What happens when former sidekicks become the boss? They stay sidekicks.
Kevin Whately was brilliant as Lewis to John Thaw's Morse in the long-running cop show but he is underwhelming in the spin-off.
I''ve had a sneak peak at the new Lewis series and I've gotta say it did not live up to expectations.
There were times when Lewis' new sidekick Hathaway, played by Laurence Fox, stole the show from his boss.
Hathaway had better lines and his background was better explored.
And he had the height and bearing that put the older smaller man in the shade.
And I'm sure the gawky Hathaway got way more screen time than Lewis did in the old Morse stories.
It's not Kevin's fault but his character needed to be given more balls.
Morse had a charismatic lead backed up by a more pragmatic sidekick - and it worked.
Lewis switches the formula to a pragmatic lead backed up by a charismatic sidekick - and it leaves room for doubt.
The show is still a satisfying whodunnit with plenty of red herrings and, like Morse, sees our heroes solve murders with their brains instead of their brawn.
But if the show is to survive more than one ot two seasons it needs to give Lewis a bit more gravitas.
He needs to climb out of his sidekick's shadow,
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