The Remorseful Day
Not for the first time, I’m going to make an admission that will no doubt expose me to public ridicule. I can’t watch the last episode of the TV series Inspector Morse (The Remorseful Day) without bursting into tears at the end when it is revealed that the eponymous detective has died. Not that it comes as a surprise – the story has plenty of scenes that make it clear that Morse knows his days are numbered. Take this one, for example, wonderfully acted by John Thaw who was himself very ill while this episode was being filmed; he died in 2002.
The poignant quotation is from a poem by A. E. Housman. Here’s the poem in its entirety.
Yonder see the morning blink:
The sun is up, and up must I,
To wash and dress and eat and drink
And look at things and talk and think
And work, and God knows why.
Oh often have I washed and dressed
And what’s to show for all my pain?
Let me lie abed and rest:
Ten thousand times I’ve done my best
And all’s to do again.
How clear, how lovely bright,
How beautiful to sight
Those beams of morning play;
How heaven laughs out with glee
Where, like a bird set free,
Up from the eastern sea
Soars the delightful day.
To-day I shall be strong,
No more shall yield to wrong,
Shall squander life no more;
Days lost, I know not how,
I shall retrieve them now;
Now I shall keep the vow
I never kept before.
Ensanguining the skies
How heavily it dies
Into the west away;
Past touch and sight and sound
Not further to be found,
How hopeless under ground
Falls the remorseful day.
When Morse talks about Wagner in the clip, you know this is a man coming to terms with his own mortality. It even makes me feel a bit guilty for not being all that keen on Wagner myself. Perhaps I should persevere too. In that respect, as well as many others, I’m rather more like Lewis than Morse, although I do share the Chief Inspector’s love of crossword puzzles.
I watched this episode when it was first broadcast in 2000 and cried at the end then. I’ve seen it many times since, including a late-night repeat last saturday night, and it’s always had the same effect. The very first episode, The Dead of Jericho, was screened way back in 1987 and I’d enjoyed the series right from the word go. Morse became like an old friend to me over the following twenty-odd years and it’s never easy saying goodbye to people you’ve grown accustomed to for a long time.
Should I be embarrassed about crying whenever Inspector Morse dies? Perhaps. But I’m not.
In the Dark 
May 17, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Should you be embarrassed? No! Let it all out I say.
I found myself blubbing on a flight to Los Angeles after finishing “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, and also was alarmed to find myself sobbing at the end of “Watership Down” on DVD when watching with my kids (who were totally unmoved by the way). Art Garfunkel and Mike Batt have a lot to answer for (and I am not talking about weird hair or Katy Melua).
I’m interested that you have made a couple of “I don’t watch much TV” comments on here – methinks he doth protest too much.
May 17, 2010 at 8:43 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Peter Coles. Peter Coles said: The Remorseful Day: http://wp.me/pko9D-1wW […]
May 18, 2010 at 12:21 am
Never saw a single episode, but other things can have the same effect on me – and another fine Housman poem.
Anton
May 18, 2010 at 1:57 am
I like Morse and have recently watched them all after my parents bought me the box set. I didn’t cry at the end, but I was sad.
Mind you, I never realised that Oxford was such a dangerous place, with so many murders and all. I guess the only place more dangerous is Midsommer.
May 18, 2010 at 9:08 am
I find myself saying “I don’t watch much TV” when people talk about the telly at work. I certainly haven’t seen most of the programmes that provide topics for discussion. But I do watch detective things when they’re on (Rebus, Morse, Poirot…), Match of the Day, the BBC News, and the occasional documentary. I also really like watching Time Team.
I generally watch more DVDs than broadcast TV. Besides a stack of mmy favourite movies – especially Film Noir – I have all the Morse episodes on DVD, all the Poirot’s, all the Sherlock Holmes and, of course, most episodes of Columbo.
