Gently and Hautnah - The Hill Method, is undoubtedly one of the best British crime series of the last decade. If you like the series just mentioned and have not seen Inspector Lewis before, you should definitely pick up this box set.

And this is what the first Collector`s Box has to offer:

Season 1

DVD 1: The Key to Murder

Now that the wife of Oxford detective inspector Robert Lewis has died in a car accident, Lewis, formerly the assistant to the legendary Inspector Morse, has retired to the British Virgin Islands for two years.

Now he is back to take up a quiet instructor's post at district level. However, nothing comes of it at first. Shortly after being picked up at the airport by young Detective Seargent James Hathaway, the two detectives are called to a murder case. In a sleep laboratory, which is led by the professor Kate Jekyll, the mathematics student Regan Peverill has been shot. Suspicion falls on her fellow student Daniel Griffon. After all, the killer used his door code. But Professor Denniston gives his student Daniel a convincing alibi for the time of the crime.

When researching the Griffon family of industrialists, Lewis and Hathaway come across circumstances of almost Shakespearean proportions. Daniel suspects his uncle Rex of having murdered his father in order to live with Daniel's mother. In addition, there is also the financial director of the company, Tom Pollock. The latter's daughter Jessica, in turn, is in love with Daniel.

Before the two detectives get around to checking out all these relationships, events come crashing down. Tom Pollock is found murdered in his car, and in a rowboat lies the body of Daniel Griffon. In Daniel's case, the evidence points to suicide. But you can't fool an old fox like Inspector Lewis, whose criminal instincts have long since reawakened. Daniel was murdered too. Only by whom and why? That all three murders are connected seems obvious. But Lewis and Hathaway still don't have the keys to these murders. Lewis finds a clue in the old documents of Inspector Morse, who had investigated the death of old Griffon. Finally, with sheer mathematical precision, a pattern emerges into which all three murders fit.

Criminal Director Jean Innocent can only congratulate Inspector Lewis on his perspicacity at the end. And he seizes the opportunity to spontaneously propose that instead of lecturing as an instructor, he should return to Oxford to hunt down murderers in the future. Actively supported, of course, by James Hathaway. (Text: ZDF)

DVD 2: Demons of the Past

Under a pretext, the unsuccessful painter Dean Grealy is lured to Oxford and murdered there. Initial suspicion is directed at Ingrid Nielson, the painter's partner. In the painter's notebook there are strange ancient Greek texts, which Inspector Lewis and his assistant Hathaway have translated by the venerable Professor Gold. It speaks of the "sons of the twice-born". Gold also provides the crucial clue to the eponymous Dionysian secret society that a group of her students had founded 20 years ago at Oxford. Intense pleasures of all kinds, including drugs of course, played a role that should not be underestimated. But Gold knows even more: Dean Grealy was one of the four founding members of the secret society at that time. Also included were Sefton Linn, currently facing possible election as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, as well as former medical student Harry Bundrick, who now runs a small bicycle shop, and Theodore Platt, a cynical bon vivant and would-be writer confined to a wheelchair after an accident. He was the intellectual head of the Bund at the time.

As Lewis and Hathaway find out, in recent days both Professor Linn and Bundrick and Platt have received anonymous threatening phone calls from a journalist calling herself "Fury." What secret connects the former club members? Lewis is certain it may lie in the men's student pasts. Before there are any new discoveries, however, Sefton Linn dies. He, too, fell victim to murder. It is time for the two survivors to confide in Inspector Lewis. Meanwhile, he has discovered the identity of the supposed journalist "Fury". It is the casual prostitute Tina Daniels, who works as a housekeeper for the Platts. Still the cynical Platt believes that no one can harm him.

