Hello I'm Kirsty Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1998 and the presenter was Sue Lolly. My castaway this week is a crime writer. He has much in common with the fictional

policeman he's created, well educated, even a bit of a pedant. He enjoys real ale,

crosswords and classical music.

He wrote the first of his novels at the age of 43, as well as working for most of his life,

first as a teacher of Latin and Greek and then an A and O-level examiner.

All together he's written 13 novels, their popularity and success, greatly enhanced

by their translation into the television series starring John Thor and Kevin Wakeley.

He is the creator of Inspector Morse, Colin Dexter.

Morse is Dexter as policeman really, isn't he Colin? I mean you have so much in common you

to. Well I think unless you're a genius which I'm not I think if you start writing fiction

it's going to be semi-autobiographical and certainly some of the things which Morse enjoys

very much I do like some of the things you've mentioned but I hope I'm not

like him in many ways I mean he's a bit of a miserable old man well yes there is a downside

to him well he he's often mean with money which seems to me the very worst of the

social sins and he lacks in any sort of grace and gratitude.

But he never congratulates Lewis does he and Lewis sometimes has a knack of putting his finger on the right spot.

He doesn't treat Lewis at all, kindly, I say.

Why did you make him like that?

Why has he got to have this nasty stuff?

Well, I thought he ought not to be too good he good

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