Inspector Morse

John Thaw was aged 45 when he began playing Chief Inspector Morse, but because of his prematurely white hair, many viewers thought he was about a decade older. Thaw was an alcoholic until stopping drinking in 1994 but continued to smoke up to four packs of cigarettes a day, dying from throat /esophageal cancer aged just 60.

The opening notes of the theme music are based on the word "Morse" in Morse code, altered for musical purposes. The same notes are also included at the end and in places within the theme music. In the 1995 documentary "The Mystery of Morse: The Making of Morse", the composer stated that the theme sometimes spells the name of the murderer, a cryptic version of the name, or, as a red herring, an innocent character. However, there is nothing documented on the Internet for any specific name or episode. Morse code experts say that, aside from the code for "Morse", any other Morse code-like notes in the theme are complete gibberish, probably because the code was modified greatly for musical purposes.