When Inspector Lewis and his assistant Hathaway finally get to the bottom of the frat boy's cruel secret, they suspect that the culprit might very well have reasons to continue his vendetta. Tina Daniels, that much is certain, must still have an accomplice who will not rest until his revenge is complete. (Text: ZDF)

DVD 3: The Murder Plot

At the invitation of the Oxford Union, a well-known debating society, former criminal and current bestselling author Nicky Turnbull comes to Oxford. Students Caroline Morton, David Harvey and siblings Jo and Stephen Gilchrist have made a special effort to attend his reading. As a former computer hacker, Turnbull is said to be in possession of many a secret, so he is in constant danger. The Oxford police have already received death threats. And so Inspector Lewis, of all people, is assigned to Turnbull's security. From the very first moment, the boastful Turnbull is a thorn in Lewis' side. Only under protest does he accept his assignment. After the reading at the club, Turnbull wants to spend the night with the two attractive students Jo and Caroline. The next morning, Jo is found murdered in Turnbull's hotel. Turnbull and Caroline, who claim to have spent the night together in the next room, are unaware of any of this. Just as Turnbull reveals himself to Lewis that the supposed death threats against him were just a publicity stunt, a fatal shot hits the author. Fired from the roof of the building opposite. Now Lewis, who hasn't exactly cut the best figure as a bodyguard, and his assistant Hathaway have to solve two murders at once. And as if this wasn't complicated enough, Turnbull's widow, who has just arrived, turns out to be Lewis' childhood sweetheart Diane. Could she be behind the two murders? Or is there a whole other connection that Lewis and Hathaway have so far overlooked? (Text: ZDF)

DVD 4: Late Atonement

Rachel Mallory, who has been a faithful wife to her husband Hugh and a caring mother to their two daughters, is found hanged in the stairwell of their Oxford home. Apart from the fact that any motive for suicide seems to be lacking, Lewis does not believe that Rachel left life voluntarily. Although the coroner's office doesn't seem to confirm his theory at first, Lewis won't let go. Rachel's husband Hugh, a respected ophthalmologist, also has no idea why his wife would have killed herself. But it seems even more absurd to him that she should have been murdered. Meanwhile, however, the coroner is certain: it was cold-blooded murder. Stephanie, the Mallorys' neighbor, is Lewis' main source of information. Not to mention, in his somewhat awkward way, he finds the woman very sympathetic. But can he trust her? Help comes from the unexpected. The terminally ill Professor Plassiter claims to know the killer and his motive. In return for his testimony, he wants former student Stoker brought to him so he can apologize to the young man he apparently wronged long ago before his imminent demise. But how does Prof. Plassiter even know Rachel Mallory? Plassiter was appointed as a legal expert on a legendary case many years ago. The girl in question at the time, however, was not named Rachel Mallory, but Alison Bright. By the time Lewis and Hathaway get behind the dark secret of the Mallory and Hayward families, it's almost too late, because the killer, now feeling cornered, is unpredictable and may have more victims in mind. From now on, every minute counts. (Text: ZDF)

Season 2

DVD 1: Score of Death or Codename Siegfried

In the opening of the second season of the English crime series, Inspector Lewis and his colleague Hathaway get to grips with the mysterious murder of renowned Oxford history professor R.G. Cole.

The professor was passionate about boxing in his spare time, particularly those fights that are fought without gloves. After attending one such event, he meets up with his colleague Richard Helm at the posh Portobello Club. After the two are expelled from the club for disorderly, alcohol-related behavior, they go to Helm's apartment. There Prof. Cole is murdered a short time later. Richard Helm claims to have been on his way to a liquor store at the time of the crime.

For Inspector Lewis, not only Richard Helm, but initially the boxing club's trainer and various young boxers are among the inner circle of perpetrators. However, there is also circumstantial evidence in the murdered man's notes that points in a completely different direction. Namely to Germany, more precisely, to the former GDR. Again and again Lewis and Hathaway come across references to the music of Richard Wagner and to the code name "Siegfried", behind which a former employee of the GDR State Security could have hidden. This theory does not seem entirely far-fetched, as Richard Helm's father was German and an internationally renowned Wagner expert who died in Stasi custody in 1985. Is the murder of Prof. Cole a murder with a political background? A late act of revenge perhaps?

