Inspector Lewis (TV Series) Allegory of Love (2009) User Reviews

A wonderful, deep mystery for Lewis and Hathaway to solve.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 5 March 2016]

A beautiful, ethereal Czech woman Marina is bizarrely murdered with a Gothic mirror. Lewis and Hathaway have a host of suspects, including the famous and talented writer, Dorian Crane, his obnoxious lecturer Professor Norman Deering, his colleague Professor Hamid Jassim, and a young fan of Gothic games Hayden Wishart.

One of my favourite of the Lewis episodes, from the very beginning, the beautiful, artistic opening, featuring Marina and the horse, it helped set her up as the perfect, soft, fantasy victim. The story is wonderfully clever, very different, it definitely feels like part of the Morse umbrella. It is beautifully acted, James Fox, Art Malik and Anastasia Hille are great value, all create excellent characters. The show stealer is Selina Cadell who is magnificent in the role of the drunken Professor Rutherford.

Even Jean Innocent is seen out of the Office, shock horror.

A wonderfully clever, character driven story.

9/10

Father and Son Reunion

[donkeyofheaven · 9/10 · 8 October 2017]

I loved all the references to fantasy fiction and the twists and turns of symbols at play. The story writers were having a field day with plot puns, misdirection, and innuendo. Lewis is typically resistant to entering the imaginary worlds of his killers but with Hathaway's literary reflections and some bumpy reading by Lewis, they solve the mystery of classical dimensions. But for me the cherry on the cake of this episode was the meta-story of seeing father and son, James and Laurence Fox, working together. I bed they had as much fun acting in this one as I did watching them together.

Intriguing mystery

[grantss · 8/10 · 15 October 2022]

A woman is murdered while walking home at night. The murder weapon? A large mirror. Lewis and Hathaway investigate and find connections with two professors, her doctor, the doctor's son and famous novelist Dorian Crane but nobody with a clear motive.

An intriguing mystery. Some great twists and turns, red herrings and revelations. The connections to famous authors (Tolkien, CE Lewis, Lewis Carroll) was interesting and sees Hathaway earn his keep due to his literary knowledge.

However, the episode suffers from the usual Lewis (and Morse) weakness in that the revelation of the guilty party seems to come out of the blue. You also have suspicion jumping from one person to another until the actual guilty party is the one you least expect. The regular Morse-Lewis plotline of a romantic interest ending up being the culprit appears again - this is getting rather predictable.

The most interesting thing about this episode is that Laurence Fox (who plays Hathaway) gets to play opposite his father, the legendary James Fox. James Fox plays Professor Deering who is a definite suspect in the case and the two are in some of the same scenes.

I Really Loved This Lewis Episode

[gregrowlerson · 10/10 · 19 February 2011]

I wanted to write a review on the 'Allegory Of Love' after seeing it for a second time last night and believing that it might be my favourite Morse/Lewis show ever (big call, I know). When I stumbled upon the reviews on here I was shocked. Fans do not like this episode! What the? Perhaps this is a sign that I still haven't grown up! I loved the fantasy aspects of this storyline, and as these great murder mysteries often do, the wonderful use of metaphor. For me, the love of Morse/Lewis is not based around correctly guessing the guilty party (or sometimes parties), but of simply taking in the interesting characters on the movies, and the wonderful (and often harsh) truths that are spoken about human behaviour and personality.

Though I must admit that I rarely correctly select the murderer anyway!

Morse was always driven by great characters and wonderful writing. Endeavour and Robbie were a marvellous combination - as much as anything else because they were so different. Even if the case itself wasn't too fascinating, the byplay between the two leads was always entertaining in itself, and of course the actors did a terrific job in their roles.

I am very impressed with what has been made of the Lewis series. I mean, how do you replace an iconic character such as Morse? You can't really, but the new lead of Hathaway is a very good try (not to replace Morse directly, but to keep up the high standards of the Morse shows). Again, it is the differences in character between he and Lewis which give the shows much of its appeal.

Lewis can be viewed as being a bit prettier I suppose than the Morse classics, but that doesn't always mean that it is less gritty. I wonder if the show will last the 33 episodes that Morse did? I hope that it does, though only if the high standards can be retained - which I believe was certainly achieved in 'Allegory Of Love.' The murder suspects were pretty much all wildly engaging characters (but I don't mean lovable) and the whole story within a story was to me, wonderful. I believe that the pieces of this story all came together perfectly in the end, and I would encourage any murder mystery fan to see this, even if they haven't seen another Lewis episode before.

