And I guess they invent locations because they can, and figure that only Cambridge residents or alumni will notice, and only the neurodivergent ones (ie approx 95% of the alumni, a somewhat lower proportion of the residents) will care.
I suspect that Morse partly invented college names to avoid legal hassle. If you make a programme where the Dean of Oriel is a murderer then there's a lot more potential trouble from real life individuals than if it's the Dean of St Matthews College
Yes I agree. I know far less about Oxford Colleges than Cambridge ones but I think Lonsdale College was largely based on Exeter College (or at any rate filmed there)
I think Grantchester has also invented a couple of Cambridge colleges for similar reasons.
Just a comment about Ludwig being “set in Cambridge”. Watching episode one of the new series it was apparent that there were numerous positioning shots (usually aerial) of Cambridge, but the actual locations for all the action tended to be anonymous houses or office blocks which could be (and possibly are) somewhere else entirely. And the theatre where the crime takes place most certainly is not in Cambridge, so why is it being investigated by Cambridge police?
Whereas Professor T (starting a new run on ITV the night before, and also featuring a neurodivergent genius crime solver) most certainly is set in Cambridge, with characters walking and talking in recognisable Cambridge locations (e.g. Portugal Place). However, the crime in this one was set on a yacht from which a character was lost at sea, so it was equally implausible that this crime was being investigated by a fictional Cambridge police force.
All of which pointless analysis proves that I am closer in personality to Ludwig than Reacher, though I absolutely love both.
Fair point about the theatre thing and about the locations. The third episode of this series does have a lot of street scenes in central Cambridge (Trinity Lane, Garrett Hostel bridge etc) but then also invents something called “Scholar's Fountain” and Turing Lane in the centre. Maybe it's a parallel universe Cambridge, or it's been reconstructed after a nuclear war
It’s not a new thing to be fair. I found out 30 years ago that large chunks of Morse were filmed in London – because it was cheaper to film there than Oxford. These days it would probably be filmed in Prague.
See also numerous series set in Greece/Italy/Spain which are actually filmed in Malta.
And I guess they invent locations because they can, and figure that only Cambridge residents or alumni will notice, and only the neurodivergent ones (ie approx 95% of the alumni, a somewhat lower proportion of the residents) will care.
I suspect that Morse partly invented college names to avoid legal hassle. If you make a programme where the Dean of Oriel is a murderer then there's a lot more potential trouble from real life individuals than if it's the Dean of St Matthews College
Yes I agree. I know far less about Oxford Colleges than Cambridge ones but I think Lonsdale College was largely based on Exeter College (or at any rate filmed there)
I think Grantchester has also invented a couple of Cambridge colleges for similar reasons.
Lovely piece.
Just a comment about Ludwig being “set in Cambridge”. Watching episode one of the new series it was apparent that there were numerous positioning shots (usually aerial) of Cambridge, but the actual locations for all the action tended to be anonymous houses or office blocks which could be (and possibly are) somewhere else entirely. And the theatre where the crime takes place most certainly is not in Cambridge, so why is it being investigated by Cambridge police?
Whereas Professor T (starting a new run on ITV the night before, and also featuring a neurodivergent genius crime solver) most certainly is set in Cambridge, with characters walking and talking in recognisable Cambridge locations (e.g. Portugal Place). However, the crime in this one was set on a yacht from which a character was lost at sea, so it was equally implausible that this crime was being investigated by a fictional Cambridge police force.
All of which pointless analysis proves that I am closer in personality to Ludwig than Reacher, though I absolutely love both.
Fair point about the theatre thing and about the locations. The third episode of this series does have a lot of street scenes in central Cambridge (Trinity Lane, Garrett Hostel bridge etc) but then also invents something called “Scholar's Fountain” and Turing Lane in the centre. Maybe it's a parallel universe Cambridge, or it's been reconstructed after a nuclear war
It’s not a new thing to be fair. I found out 30 years ago that large chunks of Morse were filmed in London – because it was cheaper to film there than Oxford. These days it would probably be filmed in Prague.
See also numerous series set in Greece/Italy/Spain which are actually filmed in Malta.