Inspector Morse/YMMV


 * Adaptation Displacement: The TV show is much better known than the original novels, and two changes they made -- Lewis being younger rather than older than Morse, and Morse's car being a Jaguar rather than a Lancia -- were eventually retconned by Dexter into his books.
 * It Was His Sled: Morse's first name is mentioned exactly once in the novels, in the second-to-last book, and after building up and dropping hints for a long time. Today it's widely known precisely because it was mysterious for so long.
 * Magnificent Bastard: Hugo deVries in 'Masonic Mysteries'. Basically spends the entire episode ten steps ahead of everyone, jerry-rigs Morse's home stereo to play really awful Opera (LOUDLY), sets Morse's house on fire with Morse inside, frames Morse using the Internet, and delivers some utterly fantastic monologuing and Deadpan Snarkery to boot. The fact that he's being played by Large Ham Supreme Ian McDiarmid is really just gravy at this point.
 * Memetic Mutation: (Pop culture version) It's now widely joked that Oxford is a deathtrap, especially for academics, thanks to the frequency of murders on the show.