Colin Dexter on the Young Morse

For someone who has slaughtered dozens of innocent people, Colin Dexter is a remarkably agreeable man.

The author who created curmudgeonly, real-ale quaffing detective, Inspector Morse, managed to kill nearly 80 people in his 14 novels and its mega-successful spin-off Tv series. Along the way he turned Oxford into the UK’s fictional murder capital.

Now after years of regaling An Audience With… crowds with behind the scenes tales of writing the books and working on the TV show, this one time classics teacher is preparing to go out on the road and with stories that include the latest chapter in his writing life.

Millions tuned in to ITV! on January 2 to see Endeavour - The Young Morse - a prequel to the entire Morse catalogue, tracing the roots of the cantankerous crossword-solving, opera-loving, classic car driving sleuth.

The 90 minute one-off drama - produced by the team behind Morse spin-off Lewis - was based on a short story penned specially by Dexter for the Daily Mail.

It found the young Detective Constable Morse establishing his roots in the Oxford Police after dropping out of the city’s famous university.

It also found Dexter making his customary cameo appearance as a customer in the pub which introduced Morse to his beloved real ale. Sharp eyed viewers will know that Colin Dexter has been a regular if fleeting on-screen presence throughout Morse’s TV history. Indeed he appeared briefly in all but three of the programmes.

In his latest appearances An Audience With Colin Dexter, the 82-year-old author will tell how the latest drama came to be and of course talk about all things Morse - a character whose creation led to him working with everyone from Sir John Gielgud to Anthony Minghella.

The evening will end, as is customary, with a question and answers session for those who want to know even more.