Degree days 2023

Throughout the year, degree days for Oxford University are held at The Sheldonian Theatre.  These are always wonderful occasions and I love to see the students celebrating and looking very dapper in their academic dress.  It does however mean that Oxford is even busier than usual.  Colleges will be closed.  If your tour should fa ll on a degree day then please allow extra time to travel into Oxford and be prepared for crowds and busy lunch venues!

2023 confirmed degree days are as follows (others can be added at any time).

Saturday 25th February (10.30 and 13.30)

Saturday 4th March (10.30 and 13.30)

Saturday 6th May (10.30, 13.30 and 16.15)

Saturday 13th May (10.30, 13.30 and 16.15)

Saturday 20th May (10.30, 13.30 and 16.15)

Saturday 15th July (10.30 and 13.30)

Tuesday 25th July (10.30 and 13.30)

Friday 28th July (10.30 and 13.30)

Saturday 29th July (10.30, 13.30 and 16.15)

Saturday 5th August (10.30, 13.30 and 16.15)

Friday 22nd September (10.30 and 13.30)

Saturday 23rd September (10.30, 13.30 and 16.15)

Friday 3rd November (10.30 and 13.30)

Saturday 4th November (10.30 and 13.30)

Saturday 11th November (10.30 and 13.30)

 

Morse, Lewis, Endeavour and Oxford – A Celebration event on Oxford on Saturday 4th March

On Saturday 4th March, there will be a celebration in Oxford to mark the end of the programmes.

Endeavour Season 9 will air in the UK on 26th February (TBC) and will run for three episode but this will take is to the end of the road.

Tickets are available on Universe and Abigail Thaw (Dorothea Frazil) plus Anton Lesser (Bright) will be attending.  Spaces are now limited.

Walking Tours of Oxford are running tours on the day but the 2pm tours are now sold out.  We have added a 11am tour which is currently still available (click on BOOK NOW).  This 11am tour will finish at or close to a Morse pub for lunch.  We then suggest an individual visit to a college in the afternoon and suggestions will be given on the day by your tour guide.

9th Season of Endeavour to start filming in Oxford

The ninth series of Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour it to start filming in Oxford today (22/5/22) according to reports.

Endeavour and Fred are back!

Within Oxford; we believe Christ Church will be used which is a college that has not featured much in previous filming. Also New College which was used in Endeavour Canticle, Sway and Apollo and St Edmund Hall already features in the early Endeavour episode; Home.

We left Endeavour in series 8 in the winter of 1971 and the year series will be set in 1972.  There will once again be 3 90-minute episodes.  This will bring bring the number of Endeavour episodes to 36 which breaks from the traditional 33 episodes that both Morse and Lewis ended on.

 

Filming from 2017 – Heidi from Walking Tours of Oxford in one of the cars used for filming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morse, Lewis, Endeavour – a guide celebrating 35 years on Screen

Morse owes its longevity to breaking the mould

After 35 years and three different iterations, the franchise has racked up 750 million global views and shows no sign of stopping, says John Mair

Thirty-five years ago, on 6 January 1987, the Morse franchise debuted on TV with The Dead Of Jericho, set in a then unfashionable area of Oxford. Today, Jericho is hip (I live there) and Morse is still going strong worldwide: it has been extended backwards and sideways, now runs to 100 films and the latest iteration, Endeavour, still gets an audience of 6 million-plus in the UK alone.

John Thaw, a veteran of police procedurals from his time on The Sweeney, brought Colin Dexter’s Thames Valley detective to life. The character was different to how Dexter had first written him, and so too was Sergeant ‘Robbie’ Lewis, playing Robin to the flawed Batman of Oxford.

Dexter loved the newer incarnation so much that he rewrote the later of his 13 novels around Thaw’s Morse. Thirty three episodes later, in 2000, Morse had a heart attack in the quad of his natural working milieu, an Oxford College. He died in the ‘JR’ (John Radcliffe hospital).

The city of Oxford itself is as much the star of the series as the actors on screen. The yellow Cotswold stone and magnificent architecture of the old colleges and the intrigue within them became the meat and veg of the series.

So what was the pitch that producer Kenny McBain and writer Anthony Minghella brought to their meeting with Dexter at an Oxford pub, where they planned to convince him of the project? They had already pre-sold the series and recce’d locations, but their major offer was a two-hour time slot, which was new to British television drama and allowed stories to develop at their own, slow pace.

Second, they promised great direction and writing. Some of the biggest names in British TV – directors like Danny Boyle, Julian Mitchell, John Madden and Jack Gold – have been behind the camera on Morse, with a cast of superb actors including Thaw and Kevin Whately (and later, Sir John Gielgud.)

The original Morse won seven Baftas, two National Television Awards and two Writers Guild awards, plus more in the UK and abroad. The makers – Zenith, Central, Carlton, and now Mammoth Screen – had an international hit on their hands. To date, 200 countries have bought some of the Morse films, with worldwide audiences approaching 750 million.

The franchise was very cleverly extended. When Morse ‘died’ in 2000 in The Remorseful Day, two years before the real-life death of Thaw, they went sideways and built another series of 33 films around the newly promoted Inspector Lewis and his sidekick Hathaway (Laurence Fox). Lewis ran from 2006 to 2015.

The franchise even went backwards in 2012 to the young Detective Constable ‘Endeavour’ Morse. Endeavour, too, has had a life of 33 films and while ITV and Mammoth Screen are being coy, expect a new three-part series later in 2022.

