The Remorseful Day (Inspector Morse)
| "The Remorseful Day" | |
|---|---|
| Inspector Morse episode | |
| Episode no. | Episode special |
| Directed by | Jack Gold |
| Written by | Stephen Churchett (screenplay) |
| Original air date | 15 November 2000 |
| Guest actors | |
|
Eddie Webber Anna Wilson-Jones Paul Freeman Jesse Birdsall T. P. McKenna Clare Holman James Grout | |
"The Remorseful Day" is the final episode of the British television detective mystery show Inspector Morse. Based on the novel The Remorseful Day by Colin Dexter, the screenplay was written by Stephen Churchett and directed by Jack Gold. It was first broadcast on 15 November 2000 on ITV.
Plot
Yvonne Harrison (Meg Davies) is found by her husband Frank (Paul Freeman); she has been murdered and left in a sexually compromising position. Morse is taken off the case after two months and no progress is made until an anonymous letter suggesting that Harry Repp (Eddie Webber), who is to be released from prison, may be the perpetrator.
Because of Morse's failing health, Sergeant Lewis assumes a more active role. Paddy Flynn (James Benson), the cab driver who drove Frank Harrison to his home on the night of the murder, is found dead in a local rubbish dump. Harry Repp is also found dead, in the boot of a stolen car. A local lothario, John Barron (Jesse Birdsall), is killed in a fall from a ladder. It turns out that the three men were blackmailing whoever killed Yvonne, and it further appears that Barron killed the other two so that he could keep the blackmail money for himself.
Yvonne's son, Simon (Simon Hepworth) is questioned in Barron's death, but then a teenage boy admits to having caused Barron to fall off the ladder by crashing into it with his bicycle. It is eventually revealed that Sandra Harrison (Anna Wilson-Jones) had killed her mother in a jealous rage over John Barron, and the teenage boy was actually Frank's illegitimate son, Roy, who had lied to the police in order to get Simon off the hook for killing Barron.
Just after uncovering the truth, Morse collapses and later dies in hospital of a heart attack.[1] His last words are "Thank Lewis for me".
Production notes
John Thaw, who played Morse and executive produced this episode, died on 21 February 2002, 15 months after this last episode aired. In the United States, this episode was separated into two parts.