Lewis love meme!

[wendymr]

In view of the recent reminder on inspector_lewis that S9 of Lewis will be filming possibly this spring, I thought it would be nice to have a post to discuss all the things we love about the series - the episodes, the actors, the music, the scenery, the fic, the fandom... you name it.

So what do you love and why?

For me, just a few things to get started:

• the

Comments

[divingforstones]

"...the fact that we're still going strong after eight series, with the same principal and supporting actors, producers, writers and other members of the production team." I do love that. As LF and KW acknowledge in interviews,that pulls them back as well - and I always like the way they give such recognition to the production team when asked about the show's success

[wendymr]

Wow. What a lovely analysis of why you like the series so much! I absolutely agree with everything - Robbie's grieving, for example, and yet at the same time the person he was in Morse still shines through. He's still compassionate, steady as a rock, understands people, is down to earth and doesn't judge, and doesn't accept people judging him. He knows his worth, but doesn't take himself too seriously either.

I love Expiation too; apart from the Pilot, it's definitely my favourite S1 episode. It's the first time James's loyalty to Robbie really shines through: from being the golden boy in the Pilot who 'gets on well' with Innocent, he's become Robbie's to command in any way. Lovely.

S8 is definitely an interesting development. I loved it, though I know there are others who are less happy; such is the way with TV series. I've been on the other side of that love/don't love so much divide with Doctor Who and Sherlock, so I can sympathise. I just love Lizzie. Great sense of humour, great facial expressions (Corrie teaches its actors a

[lindenharp]

There is so much to love, and although I agree with the things you have listed, I want to mention others.

• The continuity stretching back to Morse, with mentions of Val, Lyn, and DCI Morse.
• Intriguing secondary characters who inspire more fanfic than one would expect from their brief appearances on the show. DI Peterson (2 episodes), DC Julie Lockhart (2 episodes), Gurdip Sohal (3 episodes), and DC Hooper (only 1 episode!).
• LF playing guitar. I want more of that. (Maybe in Series 9? Pretty please?)

[wendymr]

Oh yes. The attention given to continuity is just wonderful. Right from the references to Morse in the Pilot to Val's role, Robbie's kids - well, mainly Lyn - and the references back to Morse here and there throughout the series, it's all been lovely. I so much loved hearing Robbie refer to 'something I learned from my mentor' in the final scene of Beyond Good and Evil

And, yes, those secondary characters. Didn't LF agree on his Twitter account a while ago that there needed to be a campaign to bring back Gurdip?

And, yes, more James playing guitar. That armchair at Robbie and Laura's is just made for him and his guitar!

[owlbsurfinbird]

Echoing everything that has already been said, here's a few more things to love about Lewis

[wendymr]

40+ years? Wow. That's incredible - and I'm thrilled that it's Lewis that got you inspired to write again.

And all the rest you refer to: the music is gorgeous. I don't know whether a Lewis music CD has been released; there were Morse CDs - I have one of them. It really is just beautiful. Barrington Pheloung is a genius. And the intelligence of the scripts - as lj user=skyebabycat> says below, they don't talk down to the audience. If there is something we don't understand, we may get an explanation later on - usually from James - but it's never spoon-feeding.

And, yes, the fandom is wonderful :) Which is thanks to each and every one of those who participate in it!

[owlbsurfinbird]

40+ years? Wow.
Yes, we used clay tablets and a stylus to write fan fic back then. :)

[divingforstones]

"Lewis inspired me to write fiction again after a somewhat lengthy bout of writer's block (40+ years)."

Your writer's block is older than me. That's head-wrecking! Good God. Well, there's another coup we can be grateful to Lewis for - getting you back to writing - and writing for this fandom in particular :). It must be a wonderful feeling to rediscover enjoyment in writing after that lenght of time - and we get to benefit with your beautifully written fic.

I love Barrington Pheloung's music too, I love the unusual recordings we get of familiar pieces in Morse and Lewis - the Bach concertos on the cello in Morse stand out for me - I often write to them. I love hearing about how this fandom inspires people to write :).

[b37d45]

I'm not sure I even know exactly how to articulate why I love Lewis properly, except to echo what other people have said, but I'll ahve a go

[wendymr]

I think you've done a great job of articulating why you love the series!

I came to the series from Morse as well, and was fond of Robbie, but wasn't convinced that this series would be anything like as good as its predecessor. I was hooked within about five minutes of Hathaway picking Lewis up at the airport.

Yes, the cast all seem to be such lovely people, and to enjoy the hell out of working together - I occasionally spot Laurence Fox and Rebecca Front winding each other up on Twitter, and of course Laurence's antics with Kevin, including some of the photos he's posted, have been hilarious.

And I think just about everyone has echoed how friendly the fandom is. Re. fic and pairing likes, it's interesting that AO3 and LJ seem to favour Lewis/Hathaway, yet over on fanfiction.net the balance is heavily towards Lewis/Hobson, with a little bit of Hathaway/Innocent here and there. Each to his/her own :)

[admiralandrea]

I'm new to the Lewis fandom, but have been in fandom generally since something like 2001 - pre-LJ, pre-Twitter, almost pre-internet!! In those days, it was all mailing lists. God, I feel old *g*

What I love about Lewis is James Hathaway. He is exactly the type of character I also "go for" in my fandoms. Flawed, layered, reluctant hero, intelligent and very good looking. I could wax lyrical for ages on the subject of James, but will restrain myself!

All the rest of it is brilliant too - Oxford is nice (my sister lives there) and I like all the other main characters too.

My only gripe is how unrealistic it is - I work as a civilian police staff member and you never get anyone over the rank of PC/DC out interviewing people - except maybe the odd DS. Certainly not Inspectors. Even at murders, unless it's as a talking head. But I forgive them, because the stories are so good, and characters so lovely, I'm willing to suspend my disbelief.

[asparagusmama]

And certainly academics aren't bumping each other off, of course. Any real Oxford murder is more mundane, drugs, domestic, a tragic 'honour killing' incident, and very, very rare... but like you I'm willing to give it a certain suspension of disbelief :)

[wendymr]

Welcome to the fandom! I've been around fandoms since around 1997, I think, so I hear you - well before LJ, and I still have trouble getting my head around Twitter.

I agree: James is such an interesting character. So many layers. We've had eight series now, and we still know little or nothing about him as a person. We understand (for the most part) his values; we know how much his friendship with Robbie means to him; we know he loves music. But what else? Is he even religiously observant any more? Does he still play in the band? What does he do in his free time (or does he even have free time)? Is he gay, straight, bi, asexual, or something that doesn't even have a label? He's fascinating.

You're right, of course, that it's not realistic, though of course no TV series is. I didn't know that about senior officers and interviewing - great information, thank you! I remember a few years ago hearing a TV producer - may have been for Doctor Who - talking about complaints relating to realism. He pointed out that there are times when they'