May 18, 2010 at 9:17 am
ps. It almost goes without saying what a fine actor John Thaw was, but I think Kevin Whateley is superb as Lewis in The Remorseful Day. Near the end, after he has just arrested Yvonne Harrison’s murderer (her daughter), his face is a picture of bottled-up grief. He (but not the audience) has just learned that the Chief Inspector has passed away. As the murderer tries to explain her motive, Lewis can barely disguise his contempt for her and his desire to get away. Eventually she says “Inspector Morse will understand” at which point Lewis, with tears in his eyes, blurts out angrily. “Inspector Morse is dead.” It’s a wonderful piece of acting.
August 8, 2013 at 9:30 pm
hear hear!!
May 18, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Morse (and Thaw) is quite brilliant – you are right to cry.
Whately was on Front Row recently and am sure would agree http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s2pxj/Front_Row_Tracey_Emin_Kevin_Whately_and_Per_Wastberg
May 18, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Interesting; although I’m well aware of it, Inspector Morse pretty much passed me by, as I left the UK at the end of 1987 and didn’t return to live there again until 2005. Sounds like I should buy the box set and catch up (after finishing my Battlestar Galactica and Spooks sets), but until then, for me, John Thaw will always be DI Jack Regan of The Sweeny 🙂
As for Wagner, I often feel I should spend the time to get to know him better too. I enjoyed several live performances from The Ring and other of his operas, but have never (yet) experienced the life-changing epiphany that so many of my astronomical peers have had.
But mixing aspects of the post, if you want surefire tears, for me it’d be the finale of Strauss’ Die Frau Ohne Schatten, the famous trio from his Rosenkavalier, or the end of Mahler’s 8th. Oh gawd, the more I think about it, there are any number of classical pieces where I end up going to pieces …
January 17, 2016 at 1:46 pm
It is well worth the investment. This series is superb – the complexity of plot and character always astounds me. I’m an American and the level of acting that the British can achieve astounds me. John Thaw, of course, plays Morse like much more than a detective. He is a philosopher, a music lover, a cynic, a man of deep, conflicted yearnings. He is gruff, judgmental, brilliant and very lonely. Kevin Whately is his Sancho Panza, his loyal sidekick, a somewhat innocent soul. Wonderful acting. Also, James Grout as his boss is impeccable. This series is available on Netflex now, in all its glory. It should not be missed.
January 17, 2016 at 5:00 pm
Yes! I am also an American who loved loved loved this series for its complex plots and superb acting. Saw every episode. Started watching them over as of New Years. Well worth it. Love Endeavor too.
June 16, 2016 at 7:47 pm
Wholeheartedly agree. I cannot say enough good things about Morse or John Thaw and his superb foil Lewis. One of the best things ever seen on television…and now Netflix. However, I would be remiss if I did not mention the wonderful contribution made by Barrington Pheloung’s music. It has become part and parcel of the 2 series and just ties everything up in a beautiful ribbon, ready for our enjoyment.
May 18, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Mark
For me also there’s a lot of very cathartic music, including Strauss (esp. Im Abendrot from 4 Last songs) and Mahler (Ruckertlieder #5) but many other pieces too.
As for Wagner, I do think parts of Lohengrin, Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde, and the Ring (especially Gotterdammerung) are magnificent, but I’ve never totally fallen into any of his operas in the way I’ve done with other composer (especially Puccini).
One day I’ll post an item asking readers to post the music that makes them cry. That’ll separate the men from the boys.
Peter
August 25, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Hey
August 25, 2010 at 11:18 pm
The aeroplane going over as Lewis says “inspector morse is dead !” ,got me
October 18, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Much of Houseman’s poetry has had me in tears.
I found the tears therapeutic, being able to “let go”!
I hope each of my eight sons will discover what I have.
But then – I have been known to weep at adverts from TV!
Could be I’m just a ‘softie’!
October 20, 2010 at 3:33 am
One would have to be quite heartless not to cry at the news of Morse’s death. The scene where I lose it is in the morgue when Lewis kisses Morse goodbye, acknowledging the deep affection he felt for Morse, despite their very complicated relationship,an affection he could never have shown to Morse when he was alive.
November 17, 2010 at 9:47 pm
..and the inevitable Wagner, from Parsifal.
