I would like to say on the case of Morse that it is one of my favorite shows of all time. It rivals Sherlock Holmes for me in the genre. The thing with Morse is they had some low points but it had some very high points as well. Lewis so far (I'm on season 6) has been steadily good but hasn't quite reached the heights Morse did. Morse for me has a unique quality of being a time capsule that captures the change in technology and society from the 80's through to the early 00's. It shows that not all change is good and how a person can be passed by in a changing world. I see a lot of myself in Morse in the way I look at upcoming technologies or changes and I just hope I'm dead and gone by the time they kick off. I have rose tinted glasses for a simpler time. To me Morse captures this pang of nostalgia with a delicacy not found elsewhere.

I thought myself a fan of the show as a kid, but on rewatch it's rough. The first three seasons can be safely skipped, since they contain the vast majority of lows of the series and pointless quippy writing, doing no characters any favours. Starting from season four, there are actually signs of "modern flavour" of scriptwriting and filming with occasional high points. It's still hard to recommend to someone who isn't a bit nostalgic, but if you want to, just stick to seasons 4-8.