The idea of an actress dying on stage in mid performance and Morse being in the audience is a promising one, and hearing the familiar swell of the opening music to the classic series fills the air with excitement and an expectant audience awaits. Treating us all as witnesses to the suspicious death is such an interesting way to break the fourth wall. We hold our breath, poised on the edge of something fascinating.

However, that promise ends there. It doesn’t build in emotional tension and stumbles jerkily to its predictable ending. The scenes especially in the beginning are very short, giving you no time to connect with or empathise with the characters, as if a television script has been transferred onto the stage without any thought to how that should change. It’s hard to know why the title refers to ghosts unless that’s about Morse’s past which is being revisited through the script or whether it’s a reference to the constant unwelcome interruptions of Hamlet being played out in the plot.

One significant issue here is there doesn’t seem to be an overall vision for the style of the production, as if each of the actors think they are in something different. It opens on overblown Hamlet which is then referred to throughout the play as being a good version and him being an incredible actor, which is not the way it is being played. All the actors have mics for some reason, odd for a non-musical, yet some diction even being in the front of the theatre is hard to understand and the expose at the end is rushed and garbled. Massively loud bouts of music add to further sound issues. Some of the acting verges on melodrama, even more than is expected from the written stereotype of highly strung stage actors that they are playing.

There are many issues interfering with enjoying this production, including being able to see every single thing in the wings as there are lights on at the back of the theatre, seeing the actors off stage walking around getting ready to come on, plus scenery ready to be pushed on. There is a slow motion section which almost works but ends up a little drama school. There is some of the worst doubling of one character ever beheld: a significant main character, lead next to Morse, then that actor coming on just with slicked back hair and a change of costume to play another significant character for the last part of the play. Overheard in the theatre on opening night was “if this is a professional company, surely they could afford another actor”.

Tom Chambers does a decent version of Morse, with some of the mannerisms and the way of speaking to Lewis. It must be almost a poison chalice to try to emulate John Thaw’s iconic creation which is adored by millions of fans. However there are moments of too much heightened movement where Morse by nature is both lightning quick in intelligence and thought yet slow in movement. The issue here is the way the character has been written as seeking to return to academia which doesn’t make sense, and missing are fuller deliberations on the plot which are so satisfying to watch. Lewis on the other hand should be grounded in working class every-day man physicality, not heightened energy and sarcasm almost verging on panto.

Teresa Banham is the one actor who saves this, bringing quiet class, naturalism and emotional depth to her complex portrayal of Ellen. She is the one who garners empathy from the audience, the one they lean in to and the one they are invested in. The way the cast move the furniture on and off is smooth, efficient, very quick and slick, which is gratifying. The opening death of the actress was very well done indeed: shocking and very believable. These are clearly good actors, and with much tighter direction, a cohesive vision, more research into Morse: what made it great and why people love it, plus a reworked script, this could be a good production. However, audience members may well really enjoy the nostalgia of revisiting an old friend in Morse, and seeing a new story; even though this seems a more pedestrian whodunnit story than classic clever Morse.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 21 October 2025
Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts runs until 25 October 2025
Photos credit: Johan Persson