September 3, 2011 at 2:30 pm
I too have been a great fan of Inspector Morse, and have over many years watched all of his movies (episodes?). One of my beloved sons gave me the boxed set of the DVDs for one Christmas. I have just watched ‘Remorseful Day’ on Cannel 7two, and once again sobbed my silly old heart out. I do wish that the video at the beginning of your site still had John Thaw quoting that beautiful evocative poem.
September 3, 2011 at 11:11 pm
I didn’t realise the Youtube link was broken, but have found a new one…
September 18, 2011 at 9:52 am
Shivers down my spine
Gosh, what a sublime episode this one is.
The poem, the music (a.o. Pheloung’s masterful “theme”), the setting (and the Jag of course!), it all comes together in this grand finale…………
Farewell Morse – we all miss you deeply
November 25, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Very agreeable TV show, I’m sure many will sympathise. Seems especially moving that Morse and Thaw seemed to die together.
February 28, 2012 at 2:26 am
I’m just finishing up The Remorseful Day after watching the complete collection from beginning to end. I haven’t yet finished the episode but am already primed to sob.
One should not be ashamed to cry. The ability to feel strong emotions and react to them is a part of what it is to be alive; some might even say to be human. Since animals have been shown to display emotions as well, I can’t say I agree with the latter part. I certainly agree with the former.
Farewell Morse.
March 23, 2012 at 1:15 pm
Having watched all the episodes of Morse over the years, several times over, I had avoided watching the final episode of Morse for the last 12 years as I knew it would be so sad to see him go. I’ve finally watched it this morning and cried lots as I knew I would. A moving episode, beautifully acted.
December 3, 2012 at 9:28 pm
Loved the Morse character so much! Cried last night when I saw the episode and cried this morning thinking about Lewis kissing Morse’s body goodbye. Now I will see everything John Thaw ever did that I can get my hands on, as well as seeing the Inspector Lewis episodes I’ve not yet seen
December 4, 2012 at 3:16 am
I quite agree with you about anything with John Thaw in it as well Inspector Lewis. They’re not (IMO) as good as Inspector Morse, but they’re good. I’ve seen them all too.
November 15, 2013 at 5:39 pm
[…] Ensanguining the skies How heavily it dies Into the west away; Past touch and sight and sound Not further to be found, How hopeless under ground Falls the remorseful day. […]
January 5, 2014 at 9:58 pm
And malt does more than Milton can
To justly God’s ways to man
July 21, 2014 at 6:52 am
I just saw Endeavour, the end of Season 2…I always loved Morse, the character, and Thaw, the man. Loved the way he quoted poetry and his learned side…To this day I miss him…Loved his sense of humor too and how he played so wonderfully with Lewis.
Morse’s memory lives on in the verse…
How beautiful to sight
Those beams of morning play;
How heaven laughs out with glee
Where, like a bird set free,
Up from the eastern sea
Soars the delightful day.
Thank you BBC…and all the supporting actors and hope you make many more Endeavour series.
July 21, 2014 at 11:15 am
Point of information: neither Morse nor Endeavour was made by the BBC; both were shown originally on ITV in the UK.
July 22, 2014 at 3:29 am
I watched Morse from the beginning; cried when the series ended and Morse and Thaw died. I have been re-watching the series from the beginning again and love them just as much. Also love Endeavor and wondered how this soft-hearted young man became the grumpy but lovable/vulnerable old Morse. Now that I just saw the end of season 2 of Endeavor I can see the transition happening. I hope Endeavor goes on for a few more seasons. I also thinks it’s nice that Thaw’s daughter appears in the Endeavor series.
July 22, 2014 at 6:38 am
Watched Endeavour this evening again with my husband and felt the omininous prediction that his boss Thursday would maybe die from his wound in the first episode of the next series, particularly after his comment that he would die a cop, and young Morse quoted that last stanza of the poem “May” by Houseman we all know so well.
October 24, 2014 at 10:20 am
The problem with “cliff-hanging” Endeavour is that you know how your main character turns out. He’s not going to die, nor remain convicted in prison for the rest of his life.