The Morse character is superbly drawn: an older, cynical detective inspector with an interrupted Oxford education, a liking for beer but not paying for it, and for women (always unrequited), crosswords and opera.

The police liked the series too. Clever coppers were rare at the time, especially in a provincial force like Thames Valley, and Peter Neyroud – Winchester and Oxford educated and a former TVP chief constable – recalls the sneers in the CID office about him: “Look what we’ve got, Morse and bloody Lewis.”

Similarly, Dermot Norridge, a former Oxford detective, recalls the cut-outs of Morse placed on the top table of CID dinners and in the office.

Inspector Morse Plaque at the Police Station

Rarely does a fictional television figure break through to public and professional acclaim like that – which is exactly what Inspector Morse and his TV iterations have done.

John Mair and Heidi Boon Rickard of Walking Tours of Oxford teamed up to produce ‘Morse, Lewis, Endeavour and Oxford – a guide to celebrating 35 years on screen. The book, is a great addition to our tours or can be purchased as a stand alone at Walking Tours of Oxford. Free P&P and signed by Heidi. Simply click on the BOOK NOW button.

Oxford Filming

It was great to be in Oxford just before Christmas and see the Warner Bros. film unit in Radcliffe Square. They were filming for a new movie starting Timothée Chalamet and Oliva Coleman. This movie is Wonka, due to be released on 2023 and tells the story of a young Willy Wonka of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. We are excited for this movie! They are due to return to Oxford for more filming over the coming weeks.

Here is Heidi, owner and guide of Walking Tours of Oxford, talking some more about filming in Oxford for BBC Oxford.

Wonka Filming Dec 2021

In July 2021, we also saw filming on Radcliffe Square for a new Steven Spielberg / Tom Hanks Production called Master of the Air

Masters of the Air filming July 2021
Master of the Air filming 2 July 2021

We offer private tour for your group to cover ‘film sites’ incl. the most famous of them all – Harry Potter!

Heidi Boon Rickard filming for BBC South

Morse, Lewis, Endeavour and Oxford book

On the 6th January 1987, 35 years ago – the legend that became Morse first appeared on our Televisions. It was groundbreaking at the time – no other TV programme had aired over 2-hours – that was a movie! A total of 33 episodes were shown and then after a short gap, we were treated to 33 ‘Lewis’ episodes. Then almost exactly 25 years later, ‘Endeavour’ began with an airdate of 2nd January 2012. From my first viewing of Endeavour, I was hooked and the references to John Thaw run true and deep. Over the lockdown of winer 2021, I wrote my tour and experiences down and the book is now published and available to buy via my website.

For anyone interested in the universe of Morse / Lewis and Endeavour and a great addition to the tours that we offer.

Walking Tours of Oxford

The Randolph Hotel

The Randolph Hotel stand in the centre of Oxford is has been a symbol of this great city for over 150 years.

It began in 1864 based on the designs of William Wilkinson in preparation for the need of top-class accommodation for the purposed visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales, 2 years later.

Named after Dr Francis Randolph, the chief benefactor of The Ashomelan Museum which stands majestically opposite the hotel on Beaumont Street.

In 2000 the hotel was acquired my McDonald Hotels and excelled in providing first class accommodation for many people from across the globe. It has long been the places to stay for politicians, film stars and royalty.

Disaster stuck in April 2015, in my earlier days of Tour Guiding and I remember vividly sitting at home as events unfolded that evening. A fire broke out in the kitchens which was the result of flambering a beef stroganoff! Immediately I was stuck by the potential loss of life but somehow all 80 guests and staff were unharmed. Thanks must go to the 14 fire engines and 70 firefighters who fought the blaze. Whilst the actual damage was about 5%, the roof was badly affected, and The Randolph closed its doors for the first time in its 150-year history.

Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, it took 11 months for the hotel to be repaired and redecorated. A champagne bar was added, and all rooms revamped.

The Randolph was acquired by the American chain of hotels, Graduate in 2020 during the covid pandemic. With hotels forced to shut during ‘lockdown’, this was a great opportunity to completely redecorate and redesign the interior.

In August 2021, the hotel reopened partially for a soft opening, and it was at the time I was invited to come and stay. Prior to becoming a Tour Guide in Oxford my work took me around the world and I had stayed in some of the world’s most iconic hotels but never at The Randolph, so I was delighted.

I was apprehensive about the refurbishment but need not have worried. Once again, she has risen to become, rightfully so, one of the world’s best hotels.

As one enters from Beaumont Street, you are welcome by concierge and to the left is the famous Morse Bar. Here you will find pictures of John Thaw and Kevin Whatley (from Morse and Lewis). Sadly, the Colin Dexter plaque did not survive the refurbishment, but I like to think of him ingrained in the fabric and feel of the hotel for he was a frequent visitor. It was here, at this hotel and within The Morse bar that I once met Colin – a truly lovely gentleman.

My room was located on the 4th floor and looking out the bedroom window, I could see the tip of the Radcliffe Camera and the dreaming spires. The room was well decorated, comfortable, and cosy. The decor has a ‘hint’ to Oxford with references to famous people associated with either town or gown. The en-suite bathroom provided all that I needed with a walk-in shower.

We had breakfast that morning in the new ‘Alice’ restaurant and I can certainly recommend the smashed avocado on English muffin!

All too soon it was time to check out – my Morse / Lewis and Endeavour tour was beckoning but this time I could tell my guests all about the Graduate Randolph!

TO BOOK THE RANDOLPH CLICK HERE

READ MORE ABOUT OUR MORSE TOURS HERE

https://www.cntraveller.com/article/randolph-hotel-review-oxford