We’d had Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts at The Lowry in the diary for over a year, front row seats and everything – proper Morse nerd behaviour. As big fans of the original TV series, we went in really hoping for a clever, atmospheric night out. Instead, we walked away feeling flat and a bit cross that this was the show we’d waited so long for.
Tom Chambers just never quite landed as Morse for us. He seemed to fall back on the same pained expression for almost every situation, so after a while it all blurred into one note. Rather than that layered, grumpy-but-brilliant Morse we love, it felt like a surface overacted imitation without much going on underneath.
For a character this iconic, that made the whole thing oddly joyless to watch.
The plot didn’t do the cast any favours either. It felt muddled and strangely put together, and ended up not being particularly satisfying on any front. There were moments where we genuinely lost interest, which is the last thing you want in a Morse mystery.
It was a real contrast to the last play we saw at The Lowry, The Constant Wife, which felt sharp, confident and beautifully put together from start to finish.
Most of the performances around Tom were, sadly, just as underwhelming – a bit weak, a bit stagey, and never quite believable. The one redeeming feature was Tachia Newall as Lewis, who was believable and played the part with humour.
And just to be clear, we absolutely love The Lowry as a theatre – its productions are usually of excellent quality, and it’s our favourite place to see a show. That’s probably why this one stung a bit more: our expectations were high, and this just didn’t reach the standard we’ve come to expect there. If you’re thinking of booking purely because you adore Morse, maybe keep an eye on audience reviews first – or at least go in knowing this is a very different, and for us much less rewarding, version of that world.
LCChaosandhome 
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