The Remorseful Day is about as bleak an ending for a main character as I can recall. Pretty close to life-like. Morse is old, in poor health, abandoned by his late love. The shine is off for the brilliant detective, reconciled to bird watching for the remainder of his “miserable” life. Even Lewis knows more about birding than Morse, their roles reversed. And, how life-like, Morse dies and Lewis can’t even be there because his profession calls. Well done!
November 9, 2014 at 12:31 am
This episode is indeed powerfull, as the poem and music.
By music, I write here to know if you have any idea what music is played while we can hear Morse read his love letter one minute earlier than the moment he collapses (it’s an harmonium -church instrument- playing, I think).
Thank you so much.
toucan2009@gmail.com
November 9, 2014 at 1:22 am
The scene in the chapel immediately before Morse collapses features the “Libera Me” from the Faure Requiem. The organ music playing when he suffers his heart attack is from the same work.
November 9, 2014 at 2:29 am
Thank you for your answer, but I was thinking more about the scene before this one. The scene where we can hear Morse read his love letter : “i’d rather be ill and nursed by you than be in full health and never see you again”. You can hear an harmonium in the background.
You can hear the music I’m talking about here (from 7:15)
Maybe it’s Faure’s Requiem also, but I’m not sure at all, and couldn’t find it while listening Faure’s work.
Thank you for your time.
November 9, 2014 at 11:10 am
Yes, Morse has just left the rehearsal of the Faure Requiem, which continues when the organist has finished making some adjustments. What you hear is the organ part of a fragment of another section of the piece, possibly In Paradisum, which comes next. It’s hard to identify because it’s heard in isolation.
Incidentally the conductor of the choir is none other than Barrington Pheloung, who wrote all the original music for the series.
November 10, 2014 at 11:20 am
Thank you for your answer.
March 15, 2015 at 9:19 pm
I love Morse and am just now immersed in the last episode which I taped from Swedish television some week ago. I felt I needed to pause and find the entire poem.
Yes, there are so many good detective series that can be watched over and over again even if you remember how they end – Morse, Frost, Midsomer, Columbo, Poirot, Murder she wrote. But my favourite is Miss Marple. The episodes are extremely enjoyable, whether with Margaret Rutherford, Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan or Julia McKenzie.
When rewatching old whodunnits I frequently recognize actors that I have seen again in later films – nice, like meeting old friends!
June 29, 2015 at 7:21 pm
I cry every time I watch this episode. I loved the series I read all the books and I have been a fan of John Thaw since “The Sweeney”. I also love the poetry of A E Houseman.
September 28, 2015 at 7:49 pm
See I prefer Endeavour to Morse, but I have seen many Morse episodes. For me, Endeavour is particularly tragic because we see a young man with his whole life ahead of him. We see him grow in relationships and have plans and ambitions, but ultimately the audience knows how it ends. I thought it was especially poignant that the young Morse quotes the remorseful day in Neverland – i felt myself well up at that.
October 20, 2015 at 8:16 pm
The overture to Wagner’s Parsifal, has moments of transcendent beauty. It about one minute in, it shimmers and shines in a way music had not done before, and it still is copied endlessly in movies and television shows, when they want get you feeling weepy, or awed by beauty.
January 1, 2016 at 1:12 am
My late husband had two things in common with Morse, his love of Wagner, and (I should say in common with John Thaw,) his death, because Oesophageal cancer took my husbands life too, At his funeral I had “liebes tod” from Tristan & Isolde played, this poem reminds me of the Weeks prior to my husbands death in June 2013, because I would get up really early and watch the sun rise, wondering if it would be his last.
January 5, 2016 at 2:24 am
I must admit that while Wagner was undoubtedly a brilliant composer, too much of who he was and his attitudes toward certain subjects spoil his music for me, and so I rarely listen to it (unless of course, I’m watching MORSE).
I had the same reaction the first time I saw THE REMORSEFUL DAY; and any time I have seen the episode since. I think that when we find another individual (real or fictional) with whom we resonate on some level, such a reaction to the “loss” is natural–whether we actually “know” the individual, or not.
