‘Inspector Lewis” Final Season to Air on Masterpiece This Summer

One last time: Laurence Fox as DI Hathaway and Kevin Whately as DI Lewis (Photo: Courtesy of (C) ITV Studios/MASTERPIECE)

Get ready, America, it’s time to say goodbye to Inspector Lewis once again.

The mystery series, itself a sequel to the equally popular Inspector Morse, will come to an end after ten years on-air. (Sort of.) Inspector Lewis, which premiered in 2006, has had something of a tumultuous history in recent years, as the drama sort of wrapped up its run back in 2013, before returning for a surprise eighth season in 2014. Now, the mystery series is back for one last and final run.

Stars Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox have returned for three two-part mysteries entitled “One for Sorrow,” “Magnum Opus,” and “What Lies Tangled”.  The arrival of a new Chief Superintendent heralds a fresh dawn for Oxfordshire Police, although the high flyer soon clashes with Lewis over the latter’s more traditional approach to detective work.

With forensic pathologist Laura Hobson (Clare Holman) contemplating early retirement, and the new boss piling on the pressure, will Lewis finally decide to call time on his policing career? Meanwhile, after years of avoiding the thorny issue of family ties, Hathaway is forced to confront his past when his father is moved into a care home, suffering from dementia.

So, it looks like there’s kind of a lot going on.

Check out the brand new Masterpiece promo for Lewis: The Final Season below: 

 

In case you need more new Lewis footage in your life before the series’ last hurrah begins, watch the ITV trailer (featuring a really rather excellent soundtrack) below: 

 

"I feel incredibly fortunate to have shared a decade of fantastic worldwide success with Laurence and with the most brilliant crew, cast and production team anyone could wish for, and all that time with the loyal support of so many fans and of our backers ITV and  WGBH ‎Boston,” Whately said in a statement. Thanks everybody. What a ride it has been!”

ITV first confirmed a ninth season of Lewis way back in the spring of 2015, and the series’ final episodes aired in the UK last Fall. There it aired over six weeks – with each two-part mystery split in half. Here in the US, we’ll be airing both halves of each story together on Sunday nights from August 7 to August 21. (Here’s your standard reminder, however, to check your local listings when August rolls around. It’s a pledge period for many local stations, so the Lewis airdates may end up shifting for some folks. Just keep an eye out, is all I'm saying.)

Though Season 9 (or Season 8 if you’re counting in US time – remember we smushed a couple seasons into one here a while back) is reportedly the final final season of Lewis, you’re forgiven if you can’t keep yourself from wondering whether Whately and Fox might not be back for another run (again) at some point.  It’s unlikely, sure; but it's not like it hasn’t happened already, after all.  Or, another popular theory suggests that maybe someday in the not too distant future, we’ll see Hathaway as its own series. Who knows? But it seems unlikely that we’ll be saying goodbye to this universe forever, so that’s comforting in its way.

Are you ready to say goodbye to Inspector Lewis? (For real this time?) Have a favorite moment? Share it in the comments. 


Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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