Also Richard's mother Waltraud, called Valli, has been living in Oxford since the death of her husband. With her, Lewis, himself anything but a proven Wagner expert, not only finds clues as to how Prof. Cole's strange notes on Wagner, Siegfried, Votan, and patricide could be interpreted, but Lewis will also learn, to his delight, that Valli and he had a mutual acquaintance, namely the legendary Chief Inspector Morse. But there is someone else who is interested in "Siegfried." Shortly after student Milo Hardy, who has been working with Prof. Cole on the last days of communism, returns from Berlin, where he apparently consulted old Stasi files, he dies under mysterious circumstances. Did he solve the mystery of "Siegfried" and did this cost him his life?

While Hathaway follows Milo's footsteps to Berlin to search the Stasi archives for the name of the person behind "Siegfried", the charming and attractive Anne Kriel, who owns the Portobello Club along with her unloved husband, tries hard to win the favor of Inspector Lewis, who doesn't seem entirely averse to her attempts at flirtation.

Before Inspector Lewis and Hathaway can put this case on file, they realize that the murder of Prof. Cole and the death of his student Milo Hardy are both connected to the mysterious "Siegfried," but in a different way than appearances initially suggested. Not to rule out that this case will claim a third victim. (Text: ZDF)

DVD 2: The Kiss of the Moon

While Inspector Lewis and his colleague Hathaway feel somewhat misplaced at the late-night birthday party of forensic scientist Dr. Hobson, they are called to a break-in at the nearby home of literature lecturer Prof. Stringer. However, it appears to be a false alarm. At least there is no trace of the intruder. And apparently nothing was stolen either.

But then two murders happen in the tranquil Oxford shortly after each other, which at first glance seem to have nothing to do with each other and which will demand a lot from the deductive powers of the two inspectors.

The gambling-addicted maintenance technician Reg Chapman, who works in a famous Oxford library, is shot dead at close range in the stacks of the same.

A little later, the art student Nell Buckley is found beaten to death on a riverbank. There is initially no trace of a motive in either case.

Nell Buckley was known in Oxford for guiding tourists around the city in a very imaginative way, discovering sights even where none seemed to exist before. Inspector Lewis knew Nell from some of her legendary tours. He is all the more distressed now to have to investigate her murder.

Nell lived in a clique of young, artsy students who were enthusiastic about the poets of English Romanticism, especially Shelley and his wife Mary, author of the famous "Frankenstein." Nell's clique includes her autistic friend Philip, a highly gifted painter and printmaker. Neither Inspector Lewis nor Hathaway trust the reclusive man to commit murder. And certainly not two. But there's every reason to believe both murders were committed by the same man. And maybe Philip does have a motive. With great empathy, Hathaway tries to gain Philip's trust and orient himself in his world. Does the young man perhaps know more than he seems to? And what about his roommates?

In their research, Lewis and Hathaway stumble upon the possible connection between the two murders. Chapman, a maintenance man, had access to valuable volumes in the library. Some of them are found in his apartment.

Could it be that he purposefully stole old books from the Romantic era and tore out the blank endpapers? Those in turn were then used by someone else to forge manuscripts. It is possible that Philip, unaware of what he was doing, produced supposedly historical manuscripts of Shelley and others that would be worth a fortune on the autograph market. But who is the patron of these manuscripts? And why would he kill those who guaranteed him high earnings? The two investigators expect information from the arrogant literature lecturer Stringer, whose acquaintance Lewis and Hathaway have already made in another context. (Text: ZDF)

DVD 3: Who plays with fire

Criminal Inspector Robert Lewis and his assistant James Hathaway are called to the church Saint Marks in Oxford. They have the unpleasant task of solving the suicide of Will McEwan, a young homosexual who shot himself in front of the priest Francis King. Strangely, Lewis McEwan's membership of the church group 'The Garden' and his mysterious suicide note suggest a religious motive for the suicide. The first clue leads to Will McEwan's friend Feardorcha Phelan. But repeated attempts to track him down fail. In general, the investigation of the case is extremely difficult. Sergeant Hathaway seems deeply upset and withdrawn since Will McEwan's suicide, and only with difficulty can Inspector Lewis elicit from his young assistant that he knew Will McEwan from his student days. But as Hathaway's statements remain vague, Lewis increasingly gets the impression that his colleague is concealing important details from him. What does Hathaway know? Were he and Will a couple back then? Is the policeman perhaps even covering up a crime?

