God sees all. He knows what's in my heart. Do you think I'm going to burn?
The pop group episode.
When moral crusader Joy Pettybon arrives in Oxford she receives a death threat and Morse is assigned to protect her, as well as investigating the death of young bricklayer Brian Finch, who had been working at a mansion rented by argumentative pop group The Wildwood.
Morse is present when Mrs. Pettybon and the group's troubled lead singer Nick Wilding go head to head on a live TV chat show, after which the Rev. Golightly, a co-activist of Mrs. Pettybon's, is poisoned and her repressed daughter Bettina shows signs of rebellion. A secret from the Pettybons' past is unearthed, as is a more recent one regarding Nick's sexuality. This proves instrumental in cracking the case, despite the killer's attempts to sabotage Morse with a cocktail of hallucinogenic drugs.
This episode contains examples of:
- Accidental Murder: Reverend Golightly consumes a box of chocolates intended for Mrs. Pettybon. Unfortunately for him, it's a Laxative Prank ... which triggers a fatal heart attack as he has an undiagnosed medical condition.
- Chemically-Induced Insanity: The murderer's modus operandi is to give her victims a massive dose of LSD in order to make killing them easier, or (better still) have them get themselves killed while in a delirious state.
- Composite Character: The Wildwood have element of Real Life bands like The Beatles, early Pink Floyd and The Kinks ... although the latter gets a mention, as The Wildwood's manager's alibi for the Finch murder is that he was on the phone to a music producer organising an American tour with the Kinks; this falls apart after Trewlove points out that the Kinks are banned from touring America.
- Creator Cameo: A photo of Colin Dexter appears on the page of a newspaper, close to the headline: "Local man wins national crossword competition".
- Deadpan Snarker: Some beauties in this episode.
- Thursday, to Mrs. Pettybon when she goes through the bad language she heard on the previous night's TV:Mrs. Pettybon: We counted 14 "bloodies," six "bleedings" ... What else, Bettina?Bettina: Err, two "bleeders" and a "bastard".Mrs. Pettybon: Two "bleeders" and a "bastard".Thursday: Sounds like a regular evening down the nick.
- Thursday again, to Strange this time:Bright: So Finch was part of some sort of orgy?Strange: It's all right for some. I can never get a seat in Musical Chairs, never mind anything else.Thursday: You wouldn't like it, sergeant. Not with your back.
- Strange is also on the receiving end of Max de Bryn's snark.Max: It would explain the vomiting. However, he was also suffering from an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm. The rest of it put such a strain on his system that it ruptured. Hence the blood.Strange: Puked his guts up, then. Literally.Max: What a lyrical child you must have been, sergeant.
- Even Morse gets in on the act when discussing The Wildwood's lyrics.Trewlove: They're comparing Nick's lyrics to James Joyce and Oscar Wilde.Morse: Who are?Trewlove: The critics. Full of symbolism and allusion, apparently.Morse: Full of something.
- Thursday, to Mrs. Pettybon when she goes through the bad language she heard on the previous night's TV:
- During the War: A somewhat unusual reminiscence from Fred Thursday regarding marijuana and the North African campaign:Thursday: Don't know why they bother with the stuff. Never did anything for me.Morse: You've smoked pot? When?Thursday: Up the desert. They call it "kif" out there. Some of the lads were silly with it. You ever tried it?
- Dr. Feelgood: Dr. Bakshi, doctor to The Wildwood, has shades of this. He gives them "the occasional sleeping-draught, the odd booster", but nothing illegal, or so he says.
- Forbidden Love: Morse gets himself taken off the case after Mrs. Pettybon found out that Bettina invited him into her room for a drink. For her part, Bettina declares that she's in love with Morse, although it's not reciprocated.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Emma killed Brian because he was getting more attention from Nick.
- Groupie: This is basically what Pippa Leyton and Emma Carr are to The Wildwood. Turns out, so was Brian Finch.
- Headscratchers: How does Bettina know where Morse lives?
- Incompatible Orientation: Emma Carr fancies Nick Wilding, but he's gay. Nick in turn fancies his bandmate (and best friend from school) Christopher Clark, but he's straight.
- It's All About Me: Emma Carr claims that The Wildwood's song "Jennifer Sometimes" is about her, since Jennifer is her middle name. Morse deduces that the song is in fact about Nick Wilding's bandmate Christopher Clark, whom he secretly fancies — but, given the song's content, Nick couldn't have called it "Christopher Sometimes" without giving the game away.
- Laxative Prank: Goes horribly wrong when laxative-laden chocolates meant for Mrs. Pettybon are consumed by the Rev. Golightly. They trigger a fatal heart attack.
- Ms. Fanservice: Christopher Clark's wife Anna-Britt likes to get naked.
- Moral Guardians: Joy Pettybon and her followers.
- Mushroom Samba: The murderer spikes Morse's drink with a mixture of herbal hallucinogens, causing him to go on one of these.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: A few.
- Joy Pettybon is all too obviously this to the TV campaigner Mary Whitehouse.
- Mimi, the pop singer in the opening credits, distinctly resembles Lulu
. - TV presenter Julian Calendar clearly resembles Simon Dee; his "like the clobber?" line is taken word-for-word from one of very few surviving episodes of Dee's chat shows.
- Nick Wilding is this to Syd Barrett, the original frontman and primary songwriter of Pink Floyd who suffered from health problems due to his heavy reliance on drugs like LSD, which ultimately resulted in him leaving the band in 1968.
- Not So Above It All: Reverend Golightly quietly sings a few lines from "Jennifer Sometimes" before tucking into the chocolates.
- Please Put Some Clothes On: Morse asks Anna-Britt Clark to put some clothes on when he's trying to interview her, as he doesn't wish to do so while she's naked.
- Punny Name: TV presenter Julian Calendar hosts a chat show called Almanac.
- Saved by Canon: Although Emma is clearly trying to kill Morse, not just cause him to endure a 'trip' (the concoction she gives him includes henbane and jimson weed which, though both have hallucinogenic side-effects, are to all intents and purposes poisons), the question of whether or not he survives is surely never in any doubt.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: On finding out about her father being driven to suicide, Bettina Pettybon walks out on her mother.
- Shout-Out: A few literary and musical ones.
- Dr. Bakshi's advice to the band is lifted from the lyrics of The Beatles song "Tomorrow Never Knows"; he tells them to imagine they are a leaf floating down a stream and says: "it is not dying".
- The Wildwood have had, we are told, a hit with a song called "He Loves You" — reminding us, of course, of The Beatles hit "She Loves You".
- Emma's insistence that The Wildwood's song "Jennifer Sometimes" is about her because her middle name is Jennifer is a sly reference to The Beatles song "Hey Jude", and to the fact that a large number of young women called Judith all claimed that the song was named for them note .
- The album cover that Morse looks at in Brian's room (evidently one of The Wildwood's earlier ones) bears a distinct resemblance to the cover of Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
- After Mrs. Pettybon has lodged a complaint against Morse, Thursday talks of him "being handed the black spot" — a nod to Treasure Island.
- Nick Wilding likes to quote Baudelaire.Nick Wilding: "One should always be drunk". I think there's something in that.Morse: Possibly.
- There are several references to The Wind in the Willows, including the name of the band.
