Lewis - Series 9 [DVD]

Sadly, no more Lewis! I was a huge fan of the Inspector Morse series, & I thought this series was done equally well.(Same can also be said for the Endeavour series). Wonderful chemistry between Kevin Whately & Laurence Fox as Lewis & Hathaway. Same goes for Clare Holman(picking right up where she left off with Morse) as Dr.Hobson. Rebecca Front as the boss was very good, obviously became more likeable from the shrew she was at the beginning! Too bad we had only 2 series with Angela Griffin as Lizzie Maddox, I thought she was wonderful right from the beginning, fit like a glove in this series. This final series was very good, maybe not quite as good as some of the previous ones, but well-done. I'm aware that Kevin Whately said back in Sept. of 2014 that this series would be the last, as he felt it had gone on long enough. He also noted the symmetry of 33 complete episodes each for Morse & Lewis. I'm in the USA, & am so glad I have an all-region DVD player. Both this final series of Lewis & the latest series of Endeavour probably won't be shown & be available on DVD in the US until the Summer, too long to wait, I bought both. I encourage my fellow American fans of these series to get an all-region DVD player(not any more expensive than a region1(US) player, then you can order region 2 DVD's from Amazon UK like I did! In closing, what a wonderful series this was! Great writing, acting, chemistry, humor, atmosphere, scenery, & camaraderie! I have the complete series on DVD, & will watch these shows again for many years. Thank God for that!

Wonderful season. Although I like the Morse/Lewis series in general and have them all, there have been some episodes where the writers have the characters act out-of-character for who they are to make some kind of sociological comment (beyond those built into the characters). Those episodes lose fun and authenticity, and I end up not being able to throw myself into the them. In the US, we would call the episodes whose goal is to make a "statement" (not-so-subtle issue-of-the-day statement) as a PC or politically correct story. I don't know if that terminology means the same thing in the UK? PC stories get old quickly, and are heavy handed. They also tend to be too localized in time - a hot button today is not a hot button in 10 years, or even 5. Stay with the deeper, more constant issues of human existence! In this season, the stories were good fun, true to the characters, enjoyable; I could loose myself in the stories and not feel like I am attended a rally and being preached at. Highly recommended.

As it is always a pleasure to watch Robert Lewis (Kevin Whately) and James Hathaway (Laurence Fox) in beautiful Oxfordian settings, I have to admit having enjoyed this serie better than the previous one. In series 8, both actors seemed to be a bit at a loss about their characters' new status (Lewis as a Consulting Officer, Hathaway as DI) and new DS Lizzie Maddox (Angela Griffin) seemed to have trouble in finding her place in the detectives' duo.But this new series finds the characters way much at ease: Hathaway is comfy in his former gov's chair, Maddox is his competent and diligent DS. Lewis still provides much-needed insights in solving murder cases involving taxidermy, avant-garde art, alchemy, bombings and pharmaceutical deals, while at the same time planning a 6-month trip to New Zealand with Dr. Hobson (Clare Holman). The last episode wraps everything up when Lewis goes to the airport, wearing the same hawaiian shirt he had on when he came back to Oxford 10 years ago...Sad to see this show ending, but maybe a new one will be created... called "DI James Hathaway"?

I couldn't bring myself to give Lewis Series 9 less than four stars - simply because this might well be the last of them. The mood and atmosphere of academic and middle class crime in Oxford still attracts, and the production's overall mood and feel still seem right, but to be fair this is not the best that we've seen either of Whately or Fox, as both are accomplished actors who can only work with the scripts which they are given. A certain political correctness has crept in to the writing and often it promotes muddle and uncertainty in the roles of both Hathaway and Lewis, whose characters both looked tired with their cobbled-together police-purpose and somewhat disjointed and dispirited as a team of detectives. Conceivably something of the actors' real sentiments were showing through the camera just a little.However, seeing anything of quality come to an end is always a sad thing and I will miss this enjoyable series, despite it being somewhat lacklustre - although it's still an absolute must-buy to complete your collection to date.Note: Laurence Fox possesses a simmering, and I feel largely still a latent talent for acting and I feel his best is yet to come. I'd love to see him apply the strength and wit of his English reserve and purpose in recreating the precise role of the assassin as superbly portrayed by his uncle, Edward Fox, in Fred Zinnemann's 1973 original and brilliant classic 'Day of The Jackal.' Thoughts anyone?

Lewis is great as always, very pleased, good price.

There's always those that feel the need to compare Lewis with Morse. Although the Lewis character started with Morse, these series are stand alone both in quality and content. The fact that we've reached series 9 shows how well thought of the series are.In this series we reach the end of the road. Lewis is off in (the same?) an Hawaiian shirt looking the same as he did in series 1 on arrival in the UK.I found this series a lot more effective than series 8 with both the lead characters seemingly more happy in their new(wish) roles and Angela Griffin has (at last?) found her role.I can only hope that we see more of Lawrence Fox (perhaps in a series entitled 'Hathaway?').