Before Inspector Lewis can delve deeper into these questions, the case takes a surprising turn with the brutal murder of Reverend King. At the crime scene, investigators find the phrase written in blood, "Life born of fire." It remains unclear at first if there is a connection to the suicide or if the priest was the victim of a religious fanatic. What is certain is that King knew young Will McEwan better than he had mentioned in his conversation with Inspector Lewis and Sergeant Hathaway. Like McEwan, King was also part of the ominous association known as "The Garden". The investigation now focuses on the remaining members of the religious group. In particular, Lady Hugh, the dean of Mayfield College and a declared mortal enemy of the homosexual scene in Oxford, comes under suspicion of being involved in the murders.

The investigation is in full swing, and a manhunt continues for Feardorcha Phelan, who is now also a suspect due to a DNA match. Lewis and Hathaway receive support from the mysterious Zoe Kenneth. Kenneth was Will McEwan's girlfriend long ago, but their relationship broke down because of Will's homosexuality and his membership in the religious coven. Does she know the whereabouts of Feardorcha Phelan? Might he be wrongly suspected? Even as Lewis and Hathaway try to solve the case, more murders occur. All under the sign of "fire." What began as a suicide increasingly turns out to be the cruel game of a serial killer - and James Hathaway is involved. (Text: ZDF)

DVD 4: Murder in the Best of Company <x><BR</x>

Early this morning, 16-year-old Beatrice Donnely turns up at an Oxford hospital, bedraggled and mentally absent. Investigations reveal: The teenager has been drugged and raped. Detective Inspector Lewis accidentally hears of the young girl's fate when he is admitted to A&E with severe back pain after losing a squash match to Hathaway. Without hesitation, the two take on the investigation. Based on DNA traces of a rare drug at the crime scene, they are quickly able to identify a suspect: Oswald Cooper, an educational assistant at the college and a computer expert addicted to publicity. But Cooper has an alibi. He was hosting a dinner at the time of the crime, attended by prominent men in Oxford society. Among them were town planner and developer Lord Adebayou, diplomat Ashton, and military historian and radio presenter Gavin Matthews.

Lewis and Hathaway agree that the connection between the insignificant Cooper and the three gentlemen of better society is more than unusual, if not improbable. The two investigators suspect that Cooper's alibi is on shaky ground. However, they are unable to prove their assumption. While the search for Beatrice Donnelly's rapist is in full swing, the case takes an unforeseen turn with the murder of Oswald Cooper. The prime suspect has been castrated and brutally murdered. The police then arrest Kieran Donnelly, Beatrice's father. He confesses to murdering and emasculating Cooper in the heat of the moment. But when a short time later the shady waiter Sporetti, who also knew the noble gentlemen Adebayou, Ashton and Matthews, dies in a similar way, Inspector Lewis begins to doubt the guilt of Kieran Donnelly. What do the three fine gentlemen have to hide? Is one of them the murderer?

All leads come to nothing until Inspector Lewis discovers that all was not as it seemed in the life of Oswald Cooper. The computer expert had a lot to hide. What's more, he left a mysterious message for Inspector Lewis... Allegedly Cooper knew more about the never solved accidental death of Lewis' wife ... (Text: ZDF)

Season 3

DVD 1: Of Muses and Murders

At the invitation of her old college friend Ginny Harris, Superintendent Innocent attends the book launch of successful fantasy author Dorian Crane along with the only moderately enthusiastic Inspector Lewis. Crane is Ginny Harris' foster son and an aspiring young writer. The following day, a young waitress named Marina Hartner is found dead near the venue. The perpetrator smashed an antique mirror over the young woman's head, fatally injuring her with the shards. With the press greedily pouncing on the case, Superintendent Innocent urges Inspector Lewis and his colleague Hathaway to solve the case quickly.

