End of a beloved franchise: ‘Lewis’ hangs it up

Viewers on both sides of the Atlantic were initially besotted with Colin Dexter’s often crusty “Inspector Morse,” starring the late John Thaw as the patrician crime solver based in Oxford, England.

Like virtually every episode of both “Morse” and “Lewis,” the final stories make fertile use of the Oxford University community.

[...] Moody looks to Lewis’ chain-smoking, moody and emotionally buttoned-up deputy, D.I. James Hathaway (Laurence Fox) as the de facto leader of an investigation into the case of a young student named Talika Desai (Shanaya Rafaat) who is found dead of a heroin overdose.

Suspects include the victim’s sister, who is an attention-seeking blogger (Naomi Scott), an elderly taxidermist (the always brilliant Tim Piggott-Smith), and the family of academic colleague Vivienne Tedman (Helen Schlesinger) — her husband, Ian (Steve Pemberton), and their rugby-loving son Oliver (emerging star Finn Cole, known in the U.S. for his role on “Animal Kingdom”).

Lewis and Hathaway are assisted in their investigation by Detective Sergeant Lizzie Maddox (Angela Griffin) and, of course, medical examiner Laura Hobson (Clare Holman), who has become Lewis’ ever-patient life partner.

“Magnum Opus,” airing on PBS on Aug. 14, finds Lewis and Hathaway investigating a possible serial killer after a body is found in the woods near the university.

“What Lies Tangled,” the series finale, set for an Aug. 21 broadcast, is about the case of a brilliant young math professor who is killed by a parcel bomb, devastating his frail father (David Warner) and his brother (Oliver Lansley).

The final three episodes have a running secondary story line about Lewis and Laura taking an extended trip to New Zealand to visit her family.

In the final episodes, Hathaway’s emotional barricades are tested as never before by his father’s (Nicholas Jones) deteriorating mental state.

Fans would not be heartbroken if a series called “Hathaway” followed the end of “Lewis,” but at this point, they will have to be content with the very worthy prequel, “Endeavour,” on PBS.