Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter dies aged 86

21 March 2017

The creator of 'Inspector Morse' has died at the age of 86.

Colin Dexter

Colin Dexter - who penned the crime novels between 1975 and 1999 - passed away peacefully at his home in Oxford on Tuesday (21.03.17) morning.

A representative told the BBC: "With immense sadness, MacMillan announces the death of Colin Dexter who died peacefully at his home in Oxford this morning."

Colin's gritty novels, which followed the character of Morse, inspired the drama - made by Zenith Productions - of the same name on ITV that ran from 1987 until 2000.

The writer - who started his career as a teacher before he was forced to give it up due hearing problems - previously explained he started penning the detective stories by longhand on paper during a rainy holiday with his family in North Wales.

He said in 2012: "The children were moaning. I was sitting at the kitchen table with nothing else to do, and I wrote the first few paragraphs of a potential detective novel."

Colin's character became such a fan favourite that he actually inspired a sequel series 'Lewis' and a prequel 'Endeavour', which followed Morse as a young man.

John Thaw portrayed the original Morse for 13 years until his death, before Shaun Evans was cast as the unlucky-in-love detective in the prequel in 2012.