A first lead leads to prominent literary scholar Hamid Jassim, who has reported the mirror missing. His colleague Norman Deering also comes into the investigators' sights, as he seems to have known the young woman. Also a suspect is the writer Dorian Crane, whose latest work has striking parallels to the murder case. In the course of their investigation, Lewis and Hathaway discover that the victim's name was not Marina Hartner, but Sabira Omerovic, and that she was from Bosnia. Professor Deering had "ordered" Sabira to England through a dating agency. But the young woman had ended the relationship and begun an affair with Deering's brother-in-law, Dr. Jem Wishart. Crane, Deering, Wishart - all three are suspects. And Wishart's son Hayden, a quiet teenager who secretly idolized Sabira and is acting more than strange, is also a suspect. It is clear to the investigators that they are dealing with a jealousy drama.

But when Dorian Crane is also murdered, the case takes on a new dimension. Suddenly, Crane's fiancée, Alice Wishart, is also under suspicion. Especially because she seems surprisingly calm despite the dramatic loss. Did she murder Dorian and Sabira because she believed they were having an affair? Step by step, Lewis and Hathaway get closer to the surprising solution of the case. (Text: ZDF)

DVD 2: Murderers in Their Own Direction

The student theatre troupe of Oxford University, under the direction of the young and promising director Emma Golding, performs the Shakespeare classic "The Merchant of Venice". But the preview ends abruptly when the actor playing Shylock, Richard Scott, is found dead behind the scenes with a knife in his chest. During their investigation, Inspector Lewis and Sergeant Hathaway learn that the murdered man was anything but popular with his fellow students. It's a realization that makes Scott's roommate suspicious, in addition to the members of the ambitious and jealous acting ensemble. The young man was living as a subtenant with Professor Gregson, who maintains an unusually close relationship with her students, as Lewis and Hathaway soon notice.

Despite the sad circumstances, Emma Golding, intent on her career, decides to stage the play as planned. The applause has not long died down when a second murder occurs. This time it's theatre critic Amanda Costello, a former student and confidante of the company. Most suspicious in the eyes of the investigators is ex-student Phil Beaumont, who, in addition to various temporary jobs, works as a playwright and behaves very strangely. Emma Golding is also suspected of having committed the two murders out of calculation. Lewis and Hathaway still have an exciting piece of criminal work ahead of them until they convict the sophisticated murderer and discover his motive.

During the course of the investigation, the police also rather accidentally come across the dilettante con man and petty criminal Simon Monkford. Sergeant Hathaway is able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was he who ran over his boss's wife years ago and then committed a hit-and-run.

Hathaway must decide whether and, if so, how to confront Inspector Lewis with this sensitive information that could finally give him clarity about the circumstances of his wife's death. (Text: ZDF)

DVD 3: A Question of Perspective

Shortly after Steve Mullan has served a prison sentence for drink-driving, he is found dead in his flat - drowned in his own bathtub. Inspector Lewis recalls that Mullan, in religious fanaticism at the time, had crashed a truck into the car of Professor Tom Rattenbury. The latter, a convinced atheist, had repeatedly turned against the church and still engages in public spats with his colleague, the art historian Manfred Canter, on matters of faith. In the accident, however, Mullan did not injure Professor Rattenbury, but his daughter Jessica, who was driving the car. Since then, the young woman is in a wheelchair.

As the suspicion that Steve Mullan has fallen victim to a family revenge act, Inspector Lewis and Sergeant Hathaway focus their investigations on the Rattenbury family and their social environment. Under suspicion are Professor Rattenbury's wife Cecile and their son Daniel. The fact that Daniel is involved with the daughter of the American Secretary of Defense, Hope Ransome, makes the case particularly sensitive. In the course of their investigation, Lewis and Hathaway discover that the murder victim was not Mullan at all, but his roommate Alex Hadley. The two friends had switched identities to protect Mullan after his release from prison and help him lead a normal life. Plagued by guilt, Mullan asks the police to help solve the murder. A request that will be his undoing a short time later. For at the opulent birthday party of Jessica Rattenbury, Mullan, who had sneaked in secret, is murdered. Shortly afterwards, Jessica's father Tom Rattenbury confesses to the crime and commits suicide.

