Cherubim and Seraphim

"Cherubim and Seraphim"
Inspector Morse episode
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 5
Directed by	Danny Boyle
Written by	Julian Mitchell
Production code	25
Original air date	15 April 1992
Guest stars
Liza Walker Jason Isaacs Charlotte Chatton John Junkin Sorcha Cusack Isla Blair Anna Chancellor
Episode chronology
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List of Inspector Morse episodes

"Cherubim and Seraphim" is an episode of the British television detective mystery show Inspector Morse dramatized on ITV. It was first broadcast in 1992. Cherubim and Seraphim are both Biblical words and their origin is described in Christian angelic hierarchy.

Set-Up

The story involves a group of teenagers reveling in the contemporary rave and acid house culture. A teenager, Marilyn Garrett (Charlotte Chatton), the daughter of Morse's half-sister Joyce (Sorcha Cusack), is found dead, having taken an overdose. Morse takes leave to investigate the death, searching for a reason for Marilyn's suicide. Despite his love of opera and classics Morse shows some interest in and empathy with the prevailing youth culture and its music, although it is utterly alien to him. On one occasion, when listening to some homemade acid house music, Morse becomes excited as he spots a sample of the Hallelujah Chorus on headphones but the backing track we hear repeated in this episode actually contains an extract from Allegri's Miserere.

Meanwhile, Morse's stepmother Gwen – the mother of Joyce – is being treated in a nursing home where a Doctor Desmond Collier (Jason Isaacs), a pioneering chemist who has invented a new anti-aging drug, 'Seraphics', which work by expanding the blood vessels which leading to the brain, allowing blood to move more freely.

Investigation

A second teenager, Jacko Lever, is reported missing. As Morse is on holiday, his Detective Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately) is placed with another Inspector, the more methodical and soon to retire DCI Holroyd (John Junkin). Lewis (who is studying for inspector) is in charge of the search for Jacko with Holroyd observing him. The teen is eventually found dead in a railway tunnel; another suicide.

Both Marilyn and Jacko are found to have ingested the same pill before their death, although it is not immediately recognizable to the pathologist. A friend of Marilyn's, Vicky Wilson (Liza Walker), goes missing, which adds a degree of urgency to the investigation. Morse and Lewis learn more about rave culture from a younger drugs squad officer and they manage to discover a periodical unofficial 'rave' event called CHERUB which Marilyn, Vicky and Jacko have been attending.

Conclusion

Morse and Lewis observe, concealed, a rave at a leased stately home. Morse is somewhat disappointed to see no alcohol being drunk. They do discover, however, that a new experimental drug is being used. The drug in question is currently in testing; there is some controversy about the long-term effects on young people, and whether such considerations are relevant as the medicine is intended for the elderly. As the medicine increases blood flow, and therefore the supply of oxygen to the brain, it helps relieve some symptoms of ageing in the elderly but leaves young people, whose blood vessels do not need widening, with a feeling described by the pathologist as 'a feeling of extreme clear-headedness.' Vicky, when discovered, describes the effects of seraphics as being a feeling of 'seeing the whole world and loving everybody in the world', the comedown of which can cause such terrible depression it is believed to have led to the two suicides.

The drug dealer is observed by Morse and Lewis – it is Dr. Collier, but he is killed in a car crash as he attempts to escape. Morse subsequently declares he hopes the 'killer' is in Hell, to which Lewis responds, 'You don't believe in Hell, Sir.' Morse responds that he wishes he did, commenting on how awful it is to be fifteen. There is some reference to his teenage years and his uneasy relationship with his father.

Locations

• Hansworth Park House. Gwens nursing home.
• Mentmore Towers. The final rave at the stately home.
• Pitstone cement works (now closed / demolished). A rave, a meet-up and the death of a young black man while running along the railway line.
• Rickmansworth Masonic school for Girls.
• Ye Olde greene Manne public house, Batchworth Heath. Drinking scene and discussion between Morse and Lewis.

For those who know their Morse and more particularly the geography (Oxford) this programme was filmed somewhat off his 'beat' ! Most of the locations being found in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.

References

• Cherubim and Seraphim at the Internet Movie Database