I also watch ENDEAVOR; I like to think that John Thaw is somewhere smiling about it. I certainly loved the reference to young Morse’s future self at the end of series two. I believe Colin Dexter has a hand on the show (which must be great fun and at the same time bemusing for him).
I would love to see a guest appearance by Keven Whately; obviously not as Lewis the copper…but perhaps as Lewis’s father or older relative? Whately playing a perennial rascal on this series would be great fun.
October 11, 2016 at 6:18 pm
After perusing this six-year thread for the first time I found it astonishing that writingkat’s comment was the first and only one to mention Colin Dexter. Let’s face it, as fine as the Morse TV series and Thaw’s performance were, neither would have been possible without Dexter’s imagination and inspiration. Incidentally, Dexter has paid the ultimate compliment to Thaw by decreeing that no one else shall play the role of Morse for as long as his estate owns the copyright.
October 11, 2016 at 7:03 pm
Well, actually, there’s someone else playing Morse already. In the series Endeavour. Also, not all the original series were based on stories written by Colin Dexter.
With those two reservations, I agree. Dexter’s plots were always ingenious and demonstrated a real insight into Oxford.
October 11, 2016 at 7:07 pm
You mean the older Morse though. Because Shaun Evans plays him as a young man in Endeavor.
October 12, 2016 at 10:14 am
It’s still the same character though…
October 11, 2016 at 7:24 pm
With the exception of Sean Evans as Endeavour, presumably?
February 24, 2016 at 11:52 pm
Lovely bit of writing. Thanks!
June 18, 2016 at 12:19 am
You are completely right, to cry watching this. I’m a 49 year-old, about 18 stone former power bodybuilder—and I just worked up the courage (after several years) to watch this episode for the second time. I bawled my eyes out. Exquisite television, an episode exquisitely done. Inspector Morse is the best tv I have ever seen. I grieved for MONTHS, when John Thaw passed.
–Aging Yank
July 4, 2016 at 9:51 am
I think that in the Endeavour series the youngish Endeavour Morse of Thames Valley Police should have to work on a few cases with the grizzled Jack Regan of The Flying squad. Presumably in 1980 Morse would have been approximately 37 years old and Regan would have been approximately 50 years old.
So, find the right era and find some cases that have ramifications on both sides of their area boundaries, resulting in Morse and Regan having to work together. Their characters are so different that the scripts would partially write themselves.
October 13, 2016 at 12:42 am
Lovely and moving post. We are seeing all the Morse series now in Portugal so I can’t say he has accompanied me throughout the years but I also feel he’s an old (though sad) friend. Thank you for writing it and for the poem (I was looking for it when I found your blog). Viewing Morse is just like some other things, the episodes always depress me a bit but I can’t stop watching them. Beauty and humour mingled with sadness, there’s life for you.
October 26, 2016 at 8:24 pm
Thank you for this text. I feel the same. I discover Inspector Morse last year, but this TV series really impressed me. Emotional “The Remorseful Day” is my favorite episode. I was looking who wrote this poignant poem which the title of episode was taken from and i found your interesting site. I will be coming back to your blog. 🙂
March 21, 2017 at 5:16 pm
[…] television series of Inspector Morse came to an end in 2000, with a poignant episode called The Remorseful Day, but has led to two successful spin-offs, in Lewis and Endeavour both of which are still running. […]
May 3, 2017 at 12:59 pm
Yes my husband and I have just watched the last episode of Morse once again and have lumps in our throat. So sad.Will miss him.
