Dexter agreed to the deal and writer and film director Anthony Minghella scripted the first episode The Dead of Jericho.
It was one of the first detective shows to be given a two hour slot – “actually, nearer 103 or 104 mins on ITV,” says Dexter – and was an immediate success.
While the city of Oxford played its part, the casting of John Thaw as Inspector Morse was a master stroke.
“I had never met him and not really seen him before because as I was going deaf I did not watch a lot of television,” explains Dexter. “But in casting John I was very lucky and they were right from the word go.
“I don't know how many Sherlock Holmeses there have been or Poirots but they do have the right Poirot now with David Suchet, small, pomaded and pompous, he gets it absolutely right. I had good fortune with John, who fitted in exactly.
“He never influenced my subsequent writing of Morse because I did not have to change the character, he was actually what he was in the books.”
Lewis was changed for the TV series, but Dexter was quite happy with the changes they made.
“In the first book, he was the same age as Morse but when TV came along they made him a younger man and instead of someone from South Wales he was from the North East, which helped differentiate the accents more.”
And Kevin Whately, who played him, has been marvellous: “I thought the surrogate father and son relationship worked very well on TV.
“I don’t think many crime writers can say this but I think television has treated me awfully well.”
While Morse has vanished from our television screens, Lewis – as played by Whately – has marched on in his own television series.
Dexter also holds the copyright for that character and not only gave his approval for the show but has appeared in them in tiny cameo appearances.
It was something he would do in the old Morse series – his cherubic face was often to be seen moving around in a background scene and Dexter enjoyed doing it.
Four episodes of Lewis were made and four more are currently being created, with Dexter doing his usual walk-ons.
“It looks strangely enough as if they are taking off but one never knows about these things. There is a lot of interest in the relationship between Lewis and Hathaway as played by Lawrence Fox.
“The television people always ask me to drop by when they are filming in Oxford which I do if I am not away and I am not away quite so much these days apart from doing talks.”
He does not always talk about the process of writing. “Oh, I talk about other things like television in general, crosswords, education and other things about which I know even less.
“I never seem to be at a loss about what to say but a lot depends on how many people are there, whether the majority of the audience are men or women and whether I have a decent microphone and don't have to shout.
“Women are better audiences than men – I have had one or two disastrous talks to pig farmers and businessmen and others of that ilk.
“Women are marvellous, particularly women from the Women’s Institute – unless your name is Tony Blair.
“They seem to smile and laugh and look as if they are enjoying it even if some are not quite so happy as they look.
“I have always thought that, if you smile at them, they will smile at you.”
While the Chester Literary Festival claims to be one of the oldest in Britain – this year marks its 19th year – Dexter says there does seem to be a growth in literary festival numbers.
“They are like the charities I go out to support, rather too many of them in a way. They are fine if a festival is well advertised. I went to one last year somewhere on the South Coast which shall remain nameless where they did no advertising and it was a disaster.
“But I have found that there is plenty of interest in the country now in literary things. There is an enormous potential interest in towns, villages and cities to know a little bit more about literature and the great names of authors and poets. And I enjoy talking about them.”
* COLIN DEXTER is at the Molloy Lecture Theatre, University of Chester, at 7.45pm on Tuesday, October 9 (box office 01244 304 618) and Crosby Civic Hall on Wednesday, October 10, at 8pm (box office 01704 540011).
