Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Kevin Whately, Laurence Fox, Angela Griffin, Susan Wooldridge, Priyanga Burford, Alec Newman, Richie Campbell, Clare Holman, Rebecca Front, Robin Weaver, Tom Davey, Patrick Walshe Mcbride, Joe Dixon, Gruffudd Glyn, Emily Houghton, Martin Chamberlain, Paul Lacoux, Holly Blair, Sean Murray.

It is the terrifying grip that a mesmeric individual can wield over the thoughts of another that makes copy-cat killings so repellent. The mimic or the ventriloquist doll in the skin of a human being so transfixed by the evil in one person’s demeanour and plausible words that they lose sight of themselves, they lose their humanity to the point where they are actually more than an impersonator, they take on the residue of evil themselves in the final episode of the last series of Lewis, Beyond Good and Evil.

For Lewis, the killing of a policeman in a similar brutal fashion to three others that were found slain in the back alleys of Oxford is enough to believe that a psychopathic murder he caught over a decade before, and who has appealed successfully to have his case retried, has found a pupil with the same brutal tendencies as himself. It is enough to put the recently out of retirement Detective and his young protégé to cause to doubt each other’s methods and loyalty. The charge has been set as the killer Graham Lawrie, played with sublime anger and conviction by Alec Newman, sets out for revenge.

Whilst it has been a great comeback, at least for one more season of the much loved Oxford Detective, it raises a question about when does a Detective stay dead or retired in literature or on the screen. The hugely admired Morse, the forerunner to Lewis and Endeavour, really does look as though it might spawn yet another spin-off in the further investigations of James Hathaway. This is not a bad thing, in fact for many fans it is just the right way to go, as there are always more than enough criminals walking the streets in which to build a compelling story round. What perhaps annoys the sleuthing matter is that the makers, should they go down the route of introducing Hathaway in his own eponymous programme, which they had to bring back Robbie Lewis to pave the way. As good as and as pivotal to the past as Detective Lewis is, and as superb an actor Kevin Whately is, sometimes the past has to be let go, at least once…not to be brought back after leaving the show in such a determined and graceful fashion a couple of years ago.

Beyond Good and Evil is perhaps, when looked at in the cold light of day, the logical place to leave Robbie Lewis’ contribution to tackling crime in Oxford, the nature of companionship and trust being tested and abused in the most cynical way by a killer who somehow manages to make it look like a sickness is enough of a proper goodbye to an institution.

Ian D. Hall