July 2, 2017 at 4:10 am
This Aussie and wife have been totally beguiled by Morse, Lewis and Endeavour for so long, the fine acting, the plots, Oxford and the music that they are part of our lives. The loss of Morse and indeed the following series of Lewis have left a hole in our lives. You live these people and places. We trawled Oxford and their footsteps several times. Finally in 2015 we took a cab and visited the Victoria Arms at Old Marston where Morse sat in contemplation and recited The Remorseful Day (final verse). Lewis and Hathaway also sat here in their final episode, an acknowledgement to Morse. And we left a copy of the poem at that famous table, with our thanks for the pleasure they have given us over the years, both on TV and as we walked in their footsteps around the great city of Oxford. Shed a tear indeed for rarely in one’s life do people leave such abiding memories
November 11, 2017 at 3:30 pm
[…] https://telescoper.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/the-remorseful-day/ […]
September 16, 2018 at 2:39 pm
[…] If you’re interested in statistics then, as of 14.00 Irish Summer Time Today today, I have published 4,225 blog posts, not counting about 20 that I wrote but have not yet published; I’ll probably save these for my memoirs.. These posts have received 3,688,023 hits altogether; I get an average of about 1200 per day. This varies in a very erratic fashion from day to day, but the annual average has been fairly constant over the last several years. The greatest number of hits I have received in a single day is 8,864 (at the peak of the BICEP2 controversy). Some of the most popular posts have not been about science at all, including my rant about Virgin Media and a post about the last episode of Inspector Morse. […]
June 18, 2019 at 4:15 pm
I must say that I have decided to pretend the final episode was never filmed. When I watched the penultimate episode, The Wench is Dead, I felt that the Inspector had been given the career end he deserved. That story was one of optimism and earned renewal. This character spent his lonely professional life solving crime and helping others to experience closure, and I was very happy (after so many years of following the Morse story) to see him looking forward to a new stage of life. His health did indicate that he would not have a long life after retirement, but the lovely ending to that episode allowed me to imagine a few happy years for him. I believe that The Wench was originally intended to end the series.
June 18, 2019 at 4:40 pm
The episode `The Wench is Dead’ is based directly on a Colin Dexter novel of the same title written in 1989, well before The Daughters of Cain and Death is now my Neighbour, but made into a TV episode after those. I’m guessing because that was harder to dramatize…
July 1, 2019 at 1:44 pm
How interesting! I have not read the original novels, but now I think it may be time to do so. I love the Josephine Tey novels about Inspector Alan Grant of Scotland Yard, and especially The Daughter of Time. In that novel, Grant is laid up with a broken leg and delves into the murder of the little princes. He comes to some astonishing conclusions about Richard III. I highly recommend it and all the Grant mysteries. I wonder if The Wench is Dead was meant as an homage to Tey’s novel?
April 20, 2021 at 6:29 pm
Reblogged this on In the Dark and commented:
The final episode of Inspector Morse is on TV tonight, so I thought I’d reblog this post about it from over a decade ago…
April 20, 2021 at 6:34 pm
what channel/what time?
April 20, 2021 at 6:38 pm
It’s on now on Virgin Media 3.
January 25, 2022 at 8:27 am
I just rewatched “the Remorseful Day” at the ending of rewatching the entire season for at least the 5th time. I feel sad the entire episode since I know the ending and yet again, I sob hard from the moment he falls to the ground in the college quad. Such a wonderful series and such a magnificent actor.
February 15, 2022 at 10:02 am
Searching for anything and everything John Thaw, I came upon your deeply expressed emotion to the dissolution of John’s star. It gave want for me to know more of you. I even took a snapshot of the poem you shared. I then devolved into your descending astrophysics spiral, until I reached You, memorialized in your YouTube channel. Having reached ‘Episode’ 8, it came to that it appears you are distracted from your own self-awareness, and your awareness of being aware of yourself. I dare say, that of course is for the star gazers. It would seem your entire pursuit of packaging the universe into formulas may have left your world flat, lost in a ‘black hole.’ Missing the majesty of the meaninglessness. Then again, you, too, feel. You feel deeply about our shared loss, John Thaw, whose eyes shown a universe of humanity that will reflect in the souls of many long after his body turned again to scattered stardust, perhaps until the sun burns out.
April 3, 2023 at 7:47 pm
[…] TV until last night, Sunday 2nd April. This series was the prequel to the series Inspector Morse the last episode of which aired in 2000; the first of that series was broadcast in 1987. Endeavour, in case you don’t […]