Written by Julian Mitchell, based on a story by Colin Dexter

25^th December 1987

A typical American tour of the UK is disrupted in Oxford by two deaths and the theft of a priceless artefact.

Morse seems to take against the whole idea of the coach tour straight away, and clearly has no time for the sort of people who can afford to stay at the top hotel in Oxford. He also takes pleasure in ripping into the hotel's Doctor on Call.

Reprimanding Lewis " Never, never interrupt me when I'm booking my seat for the opera ", and "I don't think Lewis , I deduce. I only ever deduce"

Morosely contemplating his lack of love life " It's when he thinks he's past love, it's then he meets his last love"

Confronting a suspect "Now, are you going to save us a lot of time and trouble....and confess, or are you going to be a burden on the taxpayer ?"

Lewis is doing his best to avoid being at home, so he doesn't have to help his wife with decorating. Interesting that he seems to pull extra shifts at will, and a step outside the usual TV idea of policemen only working on one case at a time.

Having bought beer at the hotel bar " So it should be, at that price. Worse than London"

On falling asleep in Morse's car " It's that music of yours – puts me right out"

On the fairer sex: " Nice woman that. Got a lot of life about her "

and "You think a woman could have done that to him ?" to which Morse replies "Hell hath no fury Lewis"

Spend more time listening to what Lewis has to say, including all his personal woes, and you might just crack it.

Simon "Dickens" Callow plays Theodore Kemp, a wild adulterous man who appears to be very much like the actor Simon Callow. Roberta "Big Finish " Taylor plays his ex-mistress Sheila, while Christine "Aram" Kavanagh plays the attractive Mrs Downes.

Kenneth Cranham is one of those faces who pops up in anything, but is probably best known for playing Harvey Moon . Some of the American artistes are appearing at the end of long and distinguished careers too.

Mr Dexter is drinking with episode writer Julian Mitchell in the hotel bar behind Morse and Lewis.

The Wolvercote Tongue is an oddity in that the full length novel was written 4 years after the programme, as 'The Jewel that Was Ours'. Apart from odd little cosmetics, and a few extra characters, the biggest change is the ending. While everything leads up to the same conclusion as the TV show, Dexter does a massive body swerve and over the last few chapters produces a completely different ending. David Bishop isn't too complimentary in his guide, but given that the initial premise is far too slight for a whole novel I quite like it.

Berlioz is the focus for the story – both in terms of Morse's concert booking and his choice of travelling music. The opera featured is 'The Trojans' (Les Troyens) based on Virgil's Aeneid. I'm not a big fan of his work though Symphony Fantastique is great fun to play (and apparently based on the idea of an artist having a drug-fueled trip – eat your heart out, Mr Lennon !)

There's a rather nasty traditional lute ballad at the feast which makes all men instantly think of nutcrackers.

A neat little story that plays on some well worn but enjoyable stereotypes – the rich aged American tourists seeing the whole of the UK in about 3 days, who can't bear to walk anywhere and seem amazed by anything 50 years old. Then we have a background dig at the 'Hooray-Henry' types that seem to fill every bar that Morse and Lewis wander in to (and there's a great little scene involving a midnight picnic). The banter between Morse and Max throughout is a joy too.

Having moaned about the direction last time, I noticed it this time for much happier reasons. There are some great overhead shots, and a lovely scene between Morse and Lewis where they end up sitting at different ends of a sofa.

A suitably twisty tale with more than enough red herrings to keep you guessing.

A solidly profane episode, rather than a spectacular swear-fest. Morse mutters, “Bloody hell” on three separate occasions, while there is also references to “bloody geriatric Americans” and “Mister Cedric Bloody Downs”.

Not to be outdone on the “bloody” stakes, pathologist Max complains, “Why the bloody hell Morse has to drag me out...” but sadly all Sergeant Lewis can muster is a solitary “the bastard”.