MORSE

Endeavour. Died Wednesday, November 15, just before 10.30pm. His loyal sidekick Lewis and ten million viewers were with him at the time.

MELDREW

Victor. Died Monday, November 20, victim of a hit-and-run driver. Leaves a widow, Margaret. Ten million viewers witnessed the accident.

THERE is, of course, nothing like a TV death to hook viewers. Just ask soap producers, who regularly use such tragedies to bump up viewing figures. Grace Archer didn't die in vain when she perished in a barn fire in radio's The Archers, as her death coincided with the opening night of ITV and ensured that the BBC captured headlines too.

But it's unusual to kill off the leading character in a series that still attracts big audiences and an army of loyal fans. Both Inspector Morse and One Foot In The Grave have had good innings. Rather than be left to die a natural death, both are going out with a much-publicised bang.

Inspector Morse's removal from TV screens was inevitable once author Colin Dexter, now 70, like his creation, last year published the final novel featuring the Wagner-loving, real ale-drinking Oxford detective. Morse died in The Remorseful Day, so he had to die on screen too.

"With the body count now risen to almost 80, Oxford has become the murder capital of the UK, and the time has come to put an end to this," says Dexter, who has lived in the city since 1966. "Various possibilities suggested themselves for Morse: retirement, marriage, failure, nervous breakdown, death whilst on duty, death whilst not on duty. I decided that Morse must die."

The detective's health has gradually worsened since Dexter first introduced him to the reading public in Last Bus To Woodstock, published in 1975. "In that, Morse was vaguely in his mid-forties and he must now be well past the age of retirement," says the writer. "His health has been steadily poorer over the past few years. His lifestyle, in particular his excessive consumption of alcohol, has probably been the main cause of this."

All the same, Dexter's decision to kill off Morse took actor John Thaw, who's played the detective in 33 TV films, by surprise. "If Morse hadn't died in this, then I would have filmed it and waited for the next book," he says. "All I said previously was that I didn't want the television Morse to end like Frank Sinatra, doing an endless series of farewell concerts. When producer Chris Burt phoned to tell me that in Colin's next book Morse would die, I was pleased in a way because it took away the responsibility of deciding if I should do Morse again and again."

He shared the general feeling of sadness which surrounded the filming of the final episode. "I shouldn't have really because it's only a part. But it has been so much part of my life, and I was a bit emotional. When the final episode goes out, it's going to be a sad day, not just for me but for everyone involved. I've enjoyed Morse more than anything I've done. I've loved working with Kevin and the crew. It's like meeting old friends every time we do it. My message to Colin Dexter is a big thank you."

The final scene between Morse and long-time sidekick Sergeant Lewis takes place in a mortuary. Producer Ted Childs says: "Everyone knows that this is the film in which Morse dies, so you have to handle that with some care, otherwise the whole thing becomes rather trite. We didn't want the death to be over-sentimental.

"Clearly there is a long-standing close relationship between Lewis and Morse. It was down to the screenplay writer Stephen Churchett in the way he interpreted how Lewis would react when the final moment came."

Neither Churchett nor director Jack Gold had worked on a Morse film before, which Child considered an ideal combination for the detective's farewell. "It was good to bring people to Morse who understood it and related well to John and Kevin, but hadn't done it before," he says. "I think it has a little bit of edge which it otherwise might not have had."

The emotional final scene between the two policeman was filmed just three days before the end of shooting.

"We were quite busy with all the other scenes, though obviously it lurked in the back of everyone's minds. On the day itself, I woke up thinking, 'Bloody hell, this is it'," recalls Whately.

Thaw himself, of course, had his eyes shut for the fond farewell from his colleague as he kisses him goodbye gently on the forehead. "So I couldn't see what Kevin was doing. But when I watched the film, I thought he did it beautifully," he adds.

Dexter pays the final tribute to his creation. "I am naturally saddened to take leave of the melancholy, sensitive, vulnerable, independent, ungracious, mean-pocketed Morse. He has lived with me now for more than a quarter of a century and I shall miss him."

Grumpy pensioner Victor Meldrew will become a road accident statistic in the final episode of the sixth series, dying in a hit-and-run smash. He's been dead a few months when the last story opens with the circumstances of his death slowly revealed over the following 45 minutes.

"Victor is very much in the episode. It's a brilliantly moving episode, as it should be," explains a BBC spokesperson.

Knowing the way writer David Renwick piles on the farcical comedy, Victor's demise won't be a straightforward affair. Actor Richard Wilson, who has moaned and groaned as cranky old codger Victor for the past decade, says: "I feel sad, of course, but it's the right time. To keep doing it would have been dull."

It's a wonder he hasn't called time before with the public's endless requests for him to repeat Victor's catchphrase "I don't believe it". This is the kind of typecasting every actor works hard to avoid.

As co-star Annette Crosbie says: "When David said the series was ending, I felt a mixture of feelings. One of relief because I've become so closely identified with Margaret Meldrew - not that that's a bad thing at all - but also one of sadness. That's the strongest emotion for all sorts of reasons, including the fact that it's such good writing. I'm sorry it's finished."

A sentiment that will strike a chord with thousands of viewers nationwide...

l Inspector Morse is on ITV tonight at 8.30pm. One Foot In The Grave is on BBC1 on Monday at 9.15pm.