Normally, when someone retires, it’s time.  In the case of Lewis, there isn’t a mystery fan anywhere that thought it was time when Inspector Robert ‘Robbie’ Lewis ‘retired’ after seven series. That’s why the news out of ITV yesterday was more than welcome news.
 

Detective Inspector Lewis and Detective Sergeant James Hathaway are coming back. Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox are set to reprise their roles as the ‘perfect’ detective team solving murders against the backdrop of the beautiful university spires of Oxford when Lewis returns in 2014.

With Lewis’s instinct for tracking murderers and unraveling motives and with Cambridge graduate James Hathaway’s deep thinking and erudite approach which has served their partnership so well in the past, one can’t help but clear out some space on the DVR for the new episodes.
 

 
While the news out of ITV is brilliant, things have changed just a bit since we last left the duo. After an extended break from the Police, Hathaway has been promoted to Inspector. When the chemistry that was so much a part of his relationship with Lewis eludes Hathaway, a retired Lewis is drafted back to renew their partnership. It will be interesting to see how both Lewis and Hathaway will come to grips with their new found dynamic in order to achieve results.

Returning with Whately and Fox will be Clare Holman, who was introduced to viewers as forensic pathologist Laura Hobson in the 1995 Morse film, “The Way through the Woods”, and has continued to appear in Lewis. Rebecca Front will also return to the series as Chief Superintendent Jean Innocent who is frequently at odds with Lewis over his investigative style.

Chris Burt who has been at the helm for 30 episodes of Lewis since the series first screened in 2006 will produce the new series with Nick Renton (Lewis, Inspector George Gently, Silent Witness) set to direct the first two-part film, ‘Entry Wounds’ which goes into production next month.

While I don’t normally like seeing people coming out of retirement (i.e. Brett Favre), this is brilliant news.