The two murder cases appear to be solved. Only Inspector Lewis won't settle for that. His instincts tell him something is wrong. And he will, as it soon turns out, be proved right. (Text: ZDF)

DVD 4: One Last Blues

On a Sunday afternoon, Inspector Lewis and Sergeant Hathaway are assigned to mediate in a case of noise pollution. Lewis is initially unenthusiastic about sacrificing his day off for such trivialities, but his opinion quickly changes when he learns who the routine visit leads him to. None other than the former drummer and star of the rock group "The Addiction", Richie Maguire, disturbs the rural Sunday peace of his neighbors by his pigeon hunting. Lewis knows "The Addiction" from his youth and, unlike his young colleague Hathaway, is a big fan of the band. For him, the visit becomes a journey into his own past. When the investigators enter the luxurious country estate near Oxford, they can't believe their eyes. Standing before them is the group's charismatic singer, Esme Ford, who allegedly committed suicide 35 years ago. As it turns out, she had only staged her suicide and retreated into anonymity. Now, the former frontwoman wants to reactivate the band and build on the successes of yesteryear. But in doing so, she encounters mixed reactions from her bandmates.

Lewis is still reminiscing when he and Hathaway are confronted with the death of teenage homebody Lucas Emerton. The unusual thing: The young man was apparently run over just outside the gate to the Maguire estate. Suspicion quickly falls on the aged members of the rock band "The Addiction." But the boy's death seems, at least at first glance, to have been an accident, the connection to Maguire pure coincidence. But when a little later Bone, the band's sound engineer, becomes the victim of a murder, Inspector Lewis begins to doubt the innocence of the former stars. But he can't prove anything - neither the charismatic drummer Richie Maguire, nor the guitarist Franco or Esme Ford. Even bassist Mack, whose brain has not survived the drug escapades of his youth entirely unscathed, seems innocent. Or is his cluelessness all fake? Lewis and Hathaway are hoping for support, especially from the band's hot-tempered, rather quirky manager, Vernon Oxe. But Oxe is in the midst of preparations for the cult group's comeback and isn't much help at first.

And as if two deaths weren't enough, Lewis and Hathaway must shortly thereafter deal with the murder of Samantha Wheeler, a music professor at the university who was found strangled in her study. Lewis and Hathaway begin to wonder more and more if and how the three murders are connected. (Text: ZDF)

Picture + Sound: The technical realization of the twelve episodes is overall on a good TV level. Although there are especially in the early episodes in the darker scenes small weaknesses in the field of detail representation, but overall the picture can convince with a decent overall sharpness and a very atmospheric color scheme. In terms of sound, the very directionally mixed dialogues set the tone, whereby these sound somewhat more harmoniously embedded in the events in the English language version than in the German stereo mix. Overall, there is a deserved good for the technical implementation of this collector`s box!

Extras: The first season has on the fourth DVD to offer an extensive look behind the scenes (about 43 minutes) of the series - but only in the English language version without subtitle options. Fans with a good knowledge of English should definitely take a look. The box also includes a bonus DVD with the first episode of Inspector Morse (approx. 105 min.). Since the series has not been shown on German television so far and only a few episodes have been dubbed at all, this series is now only released in the original English with German subtitles. But already this very successful pilot episode makes clear that lovers of first-class British crime fare should not be deterred by this. Quite clearly: this worth seeing appetizer makes great desire to immediately acquire the first season box of Inspector Morse.

Conclusion: What, you do not know Lewis yet? Then it is about time, because finally the series goes in the UK in October 2014 already in the 8th season. The Collector`s Box with the first three seasons of the Inspector Morse spin-off offers not only the perfect opportunity to get to know one of the most entertaining crime series from the UK, but also offers on a bonus disc a look at the series in which Detective Sergeant Robert Lewis had his first appearance. If you already own the Lewis DVDs, you should go for the first Inspector Morse box set. But if you don't own the series yet and generally appreciate British investigators like Barnaby, Gently and Co. you should definitely grab this box. Absolutely recommendable

Source: Sebastian Betzold / ZDF (synopsis)