As much as I like Fat Chance, I do think it is one of the weaker Morse episodes. I will say that this is probably the only episode that had a final solution that left me rather baffled. The pace of the episode was also slightly uneven, however there is a lot to recommend it. The main attraction of the series has always been John Thaw's performance as the title character, which is nothing short of outstanding, and even that word doesn't do justice to his performance. The episode does have an intriguing plot, excellent performances and an intelligent script, not to mention the immortal soundtrack. But for me, the highlight of Fat Chance was Morse's relationship with Emma Pickford, marvellously played by Zoe Wannamaker, and the episode ends wondering will Morse find his true love? Certainly not my favourite episode, but intriguing and well acted. 8/10 Bethany Cox.
9 Reviews
Arguably one of the weakest, but this is Morse, so it's still very good.
Sleepin_Dragon29 July 2018
I love the acting, I love bits of the story, and I love the fact that John Thaw is as wonderful as ever. Fat Chance on its own merits is a good mystery, with a seemingly baffling crime, and an interesting theme, with women climbing to higher positions in the Church, in spite of male protestation. Zoe Wanamaker is excellent as Emma Pickford, and her on screen time with Thaw is excellent.
On the downside the first half of the episode is somewhat boring, it takes about forty minutes for the story to open up and become interesting. The conclusion is one of the least satisfying, it just doesn't fully add up somehow. When I saw that name 'Peggy Mount' in the titles I was so pleased, but then gutted to discover she had less then three minutes screen time, such a shame, more then a match for Morse, she'd have been marvellous in a bigger role. The story on the whole is a little mundane, there are definitely some interesting parts, but the final outcome leaves you wanting the likes of Masonic Mysteries or Driven to Distraction.
Still decent, but the average Morse episode is so much higher, 7/10
On the downside the first half of the episode is somewhat boring, it takes about forty minutes for the story to open up and become interesting. The conclusion is one of the least satisfying, it just doesn't fully add up somehow. When I saw that name 'Peggy Mount' in the titles I was so pleased, but then gutted to discover she had less then three minutes screen time, such a shame, more then a match for Morse, she'd have been marvellous in a bigger role. The story on the whole is a little mundane, there are definitely some interesting parts, but the final outcome leaves you wanting the likes of Masonic Mysteries or Driven to Distraction.
Still decent, but the average Morse episode is so much higher, 7/10
Women's Rights in the Priesthood
Hitchcoc23 February 2018
The church comes out as rather villainous here. However, they are not the only club in town and if their belief system seems exclusive, we need to respect it, to some degree. Morse finds himself in the middle of an effort to keep a young woman from entering the priesthood. She has been attacked and then dies while taking exams. The good thing about this is that it isn't simple church versus changemaker. There are other issues, including a mentally ill young woman who has been persecuted. We have again a case where Morse is taken with a striking female vicar. He never seems to have trouble getting dates with younger, attractive women. In the past he has had the bad luck to see them murdered, playing spy games, or simply being criminals themselves. This one is really an interesting choice.
Morse falls for a vicar.
bethwilliam24 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The episode opens with a group of female clergy receiving the sacraments from a furious vicar. They then escort a friend who is sitting an exam to class where she begins the test. A few moments later she collapses to the floor. An autopsy reveals that she has been poisoned.
The investigation focuses on a group of clergy who are opposed to women in the ministry and the application of the victim to become the first female chaplain of St Saviour's College. Meanwhile Morse is attracted to Emma Pickford, played by Zoë Wanamaker, the leader of this group.
The investigation then leads to a weight loss clinic and a disgruntled client whose behaviour grows increasingly bazaar.
This is not the best episode of Morse. Parts of it were just plain strident. However, I enjoyed the chemistry between Morse and Pickford and the continuing struggle Morse has to find love.
The investigation focuses on a group of clergy who are opposed to women in the ministry and the application of the victim to become the first female chaplain of St Saviour's College. Meanwhile Morse is attracted to Emma Pickford, played by Zoë Wanamaker, the leader of this group.
The investigation then leads to a weight loss clinic and a disgruntled client whose behaviour grows increasingly bazaar.
This is not the best episode of Morse. Parts of it were just plain strident. However, I enjoyed the chemistry between Morse and Pickford and the continuing struggle Morse has to find love.
Damp squib
grantss11 September 2022
An episode that started in very intriguing fashion and ended very tamely. When a woman who is studying to be a priest dies in mysterious circumstances Morse and Lewis uncover a host of agendas including two warring factions within the Divinities department of the University.
There's also a weight loss program and competition that gets screentime but seems unconnected to the woman's death.
It's all wonderfully mysterious but with villains hiding in plain sight, setting the episode up to be quite the whodunnit.
Unfortunately cracks begin to show almost immediately. The main suspect is a cartoonish villain. There's also an overweight, hysterical loon prowling around, clearly not up to any good. Both characters can be put down to poor writing though hammy acting plays a part in the latter.
Plus we have the usual sub-plot of Morse hitting on one of the female persons of interest - quite unprofessional.
Worst of all, it all goes nowhere. The ending is an absolute damp squib.
Very disappointing.
There's also a weight loss program and competition that gets screentime but seems unconnected to the woman's death.
It's all wonderfully mysterious but with villains hiding in plain sight, setting the episode up to be quite the whodunnit.
Unfortunately cracks begin to show almost immediately. The main suspect is a cartoonish villain. There's also an overweight, hysterical loon prowling around, clearly not up to any good. Both characters can be put down to poor writing though hammy acting plays a part in the latter.
Plus we have the usual sub-plot of Morse hitting on one of the female persons of interest - quite unprofessional.
Worst of all, it all goes nowhere. The ending is an absolute damp squib.
Very disappointing.
Representative.
rmax30482322 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
There's not much to say about this episode. It's up to about its usual standard, which means that the plot was so intricate it left me whirling around as if inside a kaleidoscope. A beautiful young woman in clerical dress appears to be taking her final exam in theology at Oxford. She stops, falls to the floor, and dies.
It seems that she was a member of a humanistic group at the college, and there was organized resistance against politically engaged women, especially those who wanted to become priests. There lie the chief suspects, especially one cadaverous looking character who suddenly disappears after having been observed near the victim's room.
There is also some connection to a slimming organization and the clinic producing a reducing substance, but the connection is so tangential that, until the explanation at the end, I had no idea what it was.
Best performance is from Caroline Ryder. She's quite overweight and shabby in her grooming. We are introduced to her as she sits on the floor of her wrecked dormitory room slathering her face with ice cream or whipped cream as she gobbles it down and sobs hysterically. I don't know what she had to do with the whole business.
Morse gets interested in one of the few familiar faces in the cast, Zoe Wanamaker, but is put off when he learns she lied to him about an important datum.
The death? It turns out to be an accident, like so many events in this increasingly frustrating series.
It seems that she was a member of a humanistic group at the college, and there was organized resistance against politically engaged women, especially those who wanted to become priests. There lie the chief suspects, especially one cadaverous looking character who suddenly disappears after having been observed near the victim's room.
There is also some connection to a slimming organization and the clinic producing a reducing substance, but the connection is so tangential that, until the explanation at the end, I had no idea what it was.
Best performance is from Caroline Ryder. She's quite overweight and shabby in her grooming. We are introduced to her as she sits on the floor of her wrecked dormitory room slathering her face with ice cream or whipped cream as she gobbles it down and sobs hysterically. I don't know what she had to do with the whole business.
Morse gets interested in one of the few familiar faces in the cast, Zoe Wanamaker, but is put off when he learns she lied to him about an important datum.
The death? It turns out to be an accident, like so many events in this increasingly frustrating series.
Slim pickings
chrisrpugh21 August 2019
Should Have Been Reduced to a Half-Hour Show
deansscreen15 May 2023
Set partly in some vaguely defined sort of organization that helps people slim down, this episode of Morse is without question the most baffling one that I've seen (I've watched about half of them). Baffling, that is, to the viewer, even if not to the great Morse. It hops around from one setting to another (from slimming club to university and church) with the thinnest possible connections between them all. The episode seems to have been assembled from three unrelated shows. One thread to the plot, the justified need for women to assume bigger roles in the church, features embarrassing scenes of forced gaiety and superficial sincerity among the women concerned. One last thing: One woman gets away with an outrageous lie that subverts Morse's best efforts, but Morse irrationally forgives her because he's smitten by her from the first second he sees her. Altogether, an episode that the producers could safely delete from the series.
Geez Morse
morn19608 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Blubbering feminists who want to become priests gather round to try and force the issue after one other such aspirations is killed. Add weight loss to the scene and Morse's almost obligatory crush and you have the worst episode of the entire Morse universe including Lewis and Endeavor
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