Maybe I'm biased. I do love the Chronicles of Narnia.

But if I did have my own special box of treasures then I'd try to spare some room to store this DVD.

Too Much Criticism

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 4 February 2018]

Inspector Lewis can be a bit boorish at times. He is a bright man and a good detective, but his disdain for Oxford makes one wonder why he works that beat. This is about fantasy, a legitimate form of literature when posed by the likes of Dunsany, Tolkien, and Lewis. The murder here, while related to this world, is more about human to human pain. It portrays the writers as wasters of time. I thought it was a more than adequate effort.

It's all happening at the Randolph

[safenoe · 8/10 · 10 August 2020]

The Randolph Hotel is a magnet of lust and murder in this fine episode of Lewis. I never expected the ending, with its reference to Oedipus. There were enough twists and turns in this. Wonderful to see James Fox make a guest appearance and in scenes with his son Laurence.

Maybe one day Lewis can be rebooted with an edge. Danny Dyer could play Lewis, solving crimes around Oxford Brookes University and Cowley, Rose Hill, Blackbird Leys, Wood Farm and New Headington.

Didn't think it was as bad as the negative reviews say, though it could have been much better

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 10 June 2017]

Hearing about 'Lewis' for the first time when it first started, there was a big touch of excitement seeing as 'Inspector Morse' was and still is one of my favourites but also a little intrepidation, wondering whether the series would be as good. The good news is, like the prequel series 'Endeavour', 'Lewis' is every bit as good as 'Inspector Morse' and stands very well on its own two feet as a detective mystery and show in general.

'Lewis' was a show that started promisingly with the pilot and Season 1. Season 2 was even better, and saw the show properly hitting its stride with things feeling much more settled in character development, consistency of writing and Innocent didn't annoy me anywhere near as much. "Allegory of Love", the premiere to Season 3, is not as bad as the negative reviewers say, though the criticisms are largely agreed with and the disappointment is understandable. There are several great merits, at the same time it could have been much better.

It is agreed that "Allegory of Love" drags with a few particularly tedious moments, and there are strands that don't really add up, in need of more explanation because parts didn't feel as clear as they could have been.

Am of the opinion that the denouement falls flat, 'Lewis' is no stranger to lacking endings before or since, but the ending in "Allegory of Love" felt obvious too early, was a little far-fetched and even more convoluted than the ending of "The Great and the Good". Usually the chemistry between Kevin Whately's Lewis and Laurence Fox's Hathaway is a huge part of the show's appeal but "Allegory of Love" agreed felt disappointing in this regard, there wasn't enough of it and it felt blandly written.

On the other hand, the acting is fine, anchored by Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox. Whately is again very good and carries the episode with aplomb, advantaged by that Lewis is much more developed and as said he has more development. Clare Holman adds a lot. Fox is a breath of fresh air in a great contrasting role that reminds one of a more intelligent Lewis in his younger days. Innocent has more to do and is more commanding, her character not as problematic as in the pilot and Season 1. James Fox, Anastasia Hille, Art Malik and particularly Selina Caddell shine in the supporting roles with intriguing characters.

Production values are of very high quality. It's beautifully shot (some of the best of the show at this point), and Oxford not only looks exquisite but is like a supporting character in itself. Barrington Pheloung returns as composer, and does a first-rate job. The theme tune, while not as iconic or quite as clever as Morse's, is very pleasant to listen to, the episode is charmingly and hauntingly scored and the use of pre-existing music is very well-incorporated.

Loved the literary references to Tolkien, Lewis Carroll and CS Lewis (all personal favourite authors of mine). The story is problematic, being muddled and with pacing issues, here but has moments where it's gripping and deliciously dark, with some of the most deliciously bizarre murders in the history of the show. A few of the twists and turns are well done.

In conclusion, could have been much better but not that bad. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Holes in the plot

[afhick · 6/10 · 21 April 2009]

That's Lawrence Fox's father James as Deering, by the way, and it's always a pleasure to see James ("Performance") Fox on screen, even in a role that is poorly written. But I agree with the previous poster that the Whately/Fox coupling failed to catch fire this time around. Could it be that (given some hints in the last series) the producers got cold feet about making Fox's character gay, leaving the actors and writers with no "chemistry" to play off of? That said, I loved the location shots and the music. It's also good seeing Art ("Jewel in the Crown") Malik again. But a lot of the story just didn't add up. What was the murderer trying to say with the mirror and the cane--er--I mean, sword? What was Hayden's problem? Was Deering bisexual? Like father, like son?

Good Lord!!!

[hazangel-89910 · 6/10 · 20 November 2021]

Didn't see that coming!!!! This puts a bad light on foster parents. Some people are sick!!! Not my favourite episode but I enjoyed Hathaway as usual. He is a great actor but I couldn't help thinking if he wanted to laugh when acting so seriously with his father.

Allegory of boredom

[benbrae76 · 3/10 · 1 April 2009]

"Allegory of Love" is written by Stephen Churchett. Need one say more? Stephen Churchett is the writer mainly responsible for completely annihilating Agatha Christie's novels for the dreadful series "Marple" (not to be confused with the excellent earlier series "Miss Marple" which thankfully Churchett had nothing to do with).

This episode of "Lewis" fares no better at the hands of Churchett. It is a case of mistaken identity involving the murder of a Czech Muslim and also that of a C.S. Lewis-admiring fantasy author. It's up to you to sort out the confusion. Not the plot (the culprit is fairly obvious at an early stage for any self-respecting whodunit buff to figure out), but the awful dialogue and the direction.

The screenplay is slow, tedious, and utterly implausible. The rapport between Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox (and the characters they play) which was evident in the Dexter/Plater episodes is completely lost here.

All the actors involved seem to sleep-walk through the drabness of the entire piece. I'm not surprised. They must have been as bored as I was. Hopefully this will be the last episode in which Stephen Churchett is involved. I wouldn't say he's a hack, but every example of his work that I've seen has been a hatchet job.

If you want to stay awake, don't watch "Allegory of Love", do something else instead. I've given it 3 stars in sympathy for the actors who had to endure the pain.

Nah-t this time..

[canuckteach · 7/10 · 9 August 2010]

Seven out of ten simply because a muddled 'Masterpiece Mystery' still has redeeming features: a great ensemble cast, nice sets, and interesting camera angles. However, as our IMDb colleagues have noted, the story drags and the chemistry isn't there between Laurence Fox and Kevin Whately (as our inveterate DI Lewis). What makes these Brit mysteries work is the complexity of the lead character - not a plethora of sub-characters and possible suspects. In fact, that's what makes only two Hollywood TV 'Mysteries' somewhat compelling: 'House', and 'Lie to Me', both played by non-USA leads.

So, for this story, we need another element to make it a compelling character study: i.e. someone accuses Lewis of improprieties; an interesting romance develops and flops, because Lewis fails to pull the trigger (Inspector Frost made a franchise out of that one!); or an old nemesis shows up to make his life miserable. None of these are terribly original, but they add depth to the tale whilst we sort through the suspects.

One of our reviewers fingers Churchett (screenplay) as the culprit. I concur that this script is sub-par, and that his 'Marple' episodes left us wondering what the heck we were watching. So, BBC - get the message?

Lewis and Hathaway Have an Inkling to Ensue a Prank at Oxford

[WeatherViolet · 4/10 · 8 August 2010]

Fans of this series may wish to tune in if only to watch Laurence Fox's interrogating his real-life father, James Fox, as one of several suspects whom the team investigates once bodies begin to pop up in the aftermath of a book launching ceremony just off campus at Oxford University.

As a point of reference, "The Inklings" indicates an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, during the 1930's and 40's, praising the value of narrative in fiction, and encouraging the writing of Fantasy elements. This historic set includes J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield and Nevill Coghill, among others, meeting at The Eagle and Child Pub.

And now, young author Dorian Crane (Tom Mison) plans to kick off his trendy "New Inklings" with a fantasy novel book launch in the lobby of the Randolph Hotel with many adoring fans and the ones who admire them in attendance.

Alice Wishart (Cara Horgan) naturally attends this event, as the fiancée of Dorian, who strings along several others on the side. In addition to the brunette Alice, there's the blonde Australian student, Melanie Harding (Louise Dylan), and the auburn haired Kelly Belford (Claire Brown), whom Dorian's foster mother, Ginny Harris (Anastasia Hille), sends away after discovering in Dorian's apartment.

Alice's relatives also attend the book launch: Doctor Jem Wishart (Adrian Lukis), her father; Hayden Wishart (Olly Alexander), her brother; Professor Norman Deering (James Fox), her uncle, and his associate Professor Hamid Jassim (Art Malik) an instructor of Comparitive Religion courses.

Marina Hartner (Katia Winter), a Bosnian call girl working at the Grapevine Bar, and residing at the Randolph, also finds herself mixed into the equation amid several other characters, including her friend Leyla Adan (Farzana Dua Elahe), who serves as a hotel chambermaid, and Oxford Professor Bernice Rutherford (Selina Cadell), who stirs a scene on a return to The Eagle and Child Pub.

And also attending the reading on the evening of the book launch, Detective Inspector Robert Lewis (Kevin Whately) and his partner, Detective Sergeant James Hathaway (Laurence Fox), launch an investigation of their own, along with their team of Chief Superintendent Innocent (Rebecca Front) and Doctor Laura Hobson (Clare Holman) once the first body is discovered along the riverfront, the victim of a slashing with a symbolic broken mirror.

But it's not entirely all done with mirrors, as a second body is discovered bludgeoned with a literary trophy, and a third stabbed by C.S. Lewis' "Sword of Truth" from his "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," having been on display at the Randolph. One victim may survive to return onto the list of suspects for the other two murders, however.

So, as Detective Inspector Robert Lewis and Detective Sergeant James Hathaway hit the trail to link the secret mirror with the fantasy box to the quotation of "I ask to be no other man than I am," amid a string of suspects, hidden scandals begin to emerge, often interrupted by an irritating new plot device of the intrusive cell phone (minus points for that), Lewis and Hathaway aim for a showdown to nab the perpetrator to prevent another murder.

The cast is rounded out by Mike Burnside as Pub Landlord, Simon Kerr as Canadian Tourist, and Colin Dexter as Man leaving The Randolph.

Stupid

[pasamu44 · 2/10 · 16 May 2010]

For a show supposedly written for an intelligent and alert audience, the plot of this installment of "Lewis" is a big disappointment. If Lewis and his sidekick could be bothered to do the basic footwork of crime detection (like checking up on the alibis presented to them), they'd have the guilty party in their sights about 35 minutes into the show. Instead, they go off chasing all sorts of red herrings for another three quarters of an hour before finally getting around to asking the question they should have asked all along, which duly leads them onto the right track in time for an arrest in minute 90. Mission accomplished, one and a half hours of viewers' time wasted.

If you watch "Lewis" simply for its beautiful Oxford setting, you may enjoy this episode. Otherwise, I'd recommend you stay well clear of this one.

Unredeemably corny!

[stuka24 · 2/10 · 9 May 2009]

What happened to you, "Colin Dexter"?

You used to write "Inspector Morse", which made Art of a TV series. It's impossible to summarize its merits in a couple sentences, and yet it'd be necessary to understand why Lewis is so disappointing.

Suffice to say all manipulative popular culture like TV series has its way of making us "quickly empathize with the characters, then go through some sort of prefabricated 'catharsis' through chases, dramatized situations, personal (love) interests, etc". Whereas in Morse all the "underpinnigs" of it remain secret most of the time, Lewis is all about artifice. It's like this often misquoted Hegel dictum that "history repeats itself, only in the form of farce" that I can understand Lewis. Morse is a philosophical inquiry taking place at a nostalgic Oxford. Lewis is... a bad police show.

Every 5' a new suspect pops up, all your certainties vanish, you're supposed to feel an "aha!" moment, but wait, the plot has to plod through another 90' until the most shameful psychoanalytical ripoff comes out.

Morale? Avoid like the plague. Good for laughs. Well, not even that!

PS: The Eastern Europe prostitute "Marina" dresses and walks too well to work waiting tables at a local pub. It just adds another tinge of oddity to the story.

Scenario done many times

[vitoscotti · 5/10 · 8 December 2023]

Took often used standard British detective mystery recurrent thematic elements and pieced them together. The stuffy arrogant professors, wrong murder victim, and fantasy book duality turning to reality. I will say though not an original story it was woven together well into a tightly crafted episode.

The highlight of the average at best episode were the outstanding actors. Gorgeous pale redhead Louise Dylan as Melanie Harding gave the most dynamic contributions in her limited screentime. Selina Cadell as beer guzzling plain talk Professor Rutherford was a treat breaking down the door of the cerebral professor stereotypes.

Lewis like Morse is looking for female action from the story suspect pool. Lewis is even getting help from loosening up, once Lewis thorn in the side, packing on the weight, Rebecca Front as Ch